Miami Gardens, FL — In the past, the Miami Hurricanes failed to recover mentally from a big loss. Last week, Miami was embarrassed 42-17 against the number one team in the nation, the Clemson Tigers. This week, an early noon kick against a 3-2 Pittsburgh Panther team would test Miami’s mental muscle.
Miami passed the mental test defeating Pitt 31-19 behind the arm of D’Eriq King tossing four touchdown passes with two going to junior tight end Will Mallory. King keeps his Heisman chances alive completing 16 of his 31 passes for 222 yards.
“His relentless nature inspires everyone on the offense,” said Head Coach Manny Diaz of King. “We got good leadership on our football team, we were disappointed and a little bit angry coming off of last week, but you got to put it behind and that’s a difficult situation. You got the noon kickoff, not a super juicy environment because of the restrictions that we have against a team that’s hurt and going to play with a sense of desperation. It’s just not going to be an easy game regardless of your mental mindset. It says a lot about the leadership of our football team.”
Pittsburgh would be without their four-year starting quarterback Kenny Pickett due to an ankle injury and starting Miami tight end Brevin Jordan did not play as a result of a shoulder injury suffered last week against Clemson.
“We challenged them to be the best defense in the stadium today.” @Coach_MannyDiaz believes his @CanesFootball defense getting off the field on 3rd down was the difference in the game. @FootballHotbed pic.twitter.com/WtUoX3E6fS
— Marcus Benjamin (@_BenjaminReport) October 17, 2020
“A player like Brevin who’s out for the week, someones got to fill those big shoes,” said Mallory. “I knew I had to step up, it was a good team win. It’s really easy to score when the scheme is that good.”
Miami would get on the board first as King found junior running back Cam’Ron Harris, from Miami Carol City, wide open over the middle for a 35-yard touchdown. Harris snuck out of the backfield for his third reception for a touchdown this year.
Miami would extend their lead after a failed fake punt attempt by Pitt in the second quarter. Pittsburgh’s Brandon Hill out of Apopka, FL Wekiva took a direct snap and attempted to get the corner to convert on a 4th and 10 from the Pitt 42-yard line. True freshman Isaiah Dunson made the stop to set up the Miami drive at the Pitt 45. Miami would score on the gifted drive as King would find Mallory for a six-yard touchdown. The junior tight end caught the ball in the flat and dove for the pylon to extend the Miami lead to 14-0 with 6:44 left in the first half.
Both defenses were able to get off the field often in the first half as Miami forced four punts while Pitt forced three punts of their own. The lone turnover in the half came from a deflected pass from King at the line that fell into the arms of redshirt junior defensive back Paris Ford. Ford would return the football to the Miami 12-yard line to set the Panthers up with great field position. On third down, senior defensive end Quincy Roche stopped former Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons running back Vinson Davis for a tackle for loss at the 8-yard line which would force a second field goal. Miami would take a 14-6 lead into halftime.
“It was my best game as far as the run is concerned,” said Roche. “I got to pass rush better and win some of those one-on-one matchups.”
Roche had seven tackles including four tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a QB hurry, and a half-sack. Third down conversions were abysmal on both sides as Pitt converted three of 17 attempts and Miami converted four of 13.
Miami would start the half with an efficient six-play 75-yard drive that would end with a Miami score. Senior wide receiver Mike Harley, formerly of St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, caught the football in the red zone on the sideline and spun out of a tackle at the goal line to help extend the Miami lead to 21-6. Pitt, which played in close games with Miami in recent years, would make it a game in the second half.
Ten quick points by Pittsburgh made it a one-score game in the third quarter. Pitt added another field goal as Jordan Addison caught a 55-yarder to help set the Panthers up for the field goal. Addison had 8 catches for 147 yards on the day. On the following possession, an interception by Marquis Williams, also from Cardinal Gibbons, set up a 1-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Moraga to make it a 21-16 game in the 3rd quarter.
“We challenged them to be the best defense in the stadium today and I thought they were,” said Coach Diaz of Miami’s defense. “Red zone defense is a mentality to get down there and make the stops that we made, I think Blake Baker and our staff deserve a lot of credit for that. That’s three years now that Pitt has only scored one touchdown against our defense. I’m really proud of them of how they never panicked when they hit some big plays and made them kick field goals.”
Miami would seize momentum getting their first turnover of the game when redshirt junior Jaelen Phillips collided with redshirt freshman quarterback Joey Yellen. The collision would jar the football loose and Roche would recover the football at the Pitt 38-yard line. King would toss his fourth touchdown of the day as King easily tossed the football to a wide-open Mallory for a 45-yard touchdown. The score made it a 28-16 game with 5:40 left in the third quarter. Mallory’s only two catches in the game went for touchdowns.
“I’m super proud of that guys,” said King of his teammates. “We put the last week behind us and tried to get a W any way we could. Honestly, Pitt has one of the best defenses in the country so we knew we had a tough challenge in back-to-back weeks. We did enough to win today but there’s always room for improvement.”
Miami hosts Virginia next week in primetime while Pittsburgh will try to pull an upset over Notre Dame next week.
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