‘No flinch’: How the Miami Hurricanes once again rallied from a deficit to stay unbeaten
The Miami Hurricanes weren’t necessarily concerned about where things stood early in the third quarter Saturday.
Yes, they were trailing by 11 to a Duke team they were favored to beat by three touchdowns, but the sidelines remained calm.
“Just keep playing football,” quarterback Cam Ward said. “It’s a four-quarter game, whether you’re down by 11 or 30.”
The Hurricanes, like they have all season, kept playing.
And the Hurricanes, like they have all season, left the field with a win, this time outscoring Duke 36-3 over the final 25 minutes of action en route to a 53-31 win over the Blue Devils. Ward, who finished the game with 400 passing yards and five touchdown passes, led the Hurricanes to touchdowns on five of their final seven drives while the defense held Duke to just a field goal in that span after giving up four consecutive touchdown drives midway through the game.
The result: Miami’s third second-half comeback victory in Atlantic Coast Conference play this year.
“The game is never finished until that that clock hits zero,” linebacker Francisco Mauigoa said. “Everybody’s just trying to lock in and play on the edge, be poised and be confident in what we do.”
“There’s just no flinch in the group,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said.
It isn’t always the prettiest, but the Hurricanes (9-0, 5-0 ACC) aren’t exactly aiming for style points.
They’re going for wins.
And so far, they’ve won every game they’ve played.
Only four other teams at the Football Bowl Subdivision level — the Oregon Ducks, Indiana Hoosiers, BYU Cougars and Army Black Knights — can say the same at this point in the season.
“Chapter 9 ended in 1-0,” Cristobal said. “After today, it’s on to Chapter 10.”
Clarity in ACC picture
Miami’s win on Saturday along with a pair of results later in the day helped provide clarity for the Hurricanes’ path moving forward.
With the No. 11 Clemson Tigers falling 33-21 at home to the Louisville Cardinals and the No. 20 SMU Mustangs beating the No. 18 Pittsburgh Panthers 48-25, only two ACC teams remain undefeated in conference play: Miami and SMU (8-1, 5-0 ACC).
That puts the Hurricanes and Mustangs in the driver’s seat to meet in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 7 should they run the table with the rest of their conference slate.
Miami’s final three ACC games are noon Saturday at Georgia Tech (5-4, 3-3 ACC), home against Wake Forest (4-4, 2-2 ACC) on Nov. 23 and at Syracuse (6-2, 3-2 ACC) on Nov. 30.
SMU’s final three conference games are home against Boston College (4-4, 1-3 ACC) on Nov. 16, at Virginia (4-4, 2-3 ACC) on Nov. 23 and home against Cal (4-4, 0-4 ACC) on Nov. 30.
Clemson (6-2, 5-1 ACC) and Pitt (7-1, 3-1 ACC) are the only other conference teams with fewer than two losses in league play. The two face each other on Nov. 16, meaning at least one of them will have at least two league losses by the time the regular season ends.
Moving up in AP poll
The Hurricanes on Sunday moved up one spot to No. 4 in the AP top-25 poll. It’s their highest ranking since sitting at No. 2 late in the 2017 season, when they started the year 10-0 before dropping their final three games of the season.
But the more important poll comes out on Tuesday, when the College Football Playoff unveils its first weekly top-25 ranking of the season. The CFP ranking, decided by a 13-person selection committee, will determine the 12-team playoff field.
A reminder: The highest five ranked conference champions are guaranteed spots in the College Football Playoff, with the top four of those teams receiving a first-round bye. The next seven highest ranked teams round out the field.
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