Florida gives Miami all it can handle but the Hurricanes ultimately prevail 20-13
Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal is no stranger to criticism but one thing Hurricanes fans can take pride in the Cristobal Era is that the Hurricanes remain undefeated against the Florida Gators, beating Florida for the third consecutive time on Saturday as they escaped The Swamp with a 20-13 victory.
It was a highly competitive game with Miami taking the lead off a Robby Washington pick six in the first quarter. Miami would extend its lead thanks a 27-yard strike from Keke Hagg to Davon Momah with 31 seconds left in the half.
On the first play of the ensuing drive, Ramon Farris found Tank Hawkins for a 33-yard completion, completing three more consecutive passes to get the ball on the Miami 25-yard line where the Hurricanes defense would bow up, forcing Florida to settle for yet another field goal to make it 14-13.
The defensive battle would continue in the second half, with neither team finding the endzone in the third quarter but the Hurricanes were able to string together a solid drive, aided by a 18-yard completion to David Tompkins to make it a four point game.
A 23-yard run by Jadan Baugh would get Florida in the red zone for the first time in the second half, converting a fourth and two from the Miami 19-yard line with a six yard run by Baugh who rushed for 121 yards.
The Gators would run the ball three straight plays, getting the ball to the Miami five yard line where Farris' pass to Baugh in the flat would be jarred loose by Miami linebacker Walt Coffey. Florida head coach Rich Rodriguez defended the decision to go for a touchdown after the game, saying he felt that touchdowns, not field goals, would determine the winner.
"The way they were playing us, I wasn't confident we'd get many more possessions," Rodriguez said during his post-game press conference, "We just have to execute better in those situations."
Tompkins would come up major for Miami once more, taking a pass in the flat for 33 yards to help Miami run some clock and kick a field goal to make it a touchdown lead with 1:55 remaining. The Gators were aided by a questionable illegal contact penalty against Miami to avoid a fourth down but would turn the ball over on downs a few plays later. Scoring Summary Quarter 1 Kevin Mendez, 22 Yd FG (8:29) Robby Washington, returned interception 48 Yds (0:24)
Quarter 2 Ramon Farris, 6 Yd run (5:40) Davon Momah 27 Yd pass from Keke Hagg (0:31) Kevin Mendez, 31 Yd FG (0:00)
Quarter 3 James Rutter, 49 Yd FG (6:28)
Quarter 4 James Rutter, 23 Yd FG (1:54) Player Stats QB Keke Hagg: 17-26, 209 yds, TD, INT, sacked 4 times QB Ramon Farris: 18-29, 209 yds, INT, sacked 3 times
Week 4 Top Stories
1. Ole Miss pulls off the upset over SEC rival LSU
2. How far will Notre Dame slide in the rankings after losing to No. 12 Louisville?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 4 ACC Results
LOU 33 - ND 21 | STAN 30 - CUSE 17 | VT 49 - FSU 35
GT 28 - NCST 20 | UNC 19 - WAKE 17 | DUKE 16 - SMU 16
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 5 ACC Schedule
#8 Louisville (3-0, 1-0) at Duke (2-2, 1-0)
Virginia (1-2, 0-0) at Wake Forest (0-5, 0-2
#5 North Carolina (3-0, 1-0) at Virginia Tech (5-0, 2-0)
#25 SMU (3-1, 0-1) at Syracuse (1-3, 0-2)
#13 Notre Dame (3-1, 2-1) at #23 Clemson (1-2, 0-1)
California (2-1, 0-0) at Florida State (0-4, 0-2)
#10 Pittsburgh (2-1, 1-1) at #3 Miami (4-0, 1-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 5 Notable Games
#22 Vanderbilt (2-1, 0-0) at #17 LSU (3-1, 0-1)
#19 Penn State (3-0, 0-0) at #14 Nebraska (3-1, 1-0)
#1 Tennessee (3-0, 0-0) at #6 Georgia (3-0, 0-0)
#9 Washington (4-0, 2-0) at #12 Illinois (2-1, 0-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Players of the Week WR LaTroy McCombs: W 49-13 at Indiana » 7 rec, 227 yds, 4 TD CB Austin McGee: W 35-34 vs. FCS West » 2 tkl, 2 INT, TD
------- WR Keylen Adams: W 49-35 vs. Florida State » 9 rec, 180 yds, 3 TD, 1 car, 70 yds, TD CB Dom Boyd: L 33-21 vs. Louisville » 9 tkl, INT, TD
Hurricanes land their first five-star in Orlando's Mike Obi following win over Florida as class continues to take shape
Eddie Fernandez -- 247 Sports Miami Insider
The Miami Hurricanes were still high off their win over rival Florida when they got the news that five-star linebacker Mike Obi was ready to make the move to commit to the Hurricanes over Alabama and Tennessee, joining four-star offensive tackle Gideon Crook and four-star defensive tackle Matt Randall in being the latest members of the 2029 recruiting class which is already shaping up to be an elite one.
It was an SEC battle for Obi, who had Alabama and Tennessee in his top three while Miami fought off Illinois and North Carolina to keep Crook in-state and it was a Florida battle between Florida State, Florida and Miami for Randall.
Obi, the first five-star of the class, is a teammate of four-star running back Seth Doss, who is committed to Miami, and four-star defensive end Robert Coutu who has Miami in his top three. The Orlando native is the eight ranked player in the country and the top ranked outside linebacker with similarities to current Miami EDGE Walt Coffey, who was a five-star as well and made several key plays in the win over Florida.
A natural pass rusher that can play multiple positions along the defense, Obi projects perfectly to play SAM or JOKER in Miami's base 3-4 as well as the ability to play defensive end in pass rushing situations. He's got tremendous size and athleticism at six-foot-four and 263 pounds and has the physical tools and skills to be an instant impact player.
A borderline five-star, Randall narrowly missed that fifth star, coming in as the 37th ranked player in the country, A top five player at his position, Randall can play anywhere along that interior defensive line and is strong enough to play nose tackle at the next level once he fills out. He's not much of a pass rushing threat at this moment but as he evolves and gets better, he could develop into a more well rounded player.
The Hurricanes now have two potential left tackles in Crook and George Bojorquez, who is already committed to the class. These things have a way of working themselves out so the battle in future spring and fall camps should be fun to watch between those two as they try to become Miami's next premier left tackle, following the footsteps of Jalen Rivers and Samson Okunlola.
Miami survives loss of quarterback Keke Hagg, dominates Pittsburgh
Miami Hurricanes junior quarterback Keke Hagg was starting to settle into the game after throwing an earlier interception when he was hit a on a routine pass to the flat and would leave the game with an injury, replaced by redshirt freshman Bernie Flowers who threw a touchdown pass, and an interception, as Miami's defense led the Canes to a 30-6 win over No. 10 Pittsburgh on Saturday.
Hagg pulled his groin and did not return to the game, having thrown for 135 yards and a touchdown prior to the injury. Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal was optimistic after the game, citing that Hagg is in good spirits and that he doesn't expect it to be a long term injury.
Flowers overcame an early interception on his first drive, which led to Pittsburgh's only touchdown of the day in a tough night for the Panthers offense. Andy Hrynkiewicz was sacked five times and threw three interceptions, all to cornerback Elias Raines.
Flowers finished the day 5 of 11 for 57 yards with a touchdown to David Tompkins as the Panthers loaded the box to stop Miami's rushing offense which was led by Isaac Brown and his 104 yards. The Hurricanes as a team ran for 194 yards. Scoring Summary Quarter 1 James Rutter, 38 Yd FG (6:27) James Rutter, 49 Yd FG (0:42)
Quarter 2 Miguel Escobar 6 Yd pass from Keke Hagg (1:57) James Rutter, 40 Yd FG (0:02)
Quarter 3 Maurice Rugamba, 2 Yd run (8:28) Cameron Monteiro 9 Yd pass from Andy Hrynkiewicz -- 2pt failed (1:10)
LT Deryc Plazz: 66.5 PFF grade LG Jesus Angel: 30.0 PFF grade C Juan Minaya: 76.2 PFF grade RG Richard Cookus: 77.1 PFF grade RT George Robledo: 64.2 PFF grade
LB David Brewton: 14 tkl, 2 TFL S Terrell Ibrahim: 12 tkl, TFL, INT CB Nigel Maynard: 4 tkl, INT LB Jacques Turk: 10 tkl, 4 TFL, sack S LaMarcus Cook: 7 tkl, 2 TFL, sack, FF CB Elias Raines: 3 tkl, 3 INT, PBU
Kevin Mendez, 22 Yd FG (8:29)
Robby Washington, returned interception 48 Yds (0:24)
WR LaTroy McCombs: W 49-13 at Indiana » 7 rec, 227 yds, 4 TD
CB Austin McGee: W 35-34 vs. FCS West » 2 tkl, 2 INT, TD
WR Keylen Adams: W 49-35 vs. Florida State » 9 rec, 180 yds, 3 TD, 1 car, 70 yds, TD
CB Dom Boyd: L 33-21 vs. Louisville » 9 tkl, INT, TD
Cameron Monteiro 9 Yd pass from Andy Hrynkiewicz -- 2pt failed (1:10)