Miami fans could get used to the shoe being on the other foot for once.
In a welcomed turnaround on a Friday night at Hard Rock Stadium, it was the Miami Hurricanes that stood their ground and made the key plays when they needed them the most to knock off the #20 Virginia Cavaliers, 17-9.
A snooze fest in Miami Gardens turned interesting quick as the two teams traded 4 total scoring drives in the 4th quarter. In the end, with UM up 10-9 and the clock running under 3 minutes, it was none other than QB N’Kosi Perry’s scrambling, diving effort into the endzone on 3rd and goal from the UVA 3 that iced the game for the Canes, finishing off a 10 play, 75-yard drive.
Who else could it have been other than Perry, who, making his first start since November 2018, saw his season go off the rails against UVA last year in an ugly 2 INT performance where he was benched. Redemption never tasted so sweet for Perry, who finished 16 for 27 (59%) for 182 yards passing, 18 yards rushing, and 2 total TD’s.
The game was not over after Perry’s endzone scamper, though. With 2 and a half minutes remaining, UVA’s final drive stalled near their own 50-yard line, as UVA quarterback Bryce Perkins’ heave into the endzone from his own 46 fell short and, immediately afterwards, the Hurricanes were dancing for their first ACC win of the year.
With offense at a premium, the Canes capitalized on a masterful 11 play, 78-yard opening drive that culminated with Perry finding RB DeeJay Dallas on a designed screen pass that left nothing but green grass for the junior RB to house a 17-yard catch. Dallas finished with 13 carries for 63 yards to go with 2 catches for 14 yards and the TD.
The Hurricanes were rolling early… until they weren’t. After UM’s opening scoring drive, Dan Enos’ offense went completely cold, compiling six (YES SIX) straight punts through the next 2 and a half quarters. The numbers were uglier than you can imagine on those six drives: 23 plays for 33 total yards, along with 4 three-and-outs.
With the attack unit sputtering, it was the defense that continually rose up and kept Miami’s head above water. Diaz wasn’t shy about publicly announcing that he would be more hands on with the defense this week after the unit gave up 42 points to Virginia Tech the previous game. Well, there seemed to be a different air about the Miami defense this week, as they played with a ton of aggression and passion to hold Perkins and his UVA offense out of the endzone on the night. As a team, Miami totaled seven tackles for loss and five sacks against the Cavaliers.
Making his first career start, DE Gregory Rousseau was a star, getting in the backfield all night and making Perkins’ life miserable; Rousseau finished with 7 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, a QB hurry, and a forced fumble on the game.
“I came in a little nervous, but when you get on the field, you’re thinking about the next play, so it all went away. When I do my assignment, good things come to me,” Rousseau said of his first start.
“We were definitely hyped up for sure, highly-motivated... That was our best defensive game by far.”
Tied for 95th in redzone defense coming into the game, the UM defense made their biggest stands inside their own 20, turning away the Cavs each time they sniffed the endzone and forcing UVA head coach Bronco Mendenhall to settle for FG’s.
The offense wouldn’t let the defense’s play go to waste in vain, though. Going into the 4th quarter, just when the offense seemed hopeless and out of gas coming off 6 straight punts, Enos and his unit put together their best drives of the game. The Canes mixed the run and the pass to keep the UVA defense off balance, the line protected well, and Perry led back-to-back 70+ yard drives to end any Virginia comeback hopes.
To cap it all off, even K Turner Davidson got in on the action. In his first career game, Davidson converted all three of his kicks (2 XP’s, 19-yard FG), putting to bed UM’s kicking game concerns at least for one night.
“Obviously, I’m extremely proud of our football team,” Diaz said postgame. “It was a very hard-fought win, which is what we expected it to be. We had talked all week about how strong our culture was, even on the backs of some of these losses to start the season.
“If we trusted in [the culture] and continued to nurture it, the results would start to come. This game was a testament to that because we knew that it was going to be a game where persistence and being relentless was going to be the key. That being said, what changed today is that the team that made the plays in the fourth quarter was the Miami Hurricanes.”
