This is part of a series on Canes football games that have been lost to history. Information on the series including other articles is available here. 

The Year

The year is 2004. President George W. Bush is in the final year of his first term as president. The week of September 29th, 2012 saw Goodies by Ciara featuring Petey Pablo top the Billboard Hot 100 list. And The Dark Tower by Stephen King was #1 on the New York Times fiction best seller list. Gas was $2.04 a gallon. The big news story was the recent concluded final presidential debate between Bush and John Kerry. The first debate was held on the campus of the University of Miami.

The Combatants

Miami entered the game at 4-0 and was ranked #3 in the country.

Louisville entered the game 4-0 and was ranked #17 in the country.

The Context

Miami had beaten FSU in OT to start the season and had rolled since then. There was very little doubt that this was a national title contender (that presumption turned out to be wrong as the season unfolded). The Canes, fresh off a “disappointing” Orange Bowl winning season that fell short of a National Championship, were looking to make amends. This was also the Canes first year in the ACC.

Louisville was in Conference USA, a conference that they were way too good for. No one was sure how good Louisville was, but this was the opportunity for them to test themselves. In the BCS Era, for Louisville, winning this game would allow them to attend a major bowl game.

The Canes were heavy favorites for this Thursday night clash in the Orange Bowl.

The Game

The game started as expected. The Canes forced a 3-and-out, with Louisville losing 15 yards. After a poor punt, the Canes drove inside the Louisville 5. But perhaps the first time there was an indication that this would not be a walk in the park came when the Canes were stuffed on 4th-and-1 and turned i t over on downs.

The Canes forced another punt, and this time cashed on on field position, with Greg Olsen catching a TD to put the Canes up 7-0.

On the next possession, Miami forced a 3rd-and-10, and then Louisville’s offense turned on like a light switch. They completed a pass of 14 yards to convert the 1st down, then followed that with plays of 10, 25, 24, and 1 yard for the TD to tie the game.

Miami then threw an interception, which allowed Louisville to hit a FG and take a 10-7 lead on the first play of the 2nd quarter.

After a 3-and-out, Louisville immediately marched 76 yards on 9 plays, including converting a 3rd-and-9 and a 3rd-and-7 for the TD that put Louisville up 17-7.

Keep in mind that there was very little confidence in the Canes’ offense, so a 10-point lead felt substantial. We knew this was a game.

And after a few punts, Louisville pushed the lead out further. The Cardinals once again converted multiple 3rd downs, including a 3rd-and-9 and a 3rd-and-3 for the TD that put Louisville up 24-7.

Heading into the half, Louisville was dominating. In addition to converting several 3rd downs, the Cardinals had outgained Miami 249-103. After the Canes TD to go up 7-0, their next 5 drives were -5, 3, 5, 18, and -1 yards.

The game did not feel over, but the Canes did look a bit helpless.

Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff of the 2nd half for a TD, igniting the crowd, bringing Miami back into the game…except it was called back on a penalty. But the Canes still built off of it. Berlin hit Roscoe Parrish for a critical conversion on 3rd-and-14. Then Quadtrine Hill took over, carrying on 4 of the next 6 plays to take the Canes inside the Louisville 15. Berlin hit Parrish for the TD on the next play to cut the lead to 24-14.

New half, new Miami. Louisville would surely crumble from here…except they did the opposite. After a holding penalty backed up the Cardinals into 3rd-and-19, they threw underneath for 10 yards. On 4th-and-9, the Cardinals faked a punt, and Lionel Gates ran for 39 yards. The Canes defense once again stepped up, forcing Louisville into a 3rd-and-12…but again couldn’t make the critical play. Stefan LeFors hit Tiger Jones for 22 yards and a TD that pushed the lead back out to 17.

But the Canes offense was now in rhythm, and responded back with another TD drive, this time on the strength of Berlin hitting Akieem Jolla twice, first for a critical 3rd down conversion and again for the TD to cut the lead to 10.

