Miami snaps three-game losing streak to end regular season with win at Boston College
Black Friday, in the end, was anything but dark and dreary for the University of Miami.
The 10-point favorite Hurricanes went to Boston College the day after Thanksgiving in an attempt to salvage the last part of another disappointing campaign. They return to Miami with a 45-20 dominant victory in the final game of the regular season.
After trailing 7-0 within five minutes of kickoff, the Canes (7-5, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored touchdowns in four of their next five drives — 21 of those points in the second quarter.
With the victory, MIami snapped its three-game losing streak in front of 30,569 at Alumni Stadium, and scored its most points since Sept. 14 against Bethune-Cookman.
“Like we talked in the locker room, just proud of our players for — after a couple of weeks of some really, really, close games, tight games coming down to the last possession, last couple of plays... to continue to work and come up here on a shorter week and take care of business and put together a complete game,’’ UM coach Mario Cristobal said. “To really have fun playing football [and] to play hard, be resilient.
“...A lot of routine plays done really, well and all in all, a very complete game. Maybe our most complete game of the year.”
The Hurricanes now await their bowl destination, which will be officially announced Dec. 3 after the Dec. 2 conference title games are played.
Boston College, also awaiting a bowl, finished the regular season 6-6, 3-5.
UM quarterback Tyler Van Dyke led a revived offense that outgained the Eagles 532 yards to 294. Van Dyke was 23 of 36 for 290 yards and two touchdowns.
Van Dyke’s star receiver Xavier Restrepo had six catches for 117 yards after last week’s 193-yard receiving performance against Louisville. Restrepo is seven yards shy of a 1,000-yard season.
Henry Parrish Jr. added 111 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries for the Canes.
“Felt really good,’’ Van Dyke said. “I wish we made this happen earlier in the year. Because we’re clicking on all cylinders right now, which kind of sucks, [because] that’s the end of the regular season. We finished the last two games really well.”
Van Dyke, who grew up in Connecticut, reveled in the sunny New England day, temperatures in the mid-to-upper 40s.
“I love this stuff. I love this weather,’’ Van Dyke said said. “It honestly wasn’t that bad out there. You’re running around, having fun, 45 degrees. A lot of the guys went out without their shirts on to show how tough they were.
“We did a great job coming up here from Miami, 80 degree weather all the time, and making it happen.”
Leading 28-7 at halftime, the Hurricanes had possession first, but Van Dyke fumbled on second-and-6 from the Boston 45. The Eagles’ Gilbert Tongrongou recovered and BC scored eight plays later on a 21-yard rush up the middle by Castellanos to cut its deficit to 28-14.
But thanks to Van Dyke’s clutch 28-yard completion to Xavier Restrepo on fourth-and-4 from the BC 33, the Hurricanes culminated an 11-play, 92-yard drive to score a touchdown on a 4-yard catch by Jacolby George late in the third quarter.
“That was the biggest drive of the game for us,’’ Restrepo said. “Just so the tides wouldn’t turn to their side. Yeah, the offense did a great job of fighting through the adversity.’’
George, who tallied 89 receiving yards on six catches, was held out of the first quarter, along with receiver Brashard Smith, as Cristobal’s punishment for their late unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in last week’s loss.
Defensively, UM also stepped up from last week’s underwhelming performance.
The Canes had interceptions by Marcellius Pulliam and Ahmad Moten. Moten’s fourth-quarter interception led to Andres Borregales’ 26-yard field goal that put UM up 38-14 before the Eagle’s final touchdown.
But UM wasn’t done. Running back Ajay Allen’s 30-yard rush with 1:07 left capped the scoring.
The game didn’t begin as well for the Hurricanes.
After Miami won the opening toss and deferred, Boston College drove 75 yards in about five minutes. Kye Robichaux’s 1-yard plunge made it 7-0 at 9:55.
UM took over on its own 33, then drove 67 yards over a season-long-tying 15 plays for a 1-yard touchdown run by Mark Fletcher to tie it at 7 at 2:29. Fletcher caught an 11-yard pass and had six carries during the seven-and-a-half-minute drive, including a 10-yarder to put UM on the BC 3. Van Dyke also hit Colbie Young with a 15-yard completion.
Miami took the 14-7 lead with a 15-yard rush by Parrish at 12:49 of the second quarter. The Canes’ seven-play, 63-yard drive lasted just over three minutes. Parrish’s touchdown was his first since Oct. 7 against Georgia Tech. The 15 yards equaled one fewer than Parrish’s yardage in the last three games combined.
“That’s a really good offense,’’ UM linebacker Francisco Mauigo said. “The quarterback can make plays off his feet. He can make plays with his arm, too. After that drive, the defense just locked in and we had a couple adjustments containing the quarterback and that was about it. We just executed the game plan.”
The Canes’ next touchdown, with four minutes left in the half, came on a 10-yard pass to Colbie Young. The 69-yard drive was highlighted by passes of 24 yards to Restrepo and 19 yards to Jacolby George. UM led 21-7. The two-touchdown lead was Miami’s first since Sept. 23 at Temple.
With 21 seconds left in the half, Parrish’s 2-yard rush put UM up 28-7 heading into the locker room.
“This win is incredible,’’ Mauigoa said. “It’s an amazing feeling. Credit to everybody putting in the work — the coaches, my brothers working endlessly every week to get results like this. Nothing better than winning.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2023 at 3:35 PM.
