Let’s review the Miami vs Virginia punt fest. Throughout the game, Virginia had opportunities to score but couldn’t score. That has been an issue all season. Miami was unsure on their play calls where they passed when they should run, run when they should pass. Every college football game has these “ebbs and flows” but in this game they were magnified. As if four quarters of regulation weren’t enough, the two teams decided to go four overtime periods. In the end, the Hurricanes “won ugly.” Here we go over each drive and show the critical moments. Lou Hedley is on Phillip Riggs’ watchlist for the Ray Guy award (see the rest of the watch list in this article ) Daniel Sparks, the Virginia punter, may have put himself on the list after this game.
Miami vs Virginia punt fest
The Hurricanes starting quarterback Jake Garcia was throwing against a very seasoned Virginia secondary. Each player had more than eight games of experience with their best, Anthony Johnson with 45 games. The offense got to 1st and 5 with a good run by Henry Parrish on the 1st drive but a false start penalty pushed them back to 1st and 10. The second drive also self-destructed with a false start penalty. There was a questionable play call to run on 3rd and 13 on the third drive and then pass two straight times on 2nd & 2 and 3rd and 2 on the fourth drive. Coach Cristobal decided to gain a little momentum by kicking a field goal on 4th and 1 at the Cavalier 20 (but zero confidence on 4th & 1?!) Again there was a questionable play call to pass two straight times on 2nd and 3rd down when there was little to no success on the pass. Finally, on 3rd and goal, an illegal substitution penalty pushed the team back which caused them to kick another field goal.
Virginia’s punt fest
Virginia’s futility was caused more by the Hurricanes defense not breaking. But, as has been the case the whole season, Virginia has had problems converting in the red zone. On their first drive, the offense was passing a lot with running quarterback Brennan Armstrong getting a chunk play for 20 rushing yards. Then on the second drive fell apart because they decided to run but couldn’t get anywhere. The Miami defensive line asserted themselves by sacking Armstrong on consecutive plays. Their fourth drive ended with an offensive pass interference call on 3rd & 2 where they converted the first down.
Critical red zone problems
The red zone woes increased at this point in the game. Armstrong was able to move the ball between the 20s and got down to the Miami 3 yard line on the 6th drive. Keayton Thompson ran for a seven yard loss the next play and then they decided to run twice and got one yard. The next drive again was capitalized by chunk plays in between the 20s and the Cavaliers again got to the doorstep of the end zone. On third and fourth downs, Virginia chose to pass and tight end Grant Misch was open but dropped the ball. On the eighth drive, the Cavaliers again drove down inside the Miami 10 yard line but couldn’t punch it in the end zone. Zach Carey from SB Nation talks about their red zone performance more in this article.
Overtime
The game ended in regulation tied at 6. Then both teams proceeded to score an equal amount of points in three overtime periods and they headed into the two point conversion phase tied at 12. Jake Garcia threw an interception on the first two point try for Miami. Virginia though couldn’t finish them off as Brennan Armstrong couldn’t complete a pass. Jake Garcia finally finished the game with a three yard run to score the two points. Miami will take the victory as they head into FSU week. FSU comes to Miami at 5-3 and put up 41 points on Georgia Tech yesterday.