Now the Canes D stepped up, forcing a punt. Miami’s offense went 82 yards, but stalled inside the 5. Unlike earlier, where they went for it inside the 5, this time the Canes decided to kick the FG and cut the lead to a one-possession game at 31-24 at the start of the 4th quarter.

Then, it seemed like Louisville would finally crumble. LeFors fumbled on the next possession, and the Canes took over at the Louisville 22. LeFors was also injured on the play and Brian Brohm, a true freshman, would play out the rest of the game. But Louisville would not crumble, instead, forcing the Canes to 3rd-and-2, and stuffing Frank Gore for a 1-yard loss. Larry Coker decided to kick the FG, and the Canes were down 31-27.

Louisville converted one first down, but a penalty stymied them and they punted from the 37.

That punt lead to one of the iconic plays in Miami Hurricanes’ history, as Devin Hester took the punt back right past the Louisville coverage team, faked the punter out, and went to the end zone to put Miami up 34-31 with 8:11 left. Mike Tirico’s call of the return is perfect.

With the stadium rocking, the loss inevitable, and a backup QB in the game, certainly Louisville would finally go away. Instead they marched right back at the Canes, going 80 yards in 9 plays, scoring the TD with 4:35 left that put them up 38-34.

Hester, once again, was determinative. He returned the kickoff to the Miami 44, setting up a shorter field. After Berlin scrambled for 11 yards and threw 2 incompletions, the Canes converted a 3rd-and-10 by Lance Leggett making a catch for 26 yards. After the Canes ended up in 4th-and-4 at the 8, Berlin hit Darnell Jenkins for 5 yards, just getting the first down.

Tyrone Moss gained 2 yards and Frank Gore scored the TD with 53 seconds left to put the Canes up for good at 41-38.

Louisville was able to move the ball some, including getting out to midfield after gaining 18 yards on on 4th-and-4. But they ran out of times and downs, and with 5 seconds left, the Hail Mary came up short and Antrel Rolle intercepted to seal the game.

There was a minor kerfuffle as Louisville slammed Rolle down and there was some jawing, but Miami gratefully escaped with a win.

Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGeqZNlPidE

Full Game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL7bUo_pNoY

Why is it Memorable?

So many reasons. But I think we could argue this game is memorable, so I almost disqualified it from this series. Certainly the Hester punt return is.

But I don’t know that we remember this game as we should. For one, this game is as memorable for the losers as much as the winners. Most comebacks involve the losing team imploding, making mistakes. Louisville did the opposite.

The Canes kept coming, and the Cardinals kept responding.  When Hester delivered what seemed like the knockout blow, Louisville retook the lead.

Coming into this game, the Canes hadn’t even allowed a passing TD. Mike Tirico talked in the opener about how the Canes were targeting shutouts…and Louisville put up 38.

This game was distinct from a comeback like the UF 33-10 comeback in 2003 in that UF built that lead on the back of Canes’ errors, and once Miami got rolling, it was obvious that the Canes were superior. In this game, it felt like if Louisville had more time, they would have scored again. This game could have gone back-and-forth forever.

And what else can we say about Brock Berlin. His uncanny ability not just to lead comebacks, but to have the entire team believe in his ability to do so is something that has been lacking since. This game always felt alive because Brock Berlin was always able to win games.

Last but not least, this was the last great game in the Orange Bowl. In 2007, the Canes beat Texas A&M in a night game, but that was nothing like this. We didn’t know at the time that the Orange Bowl would be gone in 3 years. But when we look back at great nights in the OB, this was really the last one.

And Tirico added to the moment from start-to-finish. When the Canes came out of the tunnel, he opined about how it lacked luxury boxes but had so much more than that. And, as Hester took the punt into the end zone and ESPN prepared to break for commercial, Tirico’s off the cuff remark that “he takes it to the house, and what a house it is” captured the spirit of what the OB was.

Tirico, one of the transcendent voices of college football, didn’t know he was sending off the Old Girl, but he gave it a fitting tribute.

The Aftermath

This was actually a changeover for the Canes. Coming into this game, the narrative was that the Canes offense, and in particular Brock Berlin, were the problem and that the defense was one of the best in the country.

