The Miami Hurricanes football program has struggled to make winning plays in important games. No game last season exemplified that more than the final drive versus Florida State. The new staff can preach their new philosophy until their blue in the face. Sometimes, like with the University of Minnesota, those philosophies and slogans work. But, having players that make “intelligent football plays” are very important. The Hurricanes have lacked these players in the last 20 years. Listening to the radio broadcast, longtime voice Joe Zagacki, bellowed out the following:
“The Hurricanes have the game in control and all they have to do is stop Florida State on this drive.”
Florida State was on their own 20 yard line and their first play was a 60 yard gain. Then, later in the drive, the Hurricanes had Florida State at 4th down and 14 yards to go. The defense gave up a 24 yard gain and later allowed the game winning touchdown.
This is the lowest point in the Hurricanes football program. The game was winnable. The team was in the lead and played well up to the last drive. Coach Mario Cristobal and his All-Star coaching staff must answer the huge question in the minds of every Hurricane fans starting this season:
Here are other low moments that the football program has experienced since 2004:
Miami vs. North Carolina, 2004
- Hurricanes defense gave up 486 yards on offense and lost to North Carolina on a game winning field goal.
Miami vs. Georgia Tech, 2005
- Hurricanes were on an 8 game winning streak. The game was at the Orange Bowl. They couldn’t move the ball and lost 14-10.
Miami vs. Virginia, 2007
- The last Hurricane game in the Orange Bowl and Virginia shut out Miami, 48-0.
Miami at Georgia Tech, 2008
- Georgia Tech ran over the Miami defense for 472 yards. Hurricanes lost three straight games to end the season.
Miami vs Florida State, 2014
- Hurricanes lost a hard fought game to the Jameis Winston-led Seminoles. Then lost four straight games.
Miami vs. North Carolina, 2015
- After the 58-0 loss vs. Clemson, the Hurricanes fought hard and won their next two games then went to North Carolina and got drubbed, 59-21 (it was as if they had played Clemson the week previous).
Miami at Virginia, 2018
- The Hurricanes went up to Charlottesville and couldn’t move the ball. Malik Rosier and N’Kosi Perry turned the ball over three times. Virginia won 16-13. The team lost four in a row.
Miami vs. Florida International, 2019
- The Hurricanes won three straight. They underestimated Florida International and lost the game.
Miami vs. North Carolina, 2020
- The Tarheels signed ownership papers to the turf at Hard Rock and ran for over 500 yards vs. Miami to win 62-26.
Good games but not enough game-winning moments
Based on a Miami Herald column written by Barry Jackson, he theorized that Manny Diaz didn’t discipline the players enough because he wanted approval. In contrast, Coach Cristobal has framed his disciplinary philosophy as “consequences, not penalties.” The Hurricanes teams in the past twenty years have all had talent. As Michael Jordan said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win Championships.” The “intelligence” referring to “emotional intelligence.”
There is a correlation between good emotional intelligence and performance in sports competition. A conclusion from a Sports journal by MDPI was that “in the context of sports performance, EI (Emotional Intelligence) relates to emotions, physiological stress responses, successful psychological skill usage and more successful athletic performance.” As Michael Irvin said in an interview on the Dan LeBatard radio show, “Its a promise made one man to another, I will get my job done.”
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