Miami hasn’t played many interesting games this season, and that’s a compliment. There were no rollercoasters, but creditable victories. So far, Miami has shown control and the ability to come out on top in a number of ways. The Hurricanes can win a dogfight, as they did against Notre Dame; Ugly game, like they did against Florida; Or where they went into a hostile environment and held down a superior opponent, as they did against Florida State.
They appear to be built too strong along both lines of scrimmage — with too many playmakers, an elite defense and a veteran quarterback — to fall victim to the ups and downs that have plagued them in 2024. But this was a trap game, and Kane’s team fell right into it. in Loss 24-21 To Louisville, Cane showed up last year.
Carson Beck took Miami out of this game with four interceptions. (He had just three all season entering the night.)
“One, the kid made an unbelievable play,” Beck said of Antonio Watts’ diving interception early in the second quarter on a deep shot to his favorite target, Malachi Toney.
“The second one, the ball didn’t come out very well,” Beck said of the second interception, a play by Jabari Mack in which Mack bites on Beck’s pump fake but still recovers to dunk under a thrown ball.
The third interception, according to Beck, was just a missed throw. This was actually his second interception on that trip, but a roughing penalty wiped out the first. The ball ended up sticking to JoJo Evans, a crucial turning point in the game, as Louisville extended its lead to 11 points.
But it was the fourth and final pick that killed Miami’s chance at a game-tying field goal to force overtime. The Hurricanes got all three timeouts and felt confident in their ability to move the ball to gain extra yards to kick. Louisville marched several extra defenders to the line of scrimmage but ended up bringing in five of seven threats. One player who opted out was TJ Capers, who came down with the second interception of his career.
“We played perfectly, we just had a misunderstanding of the course and what we were doing,” Beck said. “So [Elija Lofton] “I ran it the wrong way, and I went to throw it, because we’re out of pressure, and again, he made a good play on it, but it certainly didn’t help that we made the wrong play.”
Miami has played only one game since last September 20, and the defect appeared early. On its opening drive, Louisville — coming out of its open date — drove 75 yards on 11 plays, including a fake field goal near the goal line. The Cardinals scored again on their next drive to put Miami in a 14-0 hole, unfamiliar territory for this team.
It was the first time all season that the Hurricanes trailed by more than 10 points. They recovered the deficit but never led. The closest they came was the final three-point margin, which Louisville gave them after an Isaiah Brown fumble gave Miami a short field after Beck’s third interception.
Louisville tore apart Miami up the middle of the field, with Collin Lacy and Chris Bell routinely turning pull-up routes into big gains. Quarterback Miller Moss got the ball out quickly, neutralizing the Canes’ vaunted pass rush. Miami’s only sack came on a blitz by a defensive back.
“After those 14 points, I think we settled down, put our cleats on the floor and started playing good defense, and they’re a really good offense, really good play-callers, but definitely we’ve got to be able to move the sticks and put some points on the board to help the defense do well,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “At the end of the game, I think we only had 59 plays. A lot of that was due to not conserving shots. That’s not a good play count for our offense.”
The troubling thing about this loss is that the basic idea behind this Miami team failed. The theory was that Beck, in a new environment with a stable offensive line in front of him, would be able to do enough with playmakers C.J. Daniels and Malachi Toney in an Air Raid-style passing game tied to the physical running game. But when the running game faltered and the pressure shifted to the passing attack, the pipe burst.
Negligence that prevented them from playing for an ACC title or College football Last year’s playoff berth is back in full force — and with the prospect of a conference title race featuring a host of teams at the top, Miami’s margin for error is gone.
It makes the rest of their season that much more interesting.