That changed with this game. This ended up being the only year that Randy Shannon did not have a Top 10 defense as Defensive Coordinator, and Brock Berlin ended up as one of the more respected QBs the Canes have had this century.

The Canes would stay undefeated for another week, beating NC State 45-31, but it was obvious that the defense was not up to standard. That cost the Canes the next game, in a 31-28 loss to UNC.

Miami ended up not winning the conference for the first time since 1999, but did recover to beat Florida in the Peach Bowl.

For Louisville, this game cost them a shot at a BCS bowl. They absolutely crushed everyone else they played, and then beat Boise State in the Liberty Bowl. But this loss prevented them from going to a better bowl game than that.

Have memories of this game? Tweet us at @vrp2003 and @5ReasonsSports

This is part of a series on Canes football games that have been lost to history. Information on the series including other articles is available here. 

The Year

The year is 2012. President Barack Obama is in the final year of his first term as president. The week of September 29th, 2012 saw One More Night by Maroon 5 top the Billboard Hot 100 list. And A Wanted Man by Lee Child was #1 on the New York Times fiction best seller list. Gas was $3.82 a gallon. The top international news stories involved civil wars in Somalia and Syria.

The Combatants

Miami came into the game at 3-1, with the loss being a blowout to Kansas State.

NC State also came into the game at 3-1, with their loss being a 2 TD loss against Tennessee.

The Context

It was still young in the season, and both teams were trying to find themselves. Miami came into this game having just played an OT classic against Georgia Tech the previous week. No one really knew what to think of Al Golden’s team at this point, but we were pretty sure the defense wasn’t good.

For NC State, they had a big time QB in Mike Glennon, and the questions were around Tom O’Brien. No one really expected NC State to compete for the division with FSU and Clemson.

The Game

No one played defense. At all.

And it was a sloppy, poorly played mess.

The game somehow started with 3 consecutive punts, but that was not representative of where this game was heading.

On their 2nd possession of the game, NC State went 68 yards, with chunk plays of 28 yards and 43 yards (through the air and ground) setting up a 1-yard TD run.

The Canes came right back, going 75 yards in 3 plays after Stephen Morris hit Rashawn Scott for 52 yards, Phillip Dorsett for 5 yards, and Allen Hurns who made a great catch in the end zone from 14 yards out to tie the game at 7.

The Wolfpack’s first of many implosions came on the next drive, after a horrible kick return and a penalty, they started on their own 8, and promptly snapped the ball over Glennon’s head. Glennon was tackled out of the back of the end zone retrieving the ball, and the Canes took a 9-7 lead.

It took the Canes just 5 plays to go up 16-7, with Morris hitting Hurns for 40 yards and Dorsett for the 24-yard TD. NC State could not cover the Canes WRs. And after Miami forced another punt (which Dorsett returned for a TD, but was called back on a block in the back), that would prove true again as Morris hit Scott for a 76-yard TD on 3rd-and-2 to put the Canes up 23-7, still in the 1st quarter.

At this point, it looked like the Canes were going to roll to a win, but the slop-fest was just getting started.

The Wolfpack wasted a 50-yard kickoff return to the Miami 44, when 4 plays later, inside the Canes 25, they fumbled and AJ Highsmith recovered. The Canes marched on another drive, moving inside the NC State 5-yard line. On 1st-and-goal from the 2, and with the Canes threatening to go up 30-7, Morris threw an interception with 15 seconds left in the quarter on a play where Clive Walford was wide open and the ball was thrown high, which turned a TD into a touchback.

On the last play of the quarter, Glennon hit Quintin Payton for 73 yards to the Canes 7, mercifully ending an insane quarter. One play into the 2nd quarter, Glennon connected with Tony Creecy for a TD to cut the lead to 9 when the Canes were 2 yards away from making the margin 23 just 20 seconds prior.

With the game at 23-14, and after a rare Miami punt, there is no other way to describe the next series of possessions other than stupid.

-NC State fumbled after one play, and the Canes recovered on the Wolfpack 16.

