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Miami Gardens, FL – Last year Miami suffered defeat to the Panthers on a cold Black Friday in Pittsburgh. The Hurricanes were ACC Coastal champs and had their sights set on the College Football Playoff if they were able to leave Pitt with a victory. Unfortunately the game did not go as planned, the Canes suffered a tough 24-14 loss and the season spiraled downward from that point forward. This year, Pittsburgh is on their way to the ACC championship game, but the Canes are the team ending their season on a high note. Miami had their strongest defensive performance of the season in a 24-3 victory over Pitt at Hard Rock Stadium.
“A year ago we got upset at their house, this year they got upset at our house,” said Head Coach Mark Richt. “I think our our guys rose to the occasion. I think it was very obvious that is was a very dominating defensive performance.”
Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett made his first start against the Hurricanes last season, but his second start against the Hurricanes was not as pleasant. Pickett was sacked six times and only converted one third down out of fifteen. Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz could not be more pleased with the way his defense played.
“We are just so thankful to coach these guys,” said Coach Diaz. “This is a special unit. This is something does not come around very often. This is a unit that should be appreciated for years to come. At this school, that’s hard because there have been some amazing defenses that have come and gone through here.”
Miami leads the ACC in tackles for loss over Clemson and will lose plenty of leaders to graduation including their leader and safety Jaquan Johnson. The former Miami Killian grad, spoke to his teammates before the game and made a quicksand analogy he got from a movie that inspired his team on game day.
“I took it from The Replacements and I just twisted it,” said Johnson with a smile. “The first game we started to get in quicksand. The more you’re in quicksand and you try to get out of it alone, you sink deeper. Those five games that we won in a row, we were pulling each other out of the quicksand. When we lost those five games we were trying to do it alone again. We had to refocus get reunited again and take each other out of the quicksand.”
Safety @AuthenticMade_Q inspired his team with a quicksand analogy he got from the movie “The Replacements.” The senior says the @CanesFootball aim to dominate on defense every game. @FootballHotbed pic.twitter.com/Jx0TkbI15e
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminReport) November 25, 2018
Jaquan summed up the entire season in a few words and his teammates responded.
“As a secondary we felt like we needed to stick together,” said senior cornerback Michael Jackson. “All of us felt the same we just needed somebody to come out and say it and he was that guy.”
The offense was inspired by the two running mates in the backfield, sophomore Dee Jay Dallas and junior Travis Homer. Dallas ignited the home crowd in the second quarter when he took a punt 65 yards for a touchdown. It was the first time the Hurricanes returned a punt back for a touchdown in back to back games since 2005. In the previous week Jeff Thomas returned a punt for a touchdown versus Virginia Tech. The sophomore receiver Thomas was dismissed from the team this week due to disciplinary reasons.
On the play, Homer delivered a crushing block that was mistakenly called for targeting. The refs picked up the flag after review and the touchdown stood for the Canes first touchdown. Canes would take a 10-0 lead into halftime.
.@13kDeejay said he felt the 💨of the block delivered by his teammate @travishomer4 on his 65-yard punt return for a touchdown. He says Travis was the spark to get the offense going as @CanesFootball defeated @Pitt_FB on senior day 24-3 @FootballHotbed pic.twitter.com/sOt4Bwb6rw
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminReport) November 25, 2018
“Travis he’s a physical dude and that’s just what he does,” said Dallas. “He sparked our offense, he was doing his thing.”
Homer rushed for 168 yards on eight carries. That is an absurd 21 yards per rush. He got most of his total on a 64-yard touchdown run late in the 3rd quarter.
Junior Running Back Travis Homer
An emotional Gerald Willis thought about all he’s been through and said he will never forget his senior day at the University of Miami. The senior defensive tackle was dismissed from the University of Florida for altercations with players, suspended by Miami and also endured a serious knee injury. Now Willis is projected to be a first round NFL draft pick in next year’s draft.
“I cried when I was walking out as a captain. It’s been a long journey for me, I was speechless.”
At the 11:58 mark in the fourth quarter on fourth and 2, Dallas took the snap from the wildcat formation and ran for 28 yard to the four yard line. He lined up in the wildcat again to score for second time and potentially put the game out of reach.
Red-shirt freshman N’kosi Perry seems to trending upward giving reasons for Canes fans to be optimistic for 2019, although his stat-line will not prove so. Perry went 6 for 24 for 52 yards with zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. The Hurricane’s receivers dropped several passes not helping their young quarterback sustain drives.
“We couldn’t get it going throwing and catching,” said Richt. “We had a couple times we missed some open people, we had a couple times we hit guys right in the heart and we couldn’t gain momentum throwing the football.”
Homer is now 31 yards away from a 1,000 yard season and will look to add to that total in the bowl game. The destination is yet to be determined but his teammates hope it’s in a warm location.
“Hopefully we go somewhere that’s kinda hot,” said Willis.
Jacksonville, FL, El Paso, TX and Shreveport, LA are likely destinations.
