The Miami Hurricanes did not live up to their ranking and surely not to the level of play and success they'd forged through the first four weeks of the season.
And they came as close to losing as they possibly could have as a result. Fortunately, referee Jerry Magallanes' controversial reversal of a Hail Mary catch on the game's final play by Virginia Tech's Da'Quan Felton saved the Canes' bacon in a 38-34 win that had the college football world talking late on Friday night.
It also had the College Gameday crew talking on Saturday morning, including former Alabama head coach Nick Saban. During a segment about the ACC, Saban had some sage-like comments on the Miami Hurricanes' lack of focus and intensity that was clearly on display for much of their game on Friday night.
"Well, I think the key to the drill is, how do you respond at this point in the season to the success that you have? It's like Miami. Are they going to be able to take this game and improve the parts of their team, whether it's the receivers, whether it's the secondary, whatever it is, so that they can get better as a team. Is that going to happen at Clemson? Is that going to happen at Louisville? Or do you go in the tank because things aren't going the way you want them to go?
" So, your mindset moving forward at this point in the season, to me, is critical. Rat poison? You think about the headlines, and you're 4-0 or 5-0 or whatever. That can kill your team's ability to stay focused on doing the little things right, pay[ing] attention to detail, and then it starts to show up in poor performance, which I saw that a little bit last night in Miami to be honest with you. "
It's hard to argue with in the least. Virginia Tech was the more physical team. The team playing with more swagger for much of the game. The team that looked like it wanted to hit and tackle more often. Miami had the look of a team that showed up and simply expected to win based on how good they'd been through four weeks.
And, if not for a controversial replay decision, it would have cost them dearly.
Now, they have a long week to figure out how to get their mindset refocused before they travel across the country to take on the Cal Bears. And Mario Cristobal had better figure out how to get the more intensity and focus, especially in the first half, out of his players before toe meets leather in Berkeley late on Saturday night (10:30 pm ET kickoff on ESPN).
If he can't keep his players from buying into their own hype, then a promising season could turn south in a blink of an eye. After all, rat poison works fast.
Related: Ref from Miami's win over Virginia Tech delivers second controversial walk-off decision in favor of Hurricanes
Local News
Comments / 0