Miami Hurricanes carry perfect record into road game against Georgia Tech
Not much rehashing needs to be done about last season’s matchup between the Miami Hurricanes and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
The memory is still fresh.
But just in case, here’s a quick recap: Miami had a three-point lead against Georgia Tech with 33 seconds left and had possession of the ball. A kneel-down on third-and-10 would have sealed the game and improved Miami to 5-0. Instead, Miami ran the ball, Georgia Tech forced and recovered a fumble and scored the game-winning touchdown to stun Miami, 23-20.
Miami’s season went into a tailspin after that, a 4-0 start turning into a 7-6 finish.
The No. 4 Hurricanes (9-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) are hoping to avoid that misfortune this year as they once again carry an undefeated record into a matchup with Georgia Tech (5-4, 3-3 ACC) on Saturday. Kickoff from Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium is scheduled for noon, and the game will be televised on ESPN.
For Miami, which has the inside track to make it to the ACC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff if it clears the rest of its regular-season schedule, what happened last year is in the past. It has no control over what this year’s team does or is capable of doing.
“We approach this game the way we approach every single game: A 1-0 mentality and prepare really hard,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said Monday.
But Cristobal earlier this season did discuss how the team “didn’t follow the process” in place at the end of that Georgia Tech game last season and he now has a time management coach on staff this season. That goes beyond end-of-game situations. It also includes performance in what teams refer to as the “middle eight” of a game — the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half — in an attempt to gain extra possessions when possible.
“it’s been kind of a process always; it’s just a little bit more, I would say visible and present, but it’s the same processes,” Cristobal said. “It’s constant interaction, so that there’s a fail-safe. There’s no holes. There’s no loopholes in process. ... How you end a half, how you start a half, and a lot of different areas that probably don’t make it to the media in terms of trying to gain an extra possession, trying to diffuse an extra possession to the other side, trying to save your timeouts in case you’re in an opportunity to get a possession back. All the scenarios have played out just about for the most part. It’s been a lot of diligence, with a lot of people working on it.”
It’s safe to say things have worked out to this point. Miami is 9-0 and features the top offense in the country, placing first nationally in scoring (47.4 points per game) and total offense (556.9 yards per game) while also being tied with Ole Miss for first in yards per play (7.71).
The Canes will face a Yellow Jackets defense that ranks as one of the best that the Hurricanes have faced this season. Georgia Tech enters the matchup ranked 28th in yards allowed per game (323.3) and tied for 51st in points allowed per game (22.4). They also rank tied for 32nd nationally and tied for sixth in the ACC with 56 tackles for loss.
“They’re very active. They’re very athletic. They do a really good job on defense, and there’s subtle movements up front, the way the front, middle and back end fit together, is pretty unique, in my opinion. They do an excellent job on third downs (10th nationally, holding opponents to just a 29.57 percent conversion rate). ... They’re really good. If they get you in third-and-medium and third-and-long, they typically get you off the field. So our challenge again this week is to be great on third down and and really manage the game in a way where we don’t really have third and longs because their third down defense is challenging.”
And the Hurricanes, despite being an 11.5-point favorite, knows not to take any team lightly. They already have had to overcome three double-digit second-half deficits during conference play — down by 10 against Virginia Tech, 25 against Cal and 11 against Duke — to keep their perfect record intact.
Cristobal said those needs for comeback wins have given the team a “dose of reality” that he hopes will fuel them as the rest of the season plays out.
“It’s just playing to a standard as it relates to effort and physicality,” Cristobal said. “Any type of lapse in college football, and you can you can pay the price. And if you don’t hold yourself accountable from within, then the opponent’s gonna probably hold you accountable on Saturday. So it’s a huge point of emphasis.”
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