-After failing to punch the ball after advancing to 1st-and-goal at the NC State 4, which included a fake FG conversion, Jake Wieclaw missed a 19-yard FG.

-NC State strung together a nice drive, moving all the way to the Miami 9. Tobais Palmer caught a pass underneath, and was crossing the first down marker, seemingly destined for the end zone when Brandon McGee just took the ball from him in one motion and returned it to the Canes’ 28, with a personal foul on NC State tacking on another 15 yards, flipping the field position.

-Miami went 3-and-out and punted.

-NC State fumbled again, this time on their own 29, and the Canes recovered.

-Wieclaw missed another FG, this time from 41 yards out.

The game went into the half that way, with Miami up 23-14. Miraculously, NC State fumbled 3 times, entered the Canes red zone, and the Canes had 2 easy FGs in a total of 6 possessions, and yet no one scored.

NC State would fix the scoring drought on the 1st drive of the 3rd quarter. In a game that was conditioned by repeated big plays, NC State finally put together a long drive, but it was, of course, aided by a huge Miami mistake. The Canes actually forced a 3-and-out, giving up 9 yards on 3 plays. But when NC State punted, the Canes ran into the kicker, giving the Wolfpack the first down. From there, NC State marched down the field, culminating in a TD pass on 3rd and goal from the Miami 4 to make the score 23-21. The Wolfpack had eaten up 6:46 off the clock.

After both teams exchanged punts, the game went absolutely crazy again.

-The Canes went 90-yards for a TD, with the big play being a 40-yard completion to Phillip Dorsett. There was another 1st down mistake-aid when NC State jumped offside when the Canes were facing 4th-and-2 at the NC State 7 and attempting a FG. Duke Johnson scored on the next play.

-NC State made another kickoff mistake and started at their own 3. But that just delayed the inevitable as they put together a 97-yard TD drive which included multiple 4th-down conversions, the last of which being Mike Glennon hitting Bryan Underwood for 28 yards and a TD. This should have brought the Wolfpack to within 2, but of course, another screw-up was around the corner and they missed the XP. So the score remained 30-27.

-It took the Canes 7 plays to score their next TD, with the big play being a Dorsett catch of 46 yards. Scott ended up catching the 13-yard TD after the ball bounced off an NC State defender’s face mask (cause why not?) and Miami lead 37-27.

-But NC State only needed 6 plays to pull back within 3, and with  5:35 left in the game, the Canes were clinging to a 37-34 lead.

The teams had exchanged 4 consecutive TDs and racked up 341 yards on those possessions, with the only blinking being that NC State missed an XP so the Canes had gained a point in that back-and-forth. That point would prove critical.

Stephen Morris wasn’t done with big throws, hitting Davon Johnson for 41 yards. But the drive stalled and once again Jake Wieclaw missed, this time from 43 yards out.

NC State now had the ball with just under 4 minutes left and a chance to go in front. They promptly drove into Canes territory, but a false start short-circuited the drive. They did, however, hit a 50-yard FG to tie the game at 37.

With a chance to win the game, Morris connected on consecutive passes totaling 35 yards to take the Canes to the NC State 40. But the drive actually stalled, and for the first time in 8 possessions, a team punted. And the punt was perfect, as Dalton Botts dropped it down at the NC State 4.

There was 1:03 left. NC State had an obvious kicking game advantage, and were at their own 4. The prudent thing to do would be to run the clock out and go to OT. And they actually tried, but the Canes defense was so bad, they couldn’t actually stop the run and Shadrach Thornton busted free for 17 yards. Now, with the ball at their own 21, with 55 seconds left, and with a kicker who had just nailed a 50-yard FG, the Wolfpack decided to attack…and Mike Glennon threw an interception on a deep ball which Thomas Finnie easily caught after QB-WR miscommunication.

There were only 48 seconds left, but the Canes did have the ball on their own 39. 2 plays netted -1 yards. The second play, an attempted run that lost yard, resulted in boos reigning down from the stands. On 3rd-and-11, Morris went for broke, eluding several tacklers, dropping back to his 30, and just letting rip deep to Dorsett who collected it and galloped into the end zone for a 68-yard TD that put the Canes ahead 44-37 with 19 seconds left.

