The Orange defended the Dome and came away with a huge upset win over then no.6 Miami on Thanksgiving weekend. The ‘Canes now enter wait and see mode on the College Football Playoff.
On Saturday, the Miami Hurricanes squandered a 21-point lead to lose their spot in the ACC Championship Game. The Syracuse Orange defeated the Miami Hurricanes 42-38 in an upset over the then no.6 team in the country.
The Canyonero Keys to Victory for Miami were:
1- Out-gun the gunners. Both teams offenses played well, amassing just under 1,000 combined yards in the contest. Both had a costly fumble but Miami’s cost even more- six points. Both QB’s played great games, Kyle McCord was just a smidge better than Cam Ward.
2- Keep the pass rush coming. Two sacks… Syracuse threw the ball 36 times and Miami only recorded two sacks. The defense needs a 100% overhaul, not just dumping the DC and his CB’s coach while keeping Jason Taylor, Joe Salave’a and Derek Nicholson. A complete overhaul. Move Salave’a into an off-field role to keep the Poly connection.
3- Cut down on the stupid mistakes. Jacolby George would plant the flag in the middle of a play that resulted in a pick 6 and a 15-yard penalty. He’s that guy. When you know someone is that guy you have to coach him (limit his playing time) accordingly. Ahmad Moten made a mistake, but it was a football mistake.
The Doppler
These two teams were fairly even on the stats that matter. Miami finished the game 6-of-11 on third down with no 4th down attempts. Syracuse was a combined 7-of-11, failing to convert on their 4th down try.
Miami was penalized for 77-yards on nine flags while Syracuse was called for 36-yards of penalties on four calls.
Rich Barnes-Imagn Images
Both teams fumbled the football on offense, but the turning point was Miami’s fumble by Xavier Restrepo being returned for a touchdown by Devin Grant.
Ray Ray Joseph lost the team valuable yardage once again by not fair catching a punt which pinned the Hurricanes back. His time returning punts looks to be over, or at least we can hope that sticks.
Andres Borregales made his lone field goal attempt and both kickers finished a combined 11-of-11 on PAT’s. College football may want to split the difference between their standard PAT and the NFL PAT in the future.
The Miami O
Cam Ward averaged 9.7 yards per pass attempt and threw two touchdowns without an interception. Ward also scrambled for a nice gain and pulled on a read option- two runs he hadn’t really been called on to make as of late.
Restrepo averaged 16.4 yards per catch with a touchdown, a phenomenal day for a great player, but his costly fumble (two in two weeks) was a momentum swinging play and ‘Cuse never looked back.
George averaged 20.2 yards per catch on six grabs but his 15-yard penalty was another tide swinging moment towards the end of the contest.
Damien Martinez averaged 8.4 yards per carry with a touchdown but for some reason Shannon Dawson stopped calling on the big back.
That’s the thing with Mario’s run game and an OC having to utilize it- you have to find an OC patient enough to grind out drive after drive and not want to take some deep shots that put you in ‘and long’ situations.
Mark Fletcher averaged 3.5 yards per carry with two touchdowns of his own. Jordan Lyle was nonexistent this week. The ‘Canes O-Line allowed just one sack and only two tackles for loss all game.
Above– Here’s why Ward moving the pocket isn’t an issue, when he makes the right choices. He buys time, and when he does throw- it’s to the same side of the field. He doesn’t try to go across his body or pull a Tecmo Super Bowl and drop further back.
Above– Blue chip OT’s, a massive RG, and a transfer portal center and the OL gets a stalemate at best. Really the SU DL drives them back, Mark Fletcher just wills himself into the end zone.
Above– Restrepo with the perfectly ran sail route to keep the scoreboard moving in Miami’s direction.
Above– Martinez had flashes all season but he wasn’t the consistent, big play RB that many thought Miami was getting via the portal. The team probably isn’t 10-2 without him but it wasn’t a dueling Heisman type of campaign for Martinez and Ward.
Above– Dawson loves the screen game and he throws it to the right guy but again to George’s side. I’ll never know why on that part. Restrepo with another costly fumble and this one turns into 6-points for SU.
Just a point of emphasis on all the showboating leading to sloppy play. Miami has no sense of urgency or discipline and that rests on Mario’s shoulders.
