Miami I haven’t played many interesting games this season – and that’s a compliment. There were no spectacular performances, only competent victories. To date, Miami has demonstrated control and the ability to come out on top in a variety of ways. The Hurricanes could have won the tournament like they did against Our Lady; terrible game as they did against Florida; or one where they entered a hostile environment and held off a superior enemy, as they did against Florida.
They seemed too solidly built along both lines of scrimmage—with too many playmakers, an elite defense and a veteran quarterback—to fall prey to the ups and downs that plagued them in 2024. But it was a trap game, and the Canes walked right into it. IN loss with a score of 24-21 To LouisvilleLast year's Canes appeared.
Carson Beck knocked Miami out of this game with four interceptions. (He only had three all season going into the night.)
“The guy played an incredible game the first time,” Beck said of Antonio Wattsan interception early in the second quarter on a deep shot to his favorite target, Malachi Tony.
“In the second case, the ball simply missed the target. He had a hit,” Beck said of the second interception, the play Jabari Mak where Mac fake bites Beck's pump, but still recovers and drowns under a loose ball.
The third interception, according to Beck, was just a miss. It was actually the second interception he made on that pass, but a roughing penalty negated the first. The one that stood was in the hands of JoJo Evans, a crucial turning point in the game as Louisville had just extended its lead to 11 points.
But it was the fourth and final pick that ended Miami's chances for a game-tying field goal and a chance to force overtime. The Hurricanes had all three timeouts and were confident they could move the ball and gain extra yards for their kicker. Louisville brought several extra defenders to the line of scrimmage, but ended up bringing five of its seven threats. One of the eliminated players was TJ Caperswho made the second interception of his career.
“We have the perfect game for it, we just had a misunderstanding with the route and what we were doing,” Beck said. “So [Elija Lofton] just ran the route wrong and I went to throw it because we were tired of the pressure and again he made a good play, but it definitely didn’t help that we ran the wrong play.”
Miami has only played one game since Sept. 20, and the rust showed early. In the opener, Louisville went 75 yards on 11 plays after its open date, including a fake field goal near the goal line. The Cardinals scored again on their next drive, putting Miami in a 14-0 hole, unfamiliar territory for this team.
For the first time all season, the Hurricanes trailed by more than 10 points. They overcame the deficit but never led. The closest they came to the final three-point advantage was that Louisville gave them after Isaiah Brown The fumble gave Miami a short field after Beck's third interception.
Louisville crushed Miami in center field thanks to Colin Lacy and Chris Bell regularly turning drag routes into big profits. Defender Miller Moss He quickly retrieved the ball, neutralizing the Canes' vaunted pass. Miami's only sack came on a quarterback blitz.
“After those 14 points, I thought we settled down and put our boots in the ground and started playing good defense, and they have a really good offense, a really good player, but of course we have to be able to move the sticks and score some points to help the defense do well,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “At the end of the game, I think we only had 59 plays. This is largely due to the fact that we did not support the attacks. That's not a good showing for our offense.”
The most troubling thing about this loss is that the core idea of this Miami team has 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 a physical running game. But when the running game waned and the pressure shifted to the passing attack, the pipe burst.
Sloppiness that kept them from playing for the ACC title or title College football Last year's playoff berth was back at full strength, and with the race for the conference title expected to be a cluster of teams at the top, Miami's margin for error has disappeared.
This makes the rest of the season much more interesting.