There were only 19 seconds left, but NC State somehow managed to screw up 2 more things. They messed up the kickoff and started from their own 3, and then after gaining 20 yards, Mike Glennon threw an INT on the game’s last play, as AJ Highsmith grabbed it and the Canes somehow came out with a 44-37 victory.

Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GMIbuNjs88

First Half: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOvLRvwWakE

Second Half: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oUBL0YAvF0

Why is it Memorable?

Holy Crap. First, the Dorsett play is famous, but how we got there is insane.

This game was an offensive explosion and just a series of mistakes.

NC State had 664 yards. But they also had 14 penalties for 100 yards and 6 turnovers, including 4 fumbles, and missed an XP.

For the Canes part, they only had the 1 turnover, but missed 3 FGs.

Miami racked up 651 yards, Stephen Morris set a school record with 566 passing yards. He also threw 5 TDs, which was tied for a school record until Jarren Williams broke it in 2019 against Louisville. Phillip Dorsett (191 yards, 2 TDs) and Rashawn Scott (180 yards, 2 TDs) combined for 371 yards and 4 TDs.

NC State multiple times messed up kickoffs and started at their own 3-yard line. Miami’s defense was so bad it benefited from not being able to stop the run because NC State accidentally gained too many yards trying to run the clock out and force OT, which convinced them to try and score in regulation, forcing the turnover that led to the Canes’ winning TD.

Miami should have easily gone up 30-7 in the 1st quarter, but Morris threw high to a wide open Walford and gifted the Wolfpack an Interception. Both teams made penalties on punt/FG plays by jumping offsides ultimately keeping drives alive that went for TDs.

The game was as exciting as it was poorly played. It appeared to be 2 talented yet bad teams (and it was).

The way the game ended probably provides the best summation of this game. With the clock not running, NC State false started. Al Golden, fist in the air, charges out onto the field, confusing the official who thought Golden must know the rule and announces that the penalty requires a 10-second runoff (it does not). Tom O’Brien concurred and shook Golden’s hand, only for the line judge to come in and correct everyone…all of which enabled NC State to turn the ball over again.

This was the quintessential Al Golden game. Terrible defense, massive confusion, mistakes, not understanding the rules of football at times, exciting play makers on offense that can explode, and just overall exciting but low quality.

The Aftermath

Since we actually covered the previous game in this season, we already covered how this season ended for Miami. But this was a game where they gave up over 600 yards and won. It confirmed that the defense was horrible. The Canes went 7-5 this year, and won 3 games where they gave up 36, 37, and 45 points…and managed to lose a game where they scored 40.

That Al Golden pretending that this defense was ever going to turn around is just ridiculous. But it is also a fatal flaw in his approach, opting for conservatism versus aggression, trying to rope-a-dope opponents for a team and school that thrives on aggression and knockout blows. Yes, D’Onofrio was a horrible DC, and proved so again at Houston. But that is almost a footnote. As this game proved, even in victory, Golden was just never going to do anything. There is no way to fix the defense when the head coach’s philosophy is just wrong.

So, even in victory, we saw how untenable the approach was. And a week later, everything came crashing down to earth as ND beat the Canes by 38 kicking off a 3-game losing streak

For NC State, they recovered and immediately won against Florida State the next game, handing FSU their only conference loss. It was part of an up-and-down season for the Wolfpack, who would also play Clemson well, but lose to UVA and UNC.

Have memories of this game? Tweet us at @vrp2003 and @5ReasonsSports

By now you’ve probably heard about a potential proposed trade between the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals. Miami wants to try to trade with Cincinnati for the top pick in next month’s draft. It is pretty clear that they are trying to make a push for the LSU quarterback Joe Burrow. However, would that be the right move?

We have seen the Miami Dolphins accrue assets over the last year or so, and build their team in free agency. They are in a very good spot right now in terms of their roster. Sure, there are holes that need to be filled. However, they are in a better spot right now than they were a year ago. When you really think about the prospect of the Cincinnati trading away their chance at a potential franchise quarterback, it seems highly unlikely. For now, anything is on the table.

