Duke beats Miami 45-21 and the Hurricanes turned the ball over eight times. The ESPN recap here, said it right, “Duke Rolls Miami.” Duke’s offense and defense performed efficiently. The Hurricanes couldn’t stop the Duke pass rush and they had butterfingers because they kept losing the ball. Eight turnovers. Poor Jake Garcia went into the game because Tyler Van Dyke was knocked out via sack. See Santiago Lopez’s Duke-Miami preview article to note how this win improved Duke’s chances to get to a bowl game.
Duke QB Riley Leonard played great
Duke quarterback Riley Leonard passed for one touchdown and ran for three touchdowns. In listening to the local radio broadcast on 560-“The Joe”-WQAM, both Joe Zagacki and Don Bailey Jr. highlighted the problems running quarterbacks give the Hurricanes defense. Leonard had two easy touchdowns at the start of the game as the Hurricanes turned it over in their own territory. The Hurricanes were down 17-7 at the half and came out strong in the 2nd half scoring two TD’s to go up 21-17. Young took the offense on an 18 play drive where he completed an 18 yard pass on 4th & 9–4th and 9. As a defense, when a team can convert a 4th and 9 play, it is deflating (to yourself and to fans).
Duke’s Defensive coordinator beat Miami
You would’ve thought there was a Duke player listening in the Hurricane offensive huddle, a la Rajon Rondo in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals vs. Miami. Jake Garcia hadn’t had a lot of playing time to prepare for Duke. But, it appeared as if he was just drawing plays in the ground without any coaching help. I don’t accept that the young man was so green and unprepared. Jake Garcia has been touted as a natural talent with mounds of ability when he was recruited. Both the offensive and defensive lines of Duke were their strongest assets as they were full of juniors and seniors.
Is this “rock bottom” for Miami?
As the fans walked out of Hard Rock Stadium, they heard the sound. It was the 2022 season falling and hitting the ground–THUMP. So many theories will be thrown around talk radio this week–Coach Cristobal is playing with Manny Diaz’s players, so “things will get worse before they get better?” Was Manny Diaz’ recruiting that bad in the last few years? Will the Hurricanes go 11-0 next year with Coach Cristobal’s players? Who knows. The obvious is, that the Hurricanes are 1-2 in the Coastal division and 3-4 overall. There are two obvious takes here:
- Duke University has a better football team than Miami.
- North Carolina also has a better football team than Miami.
The next game is on the road at Charlottesville where the Hurricanes haven’t played well.
For More Great Football Content
Follow us on Twitter at @GridironHeroics for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Football news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE
