3 takeaways from the victory against Wake Forest that keeps Miami in the ACC title and Playoff picture
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SMU earned its ticket to the ACC Championship Game by beating Virginia on Saturday.
Miami is just one step away from joining the Mustangs in Charlotte on Dec. 7.
The eight-ranked Hurricanes took care of their business by pulling away late for a 42-14 win against Wake Forest. They can clinch their spot in the title game with a win next week at Syracuse.
Saturday’s performance wasn’t always pretty. And it was a struggle at times.
But in the end, Cam Ward and Miami’s defense did enough to end the Deacons’ faint bowl hopes and pull away for the victory.
Here are 3 takeaways from the win that helped the Hurricanes reach the 10-win mark for the first time since 2017:
Timely defense saves the Hurricanes
Miami’s ACC-leading offense has done most of the heavy in keeping its team near the top of the ACC standings and national polls. Saturday, though, it was a defense that has been maligned of late that kept the Hurricanes in a position to play for the league title and a Playoff bid.
Not only did it produce a touchdown on Powell’s pick-6, it also helped clean up several messes that the usually reliable offense left for it.
The first came midway through the second quarter. After an ill-advised shovel pass by Ward was intercepted by Quincy Bryant, Miami’s defense quickly grabbed the momentum back by recording a 3-and-out. Then early in the third period, after Xavier Restrepo lost a fumble at the Hurricanes’ 33, the defense recorded back-to-back sacks – one by Powell and the other by Ahmad Moten for a combined 15 yards – to not only keep the Deacons out of the end zone, but drive them out of field goal range.
The defense added another key stop in the final seconds of the third when Rueben Bain Jr. sacked Bachmeier for an 8-yard loss on a fourth-and-3 play from the Miami 37.
For the day, the Hurricanes limited Wake to just 193 yards of total offense (99 passing, 94 rushing).
Extended drive, quick strike
Wake Forest took a page from the playbook Georgia Tech used to upset Miami by running the football and controlling the clock to shorten the game and keep Ward off the field. And in at least one respect, it was successful.
The problem is, even after running 17 plays and burning 9 minutes off the clock with a methodical first half drive, the Deacons didn’t come away with any points to show for it. In fact, the opposite happened when Mishael Powell picked off a Hank Bachmeier pass and returned it 76 yards for a Hurricanes touchdown that extended their lead to 17-7.
The damage was quickly undone, however, when Demond Claiborne returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for an answering score.
Officially, a 15-second drive.
Cam was good, not great
Ward needed a big game to regain his momentum in the Heisman race after a loss to Georgia Tech and an open date in which he was out of sight and out of mind while other top contenders were impressive voters.
He got off to a strong start against Wake Forest by completing his first 8 passes with a touchdown. And he finished with decent numbers by completing 27-of-38 passes for 280 yards, 2 touchdowns with a rushing score and a 2-point conversion.
Good.
But not nearly at the level needed to compete with Colorado’s Travis Hunter and Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty.
The one positive for Ward’s Heisman hopes is that he’ll have at least 1 more chance next week against Syracuse and possibly against SMU in the ACC Championship Game to make a statement before the votes are counted.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