Do I think the Miami Dolphins should make a push for Joe Burrow? My answer is a little bit complicated. First, I’ll go on the record and say that I believe he is a better quarterback than Tua Tagovailoa. I believed that before Tua suffered his unfortunate injury, and I still believe it now.

The Miami Dolphins should stay put on potential trade

In terms of logistics however, the Dolphins would be wise to stay put. Should an opportunity for this trade arise, I wouldn’t do it.

Miami has a ton of draft capital this year. they have the fifth overall pick, the 18^th overall pick, and the 26^th overall pick. For a franchise looking to build, that’s a lot of capital to rebuild a team with. Miami would probably have to give up those assets in order to acquire the LSU star.

Cincinnati would undoubtedly want a king’s ransom in return. I wouldn’t blame them.

This draft is particularly deep with talent this year, and Miami would have a ton of opportunities to grab impact players. It doesn’t make sense to sacrifice a chance at significantly rebuilding an organization, in one draft, for one quarterback. It’s tempting, it really truly is.

Burrow is an extremely good signal caller. However, my sticking point is what it would take to get him. Miami would be wise to just let this draft play out, and use the picks they have.  Leveraging them all for one player would not be worth it. Burrow seems like a sure thing, but it would be wise to not mortgage the future.

This is part of a series on Canes football games that have been lost to history. Information on the series including other articles is available here. 

The Year

The year is 2009. President Barack Obama is in the first year of his first term in office. The week of October 31st, 2009 saw I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas top the Billboard Hot 100 list, which it had done so since July 11th. And The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown was #1 on the New York Times fiction best seller list. Gas was $2.64 a gallon. The top news story in America was the so-called “Balloon Boy Hoax” where parents claimed their child was in a homemade hot air balloon that had been mistakenly released. After a search found the balloon with no child inside, the parents were found to have fabricated the entire story.

The Combatants

Miami entered the game at 5-2, and 2-2 in conference.

Wake Forest was 4-4, and 2-2 in conference.

The Context

The previous week, Miami had essentially thrown away their best chance at an ACC Coastal title, and without a standout powerhouse team in the conference, they had also likely lost a chance at an ACC title. In a classic game that included several Hurricanes mistakes, including playing Sean Spence with a torn ACL while trying to cover CJ Spiller with him and a botched squib kick, the Canes ultimately fell in OT.

The Canes were still officially in the ACC title race (they would be eliminated 2 weeks later with a loss at North Carolina), but they now needed a lot of help. The disappointment of a team that started the season brightly and then threw away a special season on a mistake-filled afternoon was palpable. The Canes started the year with 4 consecutive games against ranked teams, and went 3-1, with the only loss being at Virginia Tech. The Clemson loss was in an easier stretch of games and was a shock to the system.

For Wake Forest, they were coming in on a losing streak, and needed 2 wins for bowl eligibility. They came into this game on a 2-game losing streak, including a disappointing 3-point loss to Navy. They were looking to turn that around here.

The Game

We were worried about a Miami hangover from the Clemson game, and boy did we get one.

Or, more succinctly put: Wake Forest was by far the better team on the day.

After a Miami punt, Wake Forest marched down the field going 78 yards, but the Canes held inside the 10-yard line and forced a FG. After another Canes’ punt, Wake Forest went the full distance going 53 yards to take a 10-0 lead with 2:23 left in the 1st quarter. But they weren’t done yet, going 80 yards for their 3rd consecutive score, and now were up 17-0 with 10:21 left in the 1st half.

At this point, in addition to being up 17-0, Wake Forest had outgained Miami 211-87.

To try and change momentum, the Canes went to a no-huddle offense. The change of pace caught Wake Forest off guard, and the Canes went 67 yards in 5 plays to pull within 10. Aldarius Johnson caught the 35-yard TD pass after the Canes went no-huddle and snapped it against a confused Wake Forest defense.

