Miami Hurricanes, Cristobal fail to find redemption in 41-31 ACC loss at North Carolina | Opinion
The most vilified, embarrassed and mocked football coach in America and his team needed to respond in only one way on Saturday night in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
By sitting bolt-upright in the coffin they had been assigned and shaking a fist.
By winning.
They did not.
They had the chance, at unbeaten and No. 12-ranked North Carolina in a huge Atlantic Coast Conference game that felt like must-win for the Miami Hurricanes, to declare their season still was vitally alive.
They did not.
The headline out front on ESPN.com Saturday had asked, “’Start of a Miami spiral?”
It didn’t mean a perfectly thrown pass. It meant a downward spiral.
The then-unbeaten Hurricanes had lost at home to lowly Georgia Tech the week before unimaginably, with three calamities piling on in the last seconds. Coach Mario Cristobal’s bonehead decision to not take a knee to kill the clock. Then a lost fumble on a run. Then the defense allowing a long touchdown pass with one second left.
How would they respond?
This was how:
With a 41-31 loss, a fifth in a row to UNC.
With a resulting 4-2 season record that feels worse, because it is 0-2 in conference play and because that 4-0 start seems long ago, followed by the national embarrassment vs. Georgia Tech and now the national reminder Saturday night, on ABC, that the once-mighty Canes can no longer lay any claim to the top tier in the ACC, let alone to a return to national prominence.
The postgame tenor of conversation was whether Miami could hold off that “spiral.”
“This team is special,” said quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, who shook off a bum game last week to throw for four TDs. “We know what we’re capable of. We can’t fold.”
Said defensive end Rueben Bain, “We trust what we’ve built all season.”
Cristobal: “The way our organization is built, there’s no time for self-pity, no time for negativity or pointing fingers or getting in a shell and balling up. It’s really addressing the things that we gotta get better at, and getting better. That’s it. That’s all that we can be focused on.”
Let’s see.
Meantime thoughts of a shot at the conference championship game are not quite lunatic ravings, but getting there.
After last week’s stain of a debacle, UM needed a victory Saturday so badly.
Cristobal did even more so.
UM fans crucified the second-year coach last week for his inexplicable and costly coaching gaffe. And should have. How that game ended hasn’t stopped haunting.
“That’s the only choice that we have in this program. The ability to bounce back strong, to make that tradition again,” Cristobal had said before the game. “That always used to be a very strong part of our tradition. This is a great opportunity to go forward, and to play our best football going forward.”
They did not Saturday., against a clearly better league foe.
And the schedule for the No. 25-ranked-but-not-for-long Canes does not get easier.
Next Miami hosts nemesis Clemson, the long-time ACC king presently unranked but still dangerous.
A trip to play No. 4-ranked archrival Florida State is Nov. 11.
A game vs. No. 14-ranked Louisville comes Nov. 18.
Then there’s the supposedly “easy” games that don’t seem so easy when, on top of a 5-7 debut season for Cristobal, the Canes just dumbed a shameful loss to Georgia Tech and now failed badly in a litmus test challenge at UNC.
Suddenly, UM fans forever dreaming about a long-awaited sixth national championship are left again facing the prospects of eking into a third-level bowl game and turning to next year.
The first half Saturday was encouraging. You thought UM had it in it.
A 17-14 lead, led by Van Dyke scoring strikes to Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George.
But UM’s defense gave up 24 unanswered UNC points in the second half half before Miami countered with Van Dyke’s third TD pass and second to Restrepo, then one to Brashard Smith in garbage time.
The problem was, Tar Heels’ QB Drake Maye, a likely top-five NFL draft pick, was twirling four TD passes — three of them to Devontez Walker, a three-time transfer starting his first game for the Heels after a long eligibility fight after the NCAA reversed a decision to allow it (unfortunately for Miami).
Walker, along with UNC fans, kept giving the downward “U” sign to mock Miami.
UM’s defense allowed more than 500 opponent yards in total offense. Miami had four turnovers, a stupid number.
It was otherwise a stout effort, just not one good enough.
So, what to make of UM in Year 2 of Cristobal?
I believe in this coach, still. Mostly I believe in his recruiting.
I believe Miami, right now, at 4-2, is good, and capable of a season that ends with optimism.
Two losses in a row, though, have left everything in a show-me state. Show has a 9-9 record a year and a half in and a 3-7 mark in the conference.
After last week’s jarring debacle and Saturday’s missed opportunity for fast redemption, now here comes Clemson, and then FSU.
To many fans, faith in Cristobal and the broader direction of the program may be wavering.
So, how good are you, Canes? We’re cant be sure yet.
Show us.
This story was originally published October 14, 2023 at 11:37 PM.
