3 reasons Miami is officially back after beating Florida State
The Miami Hurricanes look like a potential College Football Playoff threat after beating the rival Florida State Seminoles on Saturday.
We hear the same phrase week in and week out during the college football season: Team X is officially “back” after picking up a win over a big-name opponent. Often times, this turns out not to be true, such as in the case of the 2016 Texas Longhorns.
However, one dormant program looks ready to return to national prominence in 2017. The Miami Hurricanes are quietly sneaking up the AP rankings and look capable of challenging any team in the country after moving to 4-0 on Saturday afternoon.
It’s understandable if many around college football haven’t been paying attention to No. 13 Miami, as the Hurricanes only played one game prior to Sep. 23 due to Hurricane Irma. A blowout victory over a decent Duke team last Friday was solid, but a resume that featured wins over Bethune-Cookman and Toledo didn’t stand out much.
That changed on Saturday, as Miami picked up a victory in its first real challenge of the season. The Hurricanes used a late touchdown by Darrell Longham to snap a seven-game losing streak against hated rival Florida State in front of a stunned crowd in Tallahassee.
Florida State clearly isn’t the same team with starting quarterback Deondre Francois out due to injury but is still a tough matchup with All-American talent all over the field. The schedule suddenly opens up for Miami for the next month, and the Hurricanes have a great shot at winning the ACC Coastal and more.
With the sudden rise back to national contender status, here are three reasons why Miami is officially back.
Mark Richt can flat out coach
The controversial decision to fire Richt is working out for the Georgia Bulldogs, but that doesn’t mean he can’t still be successful at Miami.
Richt led Georgia to a 145-51 record over 15 seasons and was just yards away from beating Alabama in the 2012 SEC Championship Game to move on to the BCS National Championship Game against a beatable Notre Dame squad. While failing to beat Saban was seen as a problem in Athens, many regarded Richt as a terrific hire for Miami when he joined the Hurricanes in December.
That is playing out on the field, as Richt led the Hurricanes to a 9-4 record in 2016 to match their best win total in over a decade. Everyone knows Richt will bring in terrific recruiting classes to Miami, and he’s doing a far better job of coaching up the existing talent on the roster than predecessor Al Golden.
The former Miami quarterback showed off his coaching ability by managing the clock perfectly to help Miami sneak by Florida State 24-20. Most coaches in the country would have played the same end of game scenario conservatively to send the game to overtime, but Richt took his chances on the road and allowed Malik Rosier one last downfield throw with under 10 seconds remaining.
A good roster plus excellent all-around coach is a winning formula for the Hurricanes, and Richt is capable of leading the team back to glory.