No, it wasn’t perfect, but Diaz and his Hurricanes will certainly take this win and hope it springboards the team to bigger and better things in the future.
At 3-3 and 1-2 in the ACC, the Hurricanes will get an extra day off before returning to the field against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at home next Saturday.
Notes
Miami Offensive Starters
QB #5 N’Kosi Perry, LT #60 Zion Nelson, LG #55 Navaughn Donaldson, C #65 Corey Gaynor, RG #53 Jakai Clark, RT #51 DJ Scaife, Jr., RB #13 DeeJay Dallas, TE #9 Brevin Jordan, TE #85 Will Mallory, WR #2 K.J. Osborn, WR #4 Jeff Thomas
Miami Defensive Starters
DE #97 Jonathan Garvin, DT #93 Pat Bethel, DT #96 Jonathan Ford, DE #15 Gregory Rousseau, LB #56 Michael Pinckney, LB #55 Shaq Quarterman, STRK #30 Romeo Finley, CB #2 Trajan Bandy, S #5 Amari Carter, S #26 Gurvan Hall, Jr., CB #8 DJ Ivey
**RB DeeJay Dallas had the first receiving touchdown of his career.
**LB Shaq Quarterman made the 45th straight start of his career Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium - the second-longest streak in all of FBS and a stretch that spans his entire career.
**DT Jonathan Ford had his first career sack.
**Miami committed just 4 penalties for 32 yards, their lowest output of the season. UM came into the game the second most penalized team in the FBS.
**UM’s OL gave up 3 sacks tonight, the least they’ve ceded to an FBS opponent this season. Miami was last in the country in sacks allowed coming into the contest.
**Early in the second quarter, Rousseau shut down a 4th down run by UVA. It was Miami’s first 4th down stop of the season after previously allowing their opponents to go 7-7 on 4th down.
**With their win over 20th ranked UVA tonight, Miami has now won their last 4 home games against ranked opponents.
In a welcomed turnaround on a Friday night at Hard Rock Stadium, it was the Miami Hurricanes that stood their ground and made the key plays when they needed them the most to knock off the #20 Virginia Cavaliers, 17-9.
A snooze fest in Miami Gardens turned interesting quick as the two teams traded 4 total scoring drives in the 4th quarter. In the end, with UM up 10-9 and the clock running under 3 minutes, it was none other than QB N’Kosi Perry’s scrambling, diving effort into the endzone on 3rd and goal from the UVA 3 that iced the game for the Canes, finishing off a 10 play, 75-yard drive.
Who else could it have been other than Perry, who, making his first start since November 2018, saw his season go off the rails against UVA last year in an ugly 2 INT performance where he was benched. Redemption never tasted so sweet for Perry, who finished 16 for 27 (59%) for 182 yards passing, 18 yards rushing, and 2 total TD’s.
The game was not over after Perry’s endzone scamper, though. With 2 and a half minutes remaining, UVA’s final drive stalled near their own 50-yard line, as UVA quarterback Bryce Perkins’ heave into the endzone from his own 46 fell short and, immediately afterwards, the Hurricanes were dancing for their first ACC win of the year.
With offense at a premium, the Canes capitalized on a masterful 11 play, 78-yard opening drive that culminated with Perry finding RB DeeJay Dallas on a designed screen pass that left nothing but green grass for the junior RB to house a 17-yard catch. Dallas finished with 13 carries for 63 yards to go with 2 catches for 14 yards and the TD.
The Hurricanes were rolling early… until they weren’t. After UM’s opening scoring drive, Dan Enos’ offense went completely cold, compiling six (YES SIX) straight punts through the next 2 and a half quarters. The numbers were uglier than you can imagine on those six drives: 23 plays for 33 total yards, along with 4 three-and-outs.
