Miami Gardens, FL — In the first-ever meeting against the Chippewas, the Miami Hurricanes looked like they were playing a ranked opponent for the entire game. A late interception by sophomore Al Blades Jr. helped seal a 17-12 victory over Central Michigan Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium. The Canes struggled to get any consistent offense going and could not protect quarterback Jarren Williams with any regularity once again. Williams still has the tendency to hold on to the ball too long and lacked in quick decision making.
“We left a lot of plays out there and we’re definitely not complacent. Happy with the win but we gotta get better,” said Williams. “I gotta use my legs a little bit more. When stuff’s not there, I gotta escape the pocket and us my legs a little bit more to help out our offense.”
Quarterback Jarren Williams: The redshirt @CanesFootball freshman says he needs to get the ball out of his hands and use his legs to help the offense. Williams took 4 sacks and a safety in today’s 17-12 win over Central Michigan. @FootballHotbed pic.twitter.com/zm6FU9orAh
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminReport) September 22, 2019
The defense once again, for the most part, was solid holding Central Michigan to 248 total yards including 27 yards rushing. The turnover chain made three appearances on the day with the first two coming in the first half. Redshirt freshman Gregory Rousseau wore the chain for the first time in his career after he caused a strip sack and fumble in the first quarter and Pat Bethel adorned the heavy jewelry in the second quarter after recovering a fumble of his own. The Canes failed to convert both turnovers into points.
The Chips made it interesting late in the fourth quarter in a game that was not the most entertaining. Central Michigan quarterback David Moore snuck in on a one-yard touchdown after a series of Miami penalties with 3:21 left in the game to cut the lead to five. Penalties were an issue for the Hurricanes as they committed 13 penalties for 93 yards.
“It wasn’t just the number of penalties which was absurd and unacceptable, it was the timing of the penalties,” said Head Coach Manny Diaz. “Our defense could not or would not get off the field in the first half due to penalties on third downs or on downs that were going to be third downs.”
Head Coach Manny Diaz: “It was our second win but our fourth best performance.” Coach was most disappointed with the timing of several penalties from his team. @CanesFootball goes into the bye week (2-2). @FootballHotbed pic.twitter.com/6sAEQeE69D
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminReport) September 22, 2019
On the ensuing possession, Miami would need a few first downs to seal the game, but similar to the entire game Miami could not run the ball well enough to move the chains. The Canes only mustered 51 yards on the ground.
“We thought [our run game in general] was showing some really good signs [but] today I don’t think we ran the ball very well not just in terms of our stats but just the way we just hit things and the way we blocked things off the ball, it was substandard.”
The lifeless Canes running game could not sustain any drives in the first half which is a cause for concern for the future of this season. Junior running back DeeJay Dallas, who came into the game averaging 8.4 yards per carry, just could not get it going.
Offensively the Canes looked the best on their two drives to start both halves. To start the game Williams looked efficient engineering an 8-play 85-yard drive that ended with a Dallas one-yard touchdown run on 4th and Goal. In the second half, the Hurricanes scored on an 8-play 75-yard drive that concluded with a 6-yard touchdown catch by KJ Osborn.
The Canes go into a bye week and face ACC conference opponents from this point forward. The Coastal division title is still a realistic goal for the Hurricanes as the loss to coastal foe North Carolina can be overcome if the Tar Heels lose two more conference games and the Canes win out. Unfortunately, UNC’s 24-18 loss to Wake Forest September 13th was played as a non-conference ACC game. North Carolina fell to non-conference opponent Appalachian State 34-31 on Saturday. The play up front on offense has to change if the Canes have any shot at the Coastal title.
The young offensive line that consists of two true freshmen, a sophomore, a redshirt sophomore, and a junior looked average at best Saturday. The young group allowed multiple QB pressures and four sacks including a safety.
Jarren Williams is statistically one of the best quarterbacks in the country. He came into today’s game completing 73.1 percent of his passes and has a 164.6 passer rating (good for 33rd in the country). The problem with Williams is clearly not his passing ability but his inability to avoid sacks. He was tied for 2nd in the country in sacks taken. Today he finished the game with completing 17 of 24 passes for 250 yards with one touchdown pass and zero interceptions.
Canes have now won 19 straight non-conference games.
Attendance 49,997
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