Coming off of their bye week, Miami hosted North Carolina at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday. Despite a late push and a massive effort from Tyler van Dyke, the Hurricanes fell short, in a 24-27 loss in their ACC opener.

Sophomore quarterback, Tyler Van Dyke, had a terrific bounce back game, throwing for 496 yards, the second-most in Miami history, only behind Stephen Morris’ 566 yard performance in 2012. Van Dyke threw for 3 touchdowns and an interception, while completing 42 of 57 pass attempts, in what was one of the best statistical performances of his career. 

Senior tight end, Will Mallory, was a steady target for Van Dyke. Mallory brought in 8 catches for 115 yards, catching passes in big moments throughout the game. Henry Parrish Jr., Colbie Young, and Key’Shawn Smith were responsible for the Hurricanes’ 3 touchdowns in the passing game. 

The Hurricanes struggled running the ball, only rushing for a total of 42 yards, but Van Dyke was the hot hand, and the Miami coaching staff didn’t seem to have a problem letting the offense flow through him. Postgame, Cristobal stated, “We’re out of sync in the run game. It’s not a matter of effort, but we’ve got to do a better job. We tried every which way to get the ball going on the ground. We ran split zone, counter, power, wide zone, jet, I mean you name it. And then Tyler got so hot that we said ‘hey let’s just go with it,’ and he did a really job.”

Miami fell into a 7-21 deficit with about 4 minutes to play in the first half. With two solid drives from the offense and an timely interception by Keontra Smith, the Hurricanes were able to score 10 points in a little over a minute to bring the game within striking distance before halftime, now trailing 17-21. 

From that point, the Miami defense held it’s own, only allowing two field goals from North Carolina in the 2nd half. 

Trailing 17-27 with about 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter, Miami made a late push. Van Dyke led the offense down the field, end-capping the drive with a 16 yard touchdown pass to Colbie Young, putting them within 3 points.

The Hurricanes nearly executed a successful on-side kick but was eventually overturned upon further review. The defense was able to get another timely stop, giving the offense opportunity to tie or win the game, with just over a minute left. Running out of timeouts, the offense had to push its pace, and the drive was eventually capped with a game-sealing interception by North Carolina’s DeAndre Boykins. 

With their 3rd consecutive loss, Miami falls to 2-3 on the season and 0-1 in conference play. This is likely not the start that Cristobal and his staff were hoping for, but Cristobal is certainly not shying away from the idea that the program has work to do and is not shying away from any accountability. 

Photo credit: CameronRobertson/FAAZ Sports