Takeaways From Miami’s 45-3 Loss to Florida State
During a 45-3 blowout loss to the Florida State Seminoles, the Miami Hurricanes were held to only a field goal and have continued their streak of not scoring a touchdown in nine consecutive quarters.
The last touchdown for Miami came with 13:06 remaining in the third quarter versus Duke (Oct. 22), as tight end Will Mallory scored on a 34-yard touchdown from quarterback Jake Garcia.
Last night against FSU, the Canes came out flat and simply were unable to stop, contain, or catch the Seminoles. It was another abysmal outing by the entire team as a whole and this one, once again, clearly falls on all members of the Miami football program. The problems start at the top.
Head coach Mario Cristobal, defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis were out-coached, out-schemed, and flat-out embarrassed. The Hurricanes have often looked unprepared and unmotivated in games, most notably Middle Tennessee State and Duke, and now Florida State has been added to the list.
There was a lot that went wrong for the Canes, and as shown by the score, there weren’t a lot of positives. Here are some of the main takeaways from the Canes’ 45-3 loss to Florida State.
Defense Was Clearly a Liability
By the end of the first quarter, it was clear that Florida State’s offense was going to have its way with the Miami defense. It was also obvious that the game was going to get out of hand considering the Canes' offense showed no continuity. From pass defense to run defense, the Canes were dominated in both facets of the game.
Seminole tailback Trey Benson ran wild. He went for 128 yards and two touchdowns, while averaging 8.5 yards per carry. It seemed like any time Benson touched the ball, he was getting yards after contact and getting a great second effort. Benson was able to gash the Hurricanes in large part due to poor tackling.
In the passing game, the Canes most notably gave up a 56-yard touchdown reception to Ontaria “Pokey” Wilson and a 65-yard reception by Lawrence Toafili. Those were only two of seven plays that went for more than 20 yards for the Seminole offense.
That's the other point; FSU just dropped the hammer on Miami's rushing defense. In all, the Seminoles ran for 229 yards and averaged 4.7 yards per tote.
Penalties Were the Reason Florida State Had an Early Two-Possession Lead
The Canes had a chance to stop Florida State and force a three-and-out on their first defensive outing. However, a pass interference by Corey Flagg negated the third down play. That mistake resulted in the 56-yard touchdown pass by Jordan Travis to Wilson. The Canes scored a field goal, their only score of the game on the ensuing possession.
The next possession, FSU was able to drive all the way to the Miami 18-yard line and had a third and nine. Travis rolled out, looked for wideout Johnny Wilson, released the football, and the pass was incomplete.
However, a late flag came out and saw that defensive back Tyrique Stevenson had held him, preventing him from making a play on the ball. Travis would proceed to throw a two-yard touchdown pass to DJ Lundy. So, the Hurricanes then found themselves in an 11-point deficit instead of a one-possession deficit.
The Offense Simply Couldn’t get Going
Yes, Tyler Van Dyke was clearly injured and was not able to finish the game or make much of an impact. However, when the Canes have two blue-chip backup quarterbacks and neither are able to make much of an impact on the game either, there’s an issue. Now, all the offensive woes don’t fall on the quarterbacks. The problems occurred across the entire offense. There was a little bit of light.
The run game was bolstered by Jaylan Knighton who had four carries for 60 yards, including a 45-yard carry. That carry was the Canes’ longest run play from scrimmage all season long.
The passing totals, however, were embarrassingly bad for Miami, as it completed 10 of 19 passes for 62 yards. That's woeful.
The biggest bright spot for the Canes’ offense was quarterback Jacurri Brown. Brown flashed a ton of potential against FSU, from arm talent to speed, athleticism and vision, he showed his athleticism and natural football instincts on Saturday night.
However, clearly, it wasn’t enough to make an impact on the scoreboard, but he showed enough to have strong consideration in being the backup going forward.
Miami's next opponent comes on the road against Georgia Tech (Nov. 12).
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