For a Miami offense that led the nation in several major statistics, Georgia Tech’s key to slowing the Hurricanes down was simple. Keep them off the field.
A 9-0 Miami team entered Bobby Dodd Stadium Saturday, hoping to achieve a 10-0 start for the first time since 2017, but the Yellow Jackets had other plans. After leading 10-7 in the first quarter, the Hurricanes failed to lead again during the remainder of the game and ultimately fell to Georgia Tech by a score of 28-23.
Going into the game, the Hurricanes were ranked No. 4 on the AP Top 25 College Football poll; however, this loss caused them to drop a colossal eight spots and are now ranked No. 12. Miami will now have no choice but to win out the rest of the season if they want to continue playing in December.
“Extremely, extremely disappointing. I think, as you can imagine, the entire locker room is really sad, down, disappointed. You have to own it,” head coach Mario Cristobal said to reporters.
Run defense has to be fixed, stop big plays
Georgia Tech carried the ball 48 times for 271 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 5.6 yards per carry against. Miami. The lack of run defense is something that has been a constant this season for the Miami defense. When the ’Canes faced Virginia Tech earlier in the season, they gave up 206 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries. Giving up the big play is also something the Hurricanes seemingly do every week.
Georgia Tech running back Jamal Haynes carried the ball only three times for 83 yards, with a 65-yard burst coming on the second play of the game, putting the Yellow Jackets in prime position to score early. This is against a team whose entire game plan was around running the football.
Quarterbacks Aaron Philo and Haynes King only threw the ball 16 times combined, completing 11 of those passes for 99 yards. On the ground, King ran for 93 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Miami’s inability to stop the run exposed them in this game but will be much more costly when facing a team in the College Football playoffs, if it makes it.
Cam Ward and the offense can’t save Miami every week
Entering the game against Georgia Tech, Miami held the title of the best offense in the country. They ranked first in total offensive yards per game, passing yards per game and points scored per game.
However, the offense cannot be as prolific as Hurricanes fans are used to seeing when they are not on the field.
When Georgia Tech was on offense, it emphasized long, clock-ticking drives to prevent the firepower of the Miami offense. Even when it finally got the ball, the Miami offense was not as efficient as usual. Coming into Saturday leading the nation on third-down conversion rate at 56.5%, the Hurricanes only converted three of 10 third downs against Georgia Tech and only one of four fourth downs.
Heisman candidate Cam Ward cannot be the guy that Miami relies on to win every single game, and his usual heroics can only take Miami so far.
Miami runs out of late-game comebacks
Miami’s unbeaten run through the first nine games of the season included three games where the Hurricanes trailed at halftime and were able to pull through and come back in the second half. Miami beat Duke 53-31 last week after the Blue Devils had a 28-17 lead in the third quarter, and it came back from down 25 points in the third quarter against California to secure a 39-38 win.
This was not the case against Georgia Tech, as the Hurricanes trailed for nearly the whole contest aside from a 10-7 lead that came early in the fourth quarter. The ’Canes almost pulled it off, being down 16-28 with a late 38-yard touchdown to Xavier Restrepo to cut the lead down to five. Miami was given a last chance by the defense, and Ward and the offense got the ball back with two minutes left in the game. However, a strip sack that was recovered by Georgia Tech ended the streak of late-game comebacks for Miami.
The Yellow Jackets executed their game plan to perfection, with an explosive run game that helped them dominate the time of possession and a defense that never allowed the Miami offense to get into a steady rhythm.
Miami remains with one of the best records in the ACC after a tough road loss, but to find success in the postseason, the Hurricanes have to clean up their defense and not rely solely on the offense to bail them out.