Big plays from under-the-radar players helped Miami Hurricanes in win over Wake Forest
The No. 8 Miami Hurricanes were only up by one score going into the fourth quarter against Wake Forest before eventually scoring three touchdowns in the final eight minutes to pull away in their 42-14 win.
While several of Miami’s key contributors produced down the stretch, there were several unheralded players who stepped up in the second half to ensure the Hurricanes left Hard Rock Stadium with a win and kept their hopes of reaching the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game and, potentially, the College Football Playoff alive.
Among them:
▪ Defensive lineman Ahmad Moten Sr.: The redshirt sophomore, an underrated member of the Hurricanes’ defensive tackle rotation, missed the first half of the game because of targeting call late in the Hurricanes’ loss to Georgia Tech on Nov. 9.
But once he got on the field, Moten made his impact known. Perhaps no play from him was bigger than on Wake Forest’s third drive of the second half.
The Demon Deacons started at Miami’s 33-yard line after an Xavier Restrepo fumble and converted a fourth-and-7 on that drive to get into the red zone. A 2-yard gain and a false start after that set Wake Forest up with a second-and-13 from the Miami 23.
After that, Powell and Moten each recorded back-to-back sacks to move Wake Forest back to the 31. A false start then had the Demon Deacons facing fourth and 33 before they ultimately punted.
Moten’s sack was the first of his UM career.
▪ Defensive back Dylan Day and linebacker Bobby Pruitt: After the Hurricanes scored their first touchdown of the second half on a Cam Ward 1-yard rushing touchdown with 7:58 left to play, a pair of true freshman helped Miami promptly get the ball back.
Day forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff return and Pruitt recovered it to give Miami the ball back at the Wake Forest 25-yard line.
Pruitt has two of Miami’s three fumble recoveries this season; Linebacker Raul “Popo” Aguirre has the other.
▪ Running back Jordan Lyle: Speaking of true freshman, Lyle was the one who scored on the Hurricanes’ drive after Day and Pruitt got Miami the ball back. In fact, Lyle touched the ball on all three plays of the drive — running to the left for 4 yards on first down, catching a pass from Ward for 3 yards on second down and then scampering 18 yards on third down for the touchdown that put Miami up 35-14.
Lyle, who had just six carries for 13 yards through Miami’s first six conference games, ran for a career-high 115 yards on just seven carries in the win, with 96 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter.
▪ Wide receiver Jacolby George: While George has more of an established pedigree on the Hurricanes than the others mentioned, he has flown under the radar at times this season with Xavier Restrepo breaking school records and the team having so many options in the passing game. On Saturday, George had a team-high seven catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns. This included a 15-yard catch with 1:53 left to play to cap scoring.
George was also pivotal on Miami’s first drive of the game, catching three catches for 28 yards, capped by 13-yard touchdown that ended the 13-play, 84-yard drive that ate up the first 6:22 of the game.
George on the season has 45 catches for 607 yards and seven touchdowns.
Injury updates
Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal, speaking Monday morning on WQAM’s Joe Rose Show, said sophomore cornerback Damari Brown is “right there” when it comes to his hopeful return to the field for Miami’s regular-season finale against Syracuse on Saturday (3:30 p.m., ESPN).
Cristobal had said last week that Brown, defensive lineman Elijah Alston and offensive lineman Ryan Rodriguez were going to be game-time decisions for the Wake Forest game. Brown was the only one of those three who fully participated in pregame warm-ups on Saturday, but Cristobal said the team decided it “felt it was best to hold off.”
Neither Brown nor Rodriguez has played since Miami’s season-opener against the Florida Gators on Aug. 31. Alston has missed five of the past six games, only suiting up for Miami’s win against Louisville on Oct. 19.
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