‣ CFB 2025 Regular Season, Week 7 - Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida (2-3, 1-1 ACC) North Carolina State Wolfpack at #2 Miami Hurricanes (5-1, 1-1 ACC)NCSU | 0 | 19 | 0 | 13 | 32 MIA | 18 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 27
The Hurricanes collapse, falling to NC State in a major ACC upset
No other team has been more snake bitten than North Carolina State this season, entering the year with playoff expectations only to be down five key starters before the teeth of ACC play and their lone win coming against a downtrodden Colorado team.
The sun shun on them in Miami Gardens on Saturday afternoon in a two play stretch in the fourth quarter that took them from nearly trailing by double digits to leading the game after Nicholas Vattiato's second pick six gave the Wolfpack the lead and on the ensuing kickoff, Miami's Chris Johnson fumbled on the return which was returned for a touchdown would prove to be too much for Miami to overcome as they lost 32-27 to NC State for their first loss of the year.
Miami nearly completed the comeback effort with Vattiato converting a 4th and 16 with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Mario Williams with 3:18 remaining in the game to make it a one possession game. Miami's defense would force a three-and-out on the next possession without needing to burn any of their timeouts, only for Vattiato to be sacked on back to back plays to force Miami to punt the ball.
The Hurricanes offense would get the ball back with less than a minute left and no timeouts. Vattiato had completions of sixteen and twenty-two yards to get the ball to the NC State 28-yard line but on 3rd and 1, Vattiato's next two passes would fall incomplete as time expired, including a heave to the endzone to Elijah Arroyo.
The upset was primed in the second quarter when, after building a 17-0 lead, Vattiato threw a pick-six on a busted screen pass and then after an interception by Miami's Devin Moore, he was tackled on the one-yard line during the return, leading to a safety on the next play as Mark Fletcher was tackled in his own endzone. Three plays later, Miami native C.J. Bailey, who was Jeremiah Smith's quarterback in high school, found Kevin Concepcion for the 55-yard touchdown. Scoring Summary Quarter 1 James Rutter, 38 Yd FG (9:08) Jeremiah Smith 6 Yd pass from Nicholas Vattiato (3:52) Mark Fletcher Jr, 10 Yd run (0:00)
Quarter 2 Kanoah Vinesett, 53 Yd FG (8:48) Asaad Brown Jr, returned interception 10 Yds (8:41) Team Safety (2:48) Kevin Concepcion 55 Yd pass from C.J. Bailey (1:50)
Quarter 3 James Rutter, 43 Yd FG (8:40)
Quarter 4 Kelvon McBride, returned interception 76 Yds -- 2pt failed (8:55) Moses Walker, returned fumble 10 Yds (8:47) Mario Williams 20 Yd pass from Nicholas Vattiato (3:14) Player Stats QB C.J. Bailey: 12-17, 144 yds, TD, 3 INT, sacked twice QB Nicholas Vattiato: 34-51, 403 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT, sacked five times
Buffalo's Paul Rhinehart heads south, commits to the University of Miami as Hurricanes' 18th commitment
Eddie Fernandez -- 247 Sports Miami Insider
The University of Miami landed it's ninth five-star of their top ranked recruiting class, likely clinching this year's throne with a commitment from free safety Paul Rhinehart.
The Buffalo native is the top ranked free safety in the country and the No. 1 ranked player in the state of New York. Blessed with NFL size already at six-foot-one and 216 pounds, Rhinehart lays the lumber from his safety spot and isn't afraid to put his face into the buzzsaw and fill in a gap. He's improved in coverage over the years, particularly impressing this past summer in the 7-on-7 circuit where he was asked to play more man-to-man coverage.
He still has ways to go in terms of coverage skills for a Power 4 defensive back but the raw tools are there for Rhinehart to develop into an every down player at the next level with plenty of upside to eventually be an early NFL draft pick.
Ohio State and Michigan were the other names involved in his recruitment.