Miami Hurricanes home finale victory of the Louisville Cardinals

Miami, FL – In the Miami Hurricanes home finale, the Canes played their best game of the season, trouncing the Louisville Cardinals 52-27 at the Hard Rock Saturday. Jarren Williams had a career day, throwing a record-setting six touchdowns while the team tied the school record of most points in an ACC game.

Quarterback U. @Jarren2Williams now holds the single game passing touchdown record with 6. #MustSeeACC @CanesFootball #ItsAllAboutTheU pic.twitter.com/1O7jOFAgLH

— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) November 10, 2019

“Our offense from the get-go took control of the game,” coach Manny Diaz said.

It was “The Ville” versus “The U” on Senior Day with the team playing terrific football from start to finish.

The Hurricanes surged forward, scoring on their first drive. Williams connected several times with wideout Mike Harley including a 41-yard pass, enhanced by a facemask penalty against Louisville. DeeJay Dallas rushed for the five-yard touchdown.

However, the celebration was short-lived.

Kind of.

On the ensuing drive, Micale Cunningham tossed one to Tutu Atwell in a slant, exploding into an 80-yard score for the Cards. Atwell was wide open in the play, slipping past three nearby defenders in the scramble for the endzone.

If Miami was bothered by it, they didn’t show it.

Before the first quarter was even over, UM answered back with a pair of one play strikes to make it 21-7. Williams showed off his arm going deep, finding Dee Wiggins for the 67-yard touchdown. When Louisville was forced to punt it away, Miami drove back downfield with a 38-yard punt return by K.J. Osborn. Williams opened the very brief drive with a flick to Dallas who found the hole to put Miami up two scores.

😁😁😁 pic.twitter.com/24otGCIMGk

— Miami Hurricanes Football (@CanesFootball) November 9, 2019

By this point, Miami had a time of possession of a little over six minutes, and they scored FOUR times in that span.

And they never looked back.

Early in the second quarter, Louisville briefly made it a one-possession game after Cunningham found Ean Pfeifer wide open in the endzone. It was the closest they’d ever get.

Williams continued rumbling along, throwing two more TDs to put Miami firmly in the driver’s seat 35-14 at the half. Midway through the third quarter, he broke the school record of most touchdowns thrown in a game with a 28-yard floater to Harley. It was the wide receiver’s second touchdown reception of the contest.

With the victory, Miami completes its 2019 home schedule (Unless you want to count the upcoming FIU game) on a very high note. The team moves to 6-4 (4-3, ACC) while Louisville falls to 5-4 (3-3, ACC).

The Hurricanes will now enjoy another bye week before traveling a short distance to Marlins Park to face Florida International before closing the season at Duke.

🙌 pic.twitter.com/GjYN6XXq7x

— Miami Hurricanes Football (@CanesFootball) November 10, 2019

Miami Hurricanes home finale Game Notes

Jarren Williams completed 15 of 22 passes for 253 yards and six touchdowns. 0 INTs.
DeeJay Dallas rushed 15 times for 96 yards and a touchdown.
Cam’Ron Harris rushed eight times for 78 yards.
Mike Harley caught six of seven targets for 116 yards and two touchdowns.
Miami rushed for 197 yards and threw for 252 yards. They were a perfect 5-for-5 in the red zone.
UM brought out the turnover chain three times while committing no turnovers.
Miami played mostly clean, committing only 5 (55 yards) penalties to Louisville’s 14 (121).

What It Means

It was hands down the best game Miami has played all season. This is the “New Miami” team everyone’s been waiting for. They still have a long, long way from achieving that level of competitiveness but even so, it’s time to savor this well-earned victory.

Three weeks ago no one would’ve imagined the Hurricanes in the mix to win the Coastal Division of the ACC. Late-game heroics by Willams and Osborn at Pittsburgh coupled with the drubbing they gave Florida State, rewarded the team a glimmer of hope. In the wake of victories by Virginia and Virginia Tech, winning the division won’t happen.

However, the team is likely heading to a bowl game.

This year’s homestand (And the season itself) has been quite the rollercoaster ride. You never knew which version of the Canes was coming out to play. Before today, one could argue their best victory at home was the 63-0 shutout of Bethune Cookman or even the win against #20 Virginia where the defense shined. The “W” in today’s Miami Hurricanes home finale is UM’s finest of the 2019 campaign.

Conversely, Miami’s worst game of the season was the five-point, 17-12 squeaker against the Central Michigan Chippewas. The cringe-worthy contest, though not a loss, was a game full of mistakes, almost culminating in a huge upset. They played like a JV football team in one of their worst first halves of the season.

Despite over 200 yards in the air, the ground game was a dismal fraction of that and let’s not forget the whooping 13 penalties committed, nor Jarren William’s poor performance.

Bad memories aside, two games remain on the schedule: The “road” contest against FIU and the finale at Duke. Momentum is definitely on the team’s side and it will be interesting to see if they keep the winning streak going.

📸Credit: Chris Perez