PITTSBURGH — Miami ended its regular season on a high note, routing No. 22 Pittsburgh on the road on Saturday.
Now UM has to wait and see what its postseason fate will be. Will the College Football Playoff selection committee opt to put the Hurricanes in? Mario Cristobal and his players think they should.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut UM won’t know its fate until after the conference title games, which Miami did not make it to in its own right.
Here are five things we learned in the Hurricanes’ blowout victory:
Playoffs?The Hurricanes will play at least one more game. The question is where they go next: a road game vs. a College Football Playoff opponent or a bowl game like the Pop-Tarts Bowl?
With other conference opponents eliminating Miami from the ACC title game, UM will have to reach the playoff via an at-large bid.
Miami’s fate lies with the selection committee. The Hurricanes believe they should be in.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“This is a College Football Playoff team,” Cristobal told the ABC broadcast after the game Saturday. “We’ve all seen it. We know it. Proud of the way our guys came out, dominated from the start to finish. We left a lot of points on the board as well. We’re really starting to click.”
Dominant DMiami’s defense excelled all season. It did not allow more than 26 points in a game all season (and no more than 24 points in regulation). The unit ended the season with one of its best efforts yet.
Pitt scored just one touchdown in UM’s win. After scoring, the remainder of their drives ended with: missed field goal, punt, punt, turnover on downs, punt, punt, interception.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMiami held the Panthers, who entered the game 11th in the nation in points per game and 53rd nationally in yards per game, to its lowest point total and second-lowest total yardage (229) all season.
“They’re very well-coached,” Cristobal said. “They’re very talented. They’ve got a lot of good players and their quarterback is one of the best we’ve seen. We knew we were going to have to create pressure and penetration up front to disrupt them, get him out of his rhythm. And we knew we were going to have to play some man coverage as well. So just really proud of the effort.”
Beck firing on all cylindersUM quarterback Carson Beck had another strong game this week. The veteran quarterback completed 23-of-29 passes, bringing his season completion percentage to 74.3 percent. He threw for 267 yards and had three touchdowns.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBeck did have one interception, but Cristobal said that was not an issue with decision-making — the ball slipped out of Beck’s hand.
Beck has been on a roll lately, and last week, selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek cited Beck’s strong play as a reason why Miami is doing better and rising in the rankings. Beck certainly gave the committee some more to ponder this week.
Bain gets on the stat sheetHurricanes star defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. has been one of the best defensive players in the nation, but his contributions have often shown up in ways that don’t show up in the box score.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn Saturday, Bain got on the stat sheet. The junior defender had five tackles and 1.5 sacks in UM’s win.
“He’s the best defensive player in college football,” Cristobal said.
Offensive consistencyWhen the Hurricanes first appeared at No. 18 in the College Football Playoff rankings, then-chair Mack Rhoades cited Miami’s lack of offensive consistency as a reason why the Hurricanes were that low.
Since then, Miami has scored 34 or more points in each game. They showed that consistency on Saturday; after punting on their first drive, UM’s next five drives (not including a one-play drive that ended the first half) went field goal, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown. When that fifth scoring drive ended, UM had a commanding 31-7 lead.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMiami’s offense has kicked into gear the past month. While it may not be the high-flying, No. 1 offense in the nation like the Hurricanes had last year, it is still good.
“I thought the finish of this regular season was really efficient by our whole offense,” Beck said. “The run game’s really clicking. Everything as far as communication and execution up front has honestly been perfect. There really haven’t been many mistakes and if there have been mistakes have been very minimal, and we’ve overcame them. But, man, we’ve been super efficient as an offense and it makes playing the game a lot of fun.”
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