The Hurricanes had a big task in front of them: Face the No. 4 team in the nation on the road. Add in the fact that their opponent, Florida State, is the team’s biggest rival, and the challenge was even greater.
Miami stayed in the game and did not suffer a blowout loss like it did last year, but the Hurricanes still came up short, falling 27-20 at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday.
Here are 3 things we learned — or still have questions about — from the rivalry game defeat:
Emory Williams’ gutsy night
The Hurricanes put the ball in freshman Emory Williams’ hands for the second time this year. The first time, he played because veteran starter Tyler Van Dyke was dealing with an injury. This time, it was not meant to be a stopgap measure. Van Dyke was relegated to the bench for his poor performance the past few weeks.
Williams did not have an excellent game. He missed open receivers and could not spark the offense for most of the night. He finished the game with eight completions on 23 attempts. Williams racked up 175 passing yards, more than half of which came on a touchdown pass to Jacolby George.
However, the freshman showed guts. He ran for a key first down, fighting through defenders, on a key drive. On his last play of the game, he scrambled on a broken play and dove for the first-down line. He suffered a “significant” arm injury when he landed and was taken to a local hospital.
“Gutsy. Tough,” UM coach Mario Cristobal said. “Was a little bit nervous early when it first started and then settled in. Made some big throws, some gutsy runs, as well, particularly the one where he got hurt on. But he also had the scramble where he got the first down, we ended up tying the game. Kept the drive going.”
Williams flew back to South Florida with the team, according to a statement from UM.
“We feel bad for Emory,” George said. “He fought the hardest out of all of us. And he had the most confidence. If anything went bad he would pick everybody up. He’s that young and so you can look up to somebody like that.
Quarterback question remains unsolved
Williams’ injury almost certainly means he will miss the last two games of the season, so the Hurricanes are potentially thrust back into a quarterback battle.
Van Dyke entered the game when Williams suffered the injury. Given the opportunity to lead a heroic tying or winning drive, the veteran completed a pair of passes to keep Miami’s chances afloat before throwing an interception on a fourth down, his 11th in five games.
“That’s just trying to make a play,” Cristobal said. I don’t see that as (a turnover).”
The question entering next week’s game against Louisville will be if Miami wants to give the reins back to Van Dyke or turn to sophomore Jacurri Brown. Brown played in eight games last year and made two starts but has not played a down this season.
That decision will have to be made in the next few days.
“[Brown is] doing well,” Cristobal said. “I would say he was even on the docket to play [against FSU], regardless of the situation. He’s played really well. He has. We felt that this was the best move for our team today, to start Emory. And should Emory have gotten hurt, that Tyler was [second string] — because Tyler had a really good week of practice.”
Defense steps up
Miami’s defense was up against a high-level, veteran offense, and performed admirably. The Hurricanes held the Seminoles to their second-fewest number of points and second-fewest offensive yards (322) this year.
“It was all about who wanted it more and our guys came out with fire,” linebacker Francisco Mauigoa said. “We were just motivated and trying to make plays. It was as simple as that.”
Miami also held FSU to its fewest yards-per-play (5.19 yards) out of any opponent the Seminoles have faced this season. UM racked up three sacks and nine tackles for loss.
“Defense played their butt off all night,” Cristobal said. “All night, those guys found a way to hit the quarterback, harass the quarterback.”
Miami now has two more chances to improve their record before the season ends. The Hurricanes host Louisville in their final home game next week before concluding the regular season on the road against Boston College. They can still win eight games, which would still be a marked improvement from last year’s 5-7 record.
Our goal every game is to try to win,” Mauigoa said. “And when it doesn’t go our way, we just gotta pick ourselves up and move on. We head into every game with the same mentality, to win. And we gave it our best today. I know it was a tough loss but we’ll bounce back. We’re going to learn from it and attack Louisville next week.”