Above– Deep crossers work if you have time. ‘Cuse actually brought pressure and Ward got it out quick. Restrepo uses his speed on the route and gets down inside the +5.
Above– I have no idea what Ward is looking at but George is completely engaged here. This is why I hate one-read screens. The same way Wake Forest got pick-6’d a week ago vs. Miami is the way this is almost a costly INT for Ward here. Just throw the ball through the goal posts. That was the 2nd weird red zone throw from Ward that was nearly a pick.
Above- Markel Bell and Francis Mauigoa have the same problem against the speed rush. Neither has the punch to slow a defender down. On this clip Bell gets beat outside, and Mauigoa inside.
For Mauigoa here he steps outside of and to the DE rather than getting a step of depth. This makes him an easy mark for an inside move as his outside knee is even with the DL’s outside knee. The rule is outside knee to crotch of a DE.
Neither guy’s punch makes a dent, Bell just tries to long arm him and gets a rip move to beat him.
The Miami D
Kyle McCord out-dueled Ward on the afternoon. McCord threw three touchdowns without an INT on 10.6 yards per attempt.
Syracuse had five receivers with double-digit yards per catch compared to Miami’s two. Trebor Pena schooled the Miami secondary averaging 21.3 yards per catch with a touchdown. Jackson Meeks caught two TD’s on 15.7 yards per catch.
LeQuint Allen had some WOW plays for SU on Saturday afternoon that sealed the win for the Orange. Allen scored twice on the ground while averaging 3.7 yards per carry and 10.2 yards per catch.
RB Yasin Willis was averaging 6.2 yards per rush before his costly fumble gave Miami new life. However, the Hurricanes couldn’t capitalize on the turnover and gave the ball back with a six point bonus as well.
The Orange O-Line allowed two sacks and four TFL’s against an overpriced Miami DL and a pair of DL coaches that might need to be reevaluated this winter.
Above- Meesha Powell jumps this route and almost picks the pass off. These are the plays Kam Kinchens made (and is making in the NFL) that Powell just doesn’t have that ‘it’ factor.
Above- Francisco Mauigoa has been really bad all season and this is in his wheel house- an inside run in a phone booth, and he loses the battle. Miami has to fix their tackling this off-season. Pay Richie Gray a fortune, get him in to work with the team.
Above– The Miami CB’s getting absolutely worked on 3rd and goal on a red zone fade. This was just the QB and WR saying I have that guy beat just give me a chance.
Above– Another throw where McCrod saw his man, who was covering him, and decided to let it rip. The DB had leverage pre-snap but gave it up and got burned. No hip flip, no make up speed, no awareness of the ball.
Above– Now after getting smoked on fades the Miami DB’s are in man and giving up the easy throw. head-up or outside in man inside the +10 and you’re in danger. Meeks runs a glance route and dominates Miami into the end zone.
Above– This is quite the bubble to give the ‘Cuse offense. No one adjusts, speaks a word (Mauigoa?!) or calls timeout. I get that at this point you need those TO’s but this is a walk-in TD for SU.
Above- Align… Assign… Finish. 0-for-3 for Miami’s defense here. no.21 wants nothing to do with contact here and Mauigoa guesses wrong. Harris gets himself blocked to force it back inside but instead of engaging and dominating the block he just plays passive.
The Wrap
Miami choked away their ACC Championship Game hopes and a 21-point lead. Mario Cristobal needs to take a long hard look at himself, and the staff he has built around himself.
I can’t imagine Lance Guidry returning but how about the assistant coaches around him? What about the strength and conditioning staff that watches teams like Syracuse run by and Georgia Tech run through the Miami Hurricanes?
Mario Cristobal is coach who can recruit, who can manage a program but cannot manage a game. pic.twitter.com/wBkhBv83t0
— Split Zone Duo (@SplitZoneDuo) December 1, 2024
In the preseason roundtable I predicted 11-1 with FSU’s drastic fall but I stand by that this is a lost season without a trip to the ACC Championship Game. There has been too much hype and too much money spent on the roster to drop two unranked games on a schedule of 12 unranked teams.
This has long been an organization that ignores things like S&C, kicking, tackling, and culture and it shows through every season. It’s time to hold Mario accountable to these things, but with his friend as school president, that is unlikely.