With the attack unit sputtering, it was the defense that continually rose up and kept Miami’s head above water. Diaz wasn’t shy about publicly announcing that he would be more hands on with the defense this week after the unit gave up 42 points to Virginia Tech the previous game. Well, there seemed to be a different air about the Miami defense this week, as they played with a ton of aggression and passion to hold Perkins and his UVA offense out of the endzone on the night. As a team, Miami totaled seven tackles for loss and five sacks against the Cavaliers.
Making his first career start, DE Gregory Rousseau was a star, getting in the backfield all night and making Perkins’ life miserable; Rousseau finished with 7 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, a QB hurry, and a forced fumble on the game.
“I came in a little nervous, but when you get on the field, you’re thinking about the next play, so it all went away. When I do my assignment, good things come to me,” Rousseau said of his first start.
“We were definitely hyped up for sure, highly-motivated... That was our best defensive game by far.”
Tied for 95th in redzone defense coming into the game, the UM defense made their biggest stands inside their own 20, turning away the Cavs each time they sniffed the endzone and forcing UVA head coach Bronco Mendenhall to settle for FG’s.
The offense wouldn’t let the defense’s play go to waste in vain, though. Going into the 4th quarter, just when the offense seemed hopeless and out of gas coming off 6 straight punts, Enos and his unit put together their best drives of the game. The Canes mixed the run and the pass to keep the UVA defense off balance, the line protected well, and Perry led back-to-back 70+ yard drives to end any Virginia comeback hopes.
To cap it all off, even K Turner Davidson got in on the action. In his first career game, Davidson converted all three of his kicks (2 XP’s, 19-yard FG), putting to bed UM’s kicking game concerns at least for one night.
“Obviously, I’m extremely proud of our football team,” Diaz said postgame. “It was a very hard-fought win, which is what we expected it to be. We had talked all week about how strong our culture was, even on the backs of some of these losses to start the season.
“If we trusted in [the culture] and continued to nurture it, the results would start to come. This game was a testament to that because we knew that it was going to be a game where persistence and being relentless was going to be the key. That being said, what changed today is that the team that made the plays in the fourth quarter was the Miami Hurricanes.”
No, it wasn’t perfect, but Diaz and his Hurricanes will certainly take this win and hope it springboards the team to bigger and better things in the future.
At 3-3 and 1-2 in the ACC, the Hurricanes will get an extra day off before returning to the field against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at home next Saturday.
Notes
Miami Offensive Starters
QB #5 N’Kosi Perry, LT #60 Zion Nelson, LG #55 Navaughn Donaldson, C #65 Corey Gaynor, RG #53 Jakai Clark, RT #51 DJ Scaife, Jr., RB #13 DeeJay Dallas, TE #9 Brevin Jordan, TE #85 Will Mallory, WR #2 K.J. Osborn, WR #4 Jeff Thomas
Miami Defensive Starters
DE #97 Jonathan Garvin, DT #93 Pat Bethel, DT #96 Jonathan Ford, DE #15 Gregory Rousseau, LB #56 Michael Pinckney, LB #55 Shaq Quarterman, STRK #30 Romeo Finley, CB #2 Trajan Bandy, S #5 Amari Carter, S #26 Gurvan Hall, Jr., CB #8 DJ Ivey
**RB DeeJay Dallas had the first receiving touchdown of his career.
**LB Shaq Quarterman made the 45th straight start of his career Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium - the second-longest streak in all of FBS and a stretch that spans his entire career.
**DT Jonathan Ford had his first career sack.
**Miami committed just 4 penalties for 32 yards, their lowest output of the season. UM came into the game the second most penalized team in the FBS.
**UM’s OL gave up 3 sacks tonight, the least they’ve ceded to an FBS opponent this season. Miami was last in the country in sacks allowed coming into the contest.
**Early in the second quarter, Rousseau shut down a 4th down run by UVA. It was Miami’s first 4th down stop of the season after previously allowing their opponents to go 7-7 on 4th down.
**With their win over 20th ranked UVA tonight, Miami has now won their last 4 home games against ranked opponents.
