2011 Miami Hurricanes Football: Miami vs Virginia

After seemingly turning a corner after a bad opening game loss to Maryland on Labor Day on national television, Miami took a bad loss at home to Virginia to fall back to .500 on the season. Following the Maryland game, the ‘Canes dominated Ohio State, lost in the last minute to Kansas State, barely lost to Virginia Tech, and followed that game by beating North Carolina and easily downing Georgia Tech. So this performance has to leave Miami a bit perplexed, after barely losing to a pair of top 15 teams and dominating Ohio State and Georgia Tech by a combined score of 48-13.

Now, after losing to Virginia at home – with all of Miami’s players back from suspension, it’s soul searching time for the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes didn’t so much make mistakes as they were just outplayed by Virginia. The Wahoos now sit at 5-3 and need only one win to become bowl eligible with Maryland and Duke on the schedule for the next two Saturdays. Head Coach Mike London has turned his team around after it became stagnant at the end of the Al Groh era.

Perhaps the most positive aspect of the game for the Cavaliers was that they were able to establish the run. Virginia ran the ball 42 times for nearly 5 yards per rush and over 200 yards. This opened up the passing game, where Michael Rocco was an effective 11 for 20 for 226 yards and 2 TDs. The 11.3 yards per attempt for Rocco is an anomaly, as he averages just under 7 yards per attempt on the season, a sign of just how poorly the Miami defense played.

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The Cavaliers’ best pass play did not come from Rocco though. Late in the second quarter, with Virginia already up 10-0, Rocco handed the ball off to running back Perry Jones, who started running around the end, causing talented, but sometimes undisciplined, Miami safety Ray Ray Armstrong to cheat up to stop the run, while Virginia wide receiver Tim Smith streaked past. Jones hit Smith in stride to give Virginia a surprising 17-0 second quarter lead. In addition to his 37 yard TD pass, Jones also rushed for 67 yards on 12 carries, while fellow running back Kevin Parks had 85 yards on 16 carries.

Miami quarterback Jacory Harris, who has been much improved this season, led Miami on a touchdown drive just before the half to cut the lead to 17-7, but Virginia immediately answered in the second half with a field goal drive to increase its lead to 20-7. Miami cut the lead to 20-14 on a 51 yard touchdown pass from Harris to Tommy Streeter, but that is as close as the score would get, as Virginia answered less than a minute and a half later with a Rocco to Jones 78 yard TD pass and a two-point conversion. Miami would cut the lead down to seven on a 9 yard Harris to Allen Hurns TD pass with nine minutes to go in the game, but it would not score again.

Harris played quite well, despite the loss, on first and second down, at least. He was 21 of 30 passing for over 300 yards with 3 TDs and no interceptions. Harris cannot take the blame for his loss. The blame must lie with a lackluster defensive performance and an offensive line that was never able to control the line of scrimmage in the running game and a failure to convert third down plays. Lamar Miller managed only 70 yards on 16 carries as the Miami running game managed less than 100 rushing yards. Without this ability to run the ball with any sustained success, Harris was needed to throw the ball, even on third down and short situations. Miami was only successful on two of nine third down conversions, the bulk of them passing plays where Harris was either not able to connect or where he completed a pass, but short of the first down marker.

As a result of the loss, Miami sits behind Virginia in the ACC Coastal standings at 2-3, while Virginia is 2-2. The Hurricanes are tied with North Carolina and ahead of only Duke, while the Cavaliers sit behind only Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. Duke hosts Miami next Saturday, while Virginia travels to Maryland.

Miami Hurricanes vs Virginia Cavaliers Football Recap