South Carolina gives Miami all it can handle but the Hurricanes ultimately prevail 27-24
Miami's season couldn't have gotten off to a worse start. Miami's offense went three and out on the first drive, South Carolina scored on their first offensive play from scrimmage and Emory Williams threw a pick six, the first of three interceptions as Miami's offense was shutout in the first half.
The season opener couldn't have ended any better.
True freshman quarterback Keke Hagg rallied back from getting stopped at the goal line in his first college appearance to lead Miami to a 21-point comeback, beating the Gamecocks in overtime in one of the more improbable wins in recent program history.
Hagg led Miami to a touchdown drive in the third quarter and after Williams threw his third interception the game in the fourth quarter, it'd be Hagg the rest of the way with Miami trailing by seventeen points with seven minutes remaining when Miami's offense got the ball back.
The former five-star was sensational in the final quarter, completing passes of fifteen, twenty nine and sixteen yards on three consecutive plays to set up Jordan Lyle's three-yard touchdown. Miami's defense forced a three-and-out and on fourth and one, Hagg found Lyle in the flats for a four-yard gain to keep the drive alive and after rushes of nine and eighteen yards from Hagg and Lyle respectively, Miami made it a three-point game with 2:32 remaining with a three-yard touchdown pass to Chance Robinson, Hagg's second touchdown pass of the day.
South Carolina's offense continued to struggled, punting the ball to Miami who had all three timeouts. Hagg was poised under pressure, completing passes of seventeen and eight yards to Davon Momah to setup James Rutter's 32-yard field goal to tie the game.
The Gamecocks offense went backwards in overtime and punted the ball on fourth and 27 instead of going for it in a puzzling play from their coaching staff. Miami was able to run the ball six straight times before Rutter kicked the game winning field goal.
After the game, Miami head coach Mario Cristobal was non committal on who would start next week against Boise State, citing protection issues from the offensive line that played a part in Williams' struggles.
Hagg was also deferential to Williams after the game.
"He's QB1," Hagg said of Williams to the media, "We were making a lot of mistakes as an offense when he was in there, not just him. So, we got things ironed out but that was just my luck that I was in there when that happened, [Williams] could have done the same thing too so we're still behind him, he's still our guy. I view us as a pitching staff really in that quarterback room and he's our ace and all of us just try our best to help the team win." Scoring Summary Quarter 1 Nyck Harbor, 69 Yd run (9:56) Peyton Williams, returned interception 22 Yds (8:40)
LT Brian Grant: 42.8 PFF grade LG Matthew McCoy: 37.8 PFF grade C Ryan Rodriguez: 26.8 PFF grade RG Samson Okunlola: 30.8 PFF grade RT Francis Mauigoa: 57.5 PFF grade
DE Armando Blount: 5 tkl, 2 TFL, 1.5 sacks DE Marquise Lightfoot: 4 tkl, 3 TFL, 2.5 sacks DE Marshall Kearns: 2 tkl, 2 TFL, sack S Peyton Williams: 12 tkl, INT LB Jaron Willis: 11 tkl, 5 TFL, 3 sacks CB Judge Collier: 11 tkl, INT CB Vicari Swain: 4 tkl, INT
Last edited by Soapy on 30 Sep 2024, 19:25, edited 1 time in total.
Week 1 Top Stories
1. LSU pulls a stunner at home against heavily favored Clemson
2. Despite Georgia Tech being the favorite, they couldn't fend off Colorado on their own turf, falling 24-18
3. How far will Purdue slide in the rankings after losing to #24 Washington?
4. Boise State nearly upsets Oregon but Ducks pull it out in overtime
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 2 ACC Schedule
Stanford (1-1, 0-0) at Louisville (0-1, 0-0)
Syracuse (0-1, 0-0) at #19 Pittsburgh (2-0, 0-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 2 Notable Games
#21 Duke (0-1, 0-0) at #25 Illinois (0-0, 0-0)
#22 Boise State (0-1, 0-0) at #2 Miami (1-0, 0-0)
#1 Oregon (1-0, 0-0) at #3 Ohio State (2-0, 0-0)
#20 Washington State (2-0, 0-0) at #10 Kansas State (1-0, 0-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Players of the Week
WR Donte Lee Jr. (Liberty): W 38-10 vs. FCS - 6 rec, 236 yds, 3 TD
LB Jaron Willis (South Carolina): L 27-24 vs. Miami - 11 tkl, 3 sacks
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HB Montravius Lloyd (Pittsburgh): W 56-10 vs. Miami U - 20 car, 125 yds, 2 TD, 5 rec, 50 yds, TD
DE Chase Bond (NC State): L 24-19 vs. Florida - 8 tkl, 5 sacks
Emory Williams to get the start against Boise State at quarterback for the Miami Hurricanes Carlos Navarro -- The Athletic Staff Writer
Miami quarterback Emory Williams will continue to be Miami's starting quarterback with head coach Mario Cristobal confirming that to be the case during his pregame radio appearance earlier today.
Williams threw three interceptions against South Carolina in the opener and did not return in the game following his third as true freshman Keke Hagg finished the game, leading the Hurricanes to a seventeen point comeback to win in overtime.
According to earlier reports, Williams continued to get the bulk of first team reps while Hagg also had some dedicated situational packages. Cristobal added that he does expect Hagg to get into the game 'at some point' but said it was not a quarterback rotation.
"I wouldn't say rotation," said Cristobal, "[Williams] is our starter but if the game conditions or what have you call for us to put someone else in at quarterback to help supplement the offense and [Williams], we'll do it. We have different packages that we like with different guys at receiver, running back, tight end. We've sort of extended that to the quarterback position this offseason because [Hagg] does bring a different element with what he's able to do as does Emory [Williams]."
QB Brad Kaaya: 19-33, 236 yds, TD, INT
QB Dylan Thompson: 22-34, 284 yds, 2 TD
