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For all the hue and cry of any given Saturday afternoon, every reasonably close football game hinges on about four or five plays. Suppose a big third-down completion had floated just out of the receiver’s reach. Suppose a crucial fourth-quarter fumble ended up back in the offense’s hands. Suppose a go-ahead field goal doinked off the upright. These hinge points aren’t hard to find.
Miami has spent the last two months on the high side of every one of those hinge points. In the Squid Game that is the 2024 college football season, Miami (7-0) has kept its head down and put one foot in front of the other, watching as other top-10 teams — Clemson, Alabama, Tennessee and so on — fell and fell behind.
It’s a sound strategy, keep your head while everyone around you is losing theirs. But Miami hasn’t quite buttoned up its business in the last few weeks. Sure, the Hurricanes began 2024 by blowing out its first four opponents by an average of nearly 40 points. But ever since Miami got to the meat — such as it is — of the ACC conference schedule, matters have tightened considerably.
Start with one of the year’s wildest plays, a would-be Hail Mary touchdown that would have given Virginia Tech a no-time-left upset victory:
The ruling: Receiver out of bounds, game over, 38-34 Miami. About as close as you can get to victory and still lose.
Next up: a visit to Cal, complete with “College GameDay” pageantry. The Golden Bears put Miami in a chokehold and threw the ‘Canes in a ditch, taking a 25-point third-quarter lead. Miami quarterback Cam Ward then went crazy, rallying the ‘Canes to a massive 39-38 victory. You could view that as proof of the team’s resiliency, but you could also question how exactly it is that a top-10 team fell 25 points behind a team that’s now 3-4 in the first place.
And then came…
Source link : https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/miamis-smoke-and-mirrors-routine-gets-another-act-against-florida-state-163217401.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-10-24 16:32:17
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