Miami started off the year ranked 14th in the nation and were a very hopeful team who thought they they had a Heisman caliber QB who could take down the collegiate juggernaut of Alabama. Now they sit at 2-3 without a win against Power 5 team.
Their only FBS win came in a nail biter against Appalachian State where they won with a late field goal. Other than that, their closest game against an FBS opponent came last night in a loss to Virginia, 30-28.
Last night, Miami fell behind 9-0 and went in to the half down 16-7. They looked almost completely lifeless as their #1 and #2 Quarterbacks, D’Eriq King and Jake Garcia, were both injured. This put the ball in Freshman, Tyler Van Dyke’s, hands.
Van Dyke struggled off the hop, going 5 of 17 for only 94 yards in the first half, but it is as you would expect any freshman to do. However, he was able to find his game in the 2nd half, going 10 of 12 for 124 yards.
Van Dyke willed the team in to the game and brought them back multiple times from 2 score deficits. He also led a 13 play, 75 yards drive in the last four minutes to give Miami a chance to kick a 33-yard field goal for the win.
For as poor as he played in the first half, it seemed like he shook off the nerves as his second half performance definitely caught everyone’s attention.
The loss is not on Van Dyke’s performance or even 18-year-old, Andy Borregales field goal attempt that smoked the left upright, but on Diaz’s coaching.
Manny Diaz and the Miami offense were lighting up the Cavaliers in the 4th quarter. As I mentioned, they marched down the field for 75 yards and got in the red zone within the last 2 minutes. The Virginia defensive line looked beyond fatigued and it was just a matter of time before Miami hammered home a TD.
Why take your foot off the gas? Why not continued to pound their exhausted defensive line, get the TD, and trust your defense to hold Virginia off the scoreboard? A TD would have required a Virginia TD to win. It would have forced a very mediocre Virginia QB to march down the field, something he had not done since the 1st half.
Even Cavalier’s QB, Brennan Armstrong, admitted that he “absolutely played like crap”. He finished the game 25 of 44 for 268 yards with 1 TD and 1 Int. Armstrong was bailed out by the Cavalier’s run game and Miami dropping a few “sure thing” interceptions. While watching the game, it did not look like Armstrong could hit anything further than 10 yards. His only touchdown pass came off a miraculous catch which I doubt he could hit again for $1,000,000.
So, if you are Manny Diaz and you have an opposing QB who is not playing Sharp, why would you not go for it? Score the TD and say “come and get it big boy”? Instead, you make the safe plays and it bites you in the ass. Much like I say about the prevent defense, the only thing it prevents is you from winning.
On top of that, you are putting the conference opener and a primetime game on the foot of an 18-year-old kid. Not taking anything away from Any Bojangles over there, but wouldn’t you rather go for a touchdown instead of having to rely on a youngster who was kicking for a high school team less than a year ago?
In summary, last night’s game is a perfect analogy for how the Miami season has gone. It started dismal, showed signs of hope, only to be blown by a poor coaching decision which ripped the hearts out of the Hurricane faithful.
Knowing how these things work, Diaz will make a comeback this season and contend for the fairly wide-open ACC Coastal and win just enough games to save his job. I call it the Gus Malzahn strategy as he did that for years in Auburn. Win either just enough or the right games to save your ass.
How much longer will the U fans give Diaz? How many more poor decisions will he make before he gets fired? Watch out Canes fans, this is going to be a rough ride.