Manny Diaz, Miami Hurricanes try to regroup after Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game

Miami, Florida – Coach Manny Diaz and the Miami Hurricanes will need to turn the page after getting trounced by Alabama 44-13 to kick off the 2021 season. Very little went right for the Hurricanes. Bubba Bolden was ejected in the first quarter for targeting. Bryce Young picked apart the secondary. The tackling was subpar and the playcalling was atrocious. The pinnacle was trying to pull a quarterback sneak that really wasn’t a quarterback sneak. Miami was in some strange hurry during the play too.

Bama makes it look so easy 💪 pic.twitter.com/T66kmcp6Kw

— ESPN (@espn) September 4, 2021

It’s early in the third quarter (the first possession of the half), they’re down 27-3 and Donald Chaney Jr just made a reach for the endzone. They didn’t even wait. Granted, the replay eventually showed his knee was down but the urgency was bizarre. Alabama’s D was not fooled by it. In fact, they were expecting it. The Canes were likely trying to catch the Tide off-balance. Either UM’s playcalling was just that bad or Bama was really that good. Since they’re the defending champs I’m going to with a little of both.

Young did well under pressure. He torched the defense throwing 344 yards and four touchdowns. There were only two high points for Miami: D’Eriq King’s sweet TD throw to Xavier Restrepo late in the third quarter and when Chantz Williams plowed into Young causing a fumble shortly thereafter. King did not keep up, tossing 178 yards in the air for a single score getting picked off twice. Cam’Ron Harris led the way on the ground (12 carries for 38 yards) but the run game was irrelevant once the Hurricanes fell behind. Gurvan Hall Jr, another guy we mentioned to watch, had the second most tackles with eight.

First career TD for Xavier Restrepo! pic.twitter.com/Evdtm7knhQ

— Spark College Football (@SparkCFB) September 5, 2021

Moving Forward

All right so that happened. I expected the team to lose but certainly not in that manner. In the end, it was The U shaking off the rust, not Alabama. Now that the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game is behind them the focus is on the home opener versus Appalachian State. The Mountaineers took care of East Carolina 33-19 in a game where both teams generated over 350 yards of total offense. UM SHOULD take care of App State but I still remember how they squeaked by Central Michigan in 2019. And the loss to FIU. Never play down to your opponents.

Another thing to consider is that Appalachian churned out 485 yards. The defense better wake up or else it’s going to be another long day. Offensively the Canes should do a lot better, King in particular although I’ll dive deeper into that on the next preview. No doubt the crushing loss has angered the fans, however, the home opener will likely bring back some joy.