2010 Virginia Cavaliers Football: Virginia vs Miami (FL)

Is this the beginning of the end of the Randy Shannon era at Miami?

The Miami head coach has done wonderful things as Miami’s head coach. He helped eliminate the “Thug U” reputation and Miami’s graduation rate for football players is second among all BCS-conference schools, behind only Stanford. Off the field, Shannon’s troops have been model citizens. However, on the field, the Hurricanes have descended into mediocrity. Unfortunately for Shannon, he’s getting beat out for the big-time recruits that The U used to thrive on. Florida and Florida State are raiding the State of Miami for the best recruits and Miami appears to have a significant deficit in the talent gap which is not getting any better for the Hurricanes.

Virginia should be a gimme win for the ‘Canes. The Cavaliers had only one win over an FBS team coming into the Miami game, and that was over Eastern Michigan. In their most recent ACC game, the Cavs were dominated by North Carolina in a 44-10 loss. Yet, it was Virginia who did the dominating on the final Saturday in October, at least for the first 49 minutes of the contest.

The Cavaliers benefited mightily by poor play by various Miami quarterbacks. Jacory Harris, erratic but also the top QB on the Miami depth chart for a reason, was serviceable for the ‘Canes to start the game, going 7 of 13 for 86 yards and an interception. Harris, though, has always faced questions about his size and his ability to take a hit, due in part to his slight frame. He is listed as 6’4” and 200 pounds, but it is likely that his official weight is inflated. Even if not, he is still quite thin for his height, and when John-Kevin Dolce laid a devastating hit on him in the second quarter of a scoreless matchup, Harris was down for the count and out of the game.

Miami, which used to be “Quarterback U,” suffers from a significant lack of talent at the position once you look beyond Harris on the depth chart. After Virginia drove down the field to score a touchdown on a Marc Verica to Colter Phillips pass, Hurricanes backup Spencer Whipple came into the game on the next series. His first pass was an interception to Corey Mosley. Virginia, then working with a short field, scored another touchdown on a 30-yard scamper by Keith Payne to go up 14-0 late in the second quarter. A Miami drive to end the half faltered after another Whipple interception, this time to Rodney McLeod.

The third quarter was no kinder for the ‘Canes, as the offense was placed under the care of a true freshman QB named Stephen Morris, who was reportedly fourth on the Miami depth chart. Shannon had hoped to redshirt the talented freshman, but with Whipple struggling, the Miami brain-trust thought Morris gave them the best chance to win. The move didn’t pay dividends in the third, as Virginia added a field goal while Miami was inept, with three drives ending on two punts and a Morris interception to Chase Minnifield, but Morris and the ‘Canes quickly caught fire and made it a ballgame in the fourth quarter.

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The final quarter started as the first three, with a Morris interception on the first play of their first drive of the fourth, which Corey Moslty zigged and zagged for a 25-yard return to the five yard line. Virginia’s Keith Payne exploded for a five yard TD on the next play, and Virginia went up 24-0 in what looked to be a rout.

However, Miami’s offense finally showed some explosiveness aver the final 11 minutes of the game, which included a Morris TD pass to Leonard Hankerson on a quick four-play drive, but Miami failed to convert the two-point conversion and trailed 24-6. After a three-and-out, Morris drove the Hurricanes on a long, 15 play, 90 yard drive which ended on a 9 yard touchdown run for the rookie QB. The long drive served to drain precious time off the clock, though, leaving Miami down 24-12 with under five minutes to play after another missed two-point conversion. But the ‘Canes stayed in the game with an onside kick recovery and a one play, 60 yard touchdown drive when Harris hit Travis Benjamin on a short slant route and Benjamin did the rest, outpacing the entire Cavs defense.

After the extra point, Miami was down only 24-19, but Shannon chose to kick the ball long, giving Virginia a long field to work with, and the Cavs managed to convert clutch third down after clutch third down, sealing the win by running out the clock. So while Virginia earned the win, the post-game attention from everybody not in Charlottesville will focus on the once-mighty ‘Canes. Despite averaging 6.2 yards a run, and despite playing the entire second half with a quarterback that had never taken a snap in college, and despite Miami throwing almost as many balls to Virginia players as its own, offensive coordinator Mark Whipple (yes, Spencer’s father) seemed to abandon running plays, which worked when called. Yes, part of that is due to being down 24-0, but Miami’s offense works best when it is tearing off big runs and letting its big offensive line beat down the opposing defensive line. Miami fans have much soul searching to do regarding the future of the program, given that Shannon was granted a four-year contract extension over the offseason. Miami is not a program with a ton of big-money boosters that can write a check to have a coach’s buyout taken care of.

Miami (5-3, 3-2 ACC) will face a surging Maryland team next week in Miami Gardens. The Terrapins are coming off a 62-14 domination of Wake Forest. Game time is to be determined at the time of publication. Virginia (4-4, 1-3 ACC) travels to Duke for a noon kickoff.

Virginia Cavaliers vs Miami Hurricanes Football Recap