Wake Forest did respond, however. After both teams exchanged punts (the first Miami had forced all day), Wake Forest once again drove, this time for a FG.

The Canes got the ball with 33 seconds at their own 36. A FG seemed like a long shot with the way they’d failed to move the ball, but Jacory Harris hit Thearon Collier for 29 yards, then Graig Cooper rushed for 29 yards before Harris hit Collier again down to the 3-yard line with 8 seconds left. Miami still had a timeout, and therefore the luxury to attempt a run, which they did and which Damien Berry scored on with 3 seconds left to cut the lead to 6 at the half.

Wake Forest had thoroughly dominated the game, but Miami’s quick strike ability had kept them in the game. Ultimately, those themes of Wake Forest minimizing points and Miami’s ability to score quick would decide the game.

The second half looked like it would follow the first half when Wake Forest immediately strung together a drive, taking the ball inside the Canes 35-yard line. But, on an 11-yard completion, Sam Shields stripped the ball and Vaughn Telemaque recovered, keeping the deficit at 6.

After 3 consecutive punts (2 by Miami, 1 by Wake Forest), the Demon Deacons got the offense going again. Wake Forest went 82 yards in 9 plays, capped off by a 44-yard TD pass to go up 27-14.

When Harris followed that up with an interception, this game felt over. But Miami’s defense held without giving up yardage for one of the few times on the day, and Miami continued to hang in the game. After more punts, Wake Forest received the ball near the start of the 4th quarter and promptly drove to the Canes 27-yard line. But they missed the FG, and miraculously, the lead was still only 13.

After yet another Miami punt (the offense was going nowhere), the Canes were bailed out by a muffed punt. The ball bounced inside the Wake Forest 5-yard line where Sam Shields recovered. One play later, Harris hit Tervaris Johnson in the back of the end zone to cut the lead to 27-21.

The total yardage in the 2nd half at that point was Miami 24, Wake Forest 186…and yet the score for the 2nd half was 7-7.

The Demon Deacons went on the march again, hoping to restore a 2-possession game. But after crossing midfield, Riley Skinner threw a pass into coverage which was batted in the air and intercepted by DeMarcus Van Dyke.

With just under 9 minutes left, and the ball in decent field position starting at their own 36-yard line, now was the time for Miami to seize the game. They promptly gained a solitary yard on 3 plays and punted. Wake Forest put together a decent drive, eating clock and moving out of deep in their territory. A holding penalty killed the drive at midfield, but a solid punt put Miami at their own 18 with 2:36 left and only one timeout.

Miami had to go the end zone on this drive, or it was game over. Jacory Harris fired 2 incompletions, then hit Collier for 29 yards on a beautiful corner route. On the next play Harris was sacked, and then threw 2 more incompletions. It was 4th and 16 at their own 41, but the Canes had to go for it anyway with only 1:32 left. Harris stood in the pocket, taking a hit as he lofted the ball to Aldarius Johnson, who made a leaping catch for 29 yards at the Wake Forest 30. The stunned Demon Deacons struggled to lineup as Harris hit Travis Benjamin on consecutive plays for 17 and 13 yards, the latter of which resulted in Benjamin making a sliding catch in the front corner of the end zone to score the go ahead TD and put Miami up 28-27 with 1:08 left.

With backup QB Ryan McManus having replaced Riley Skinner (who left with a concussion on the previous drive), Wake Forest tried to get the ball into FG range. Wake Forest did move the ball, but was fighting the clock. When McManus scrambled to the Canes 43-yard line, then fired an incompletion on the following play, Wake Forest had 4 seconds left. Rather than try the Hail Mary, they opted for a 60-yard FG, which was nowhere close.

The Canes had escaped, 28-27.

Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOfzr_Jvl9g

Why is it Memorable?

It’s hard to imagine a less deserving win. Miami stole this game. We’re actually used to be on the wrong side of one-sided games, where the Canes gain a ton of yards but can’t finish drives. This was the opposite.

Wake Forest outgained Miami 555-356. They had ample opportunities to put this game away.

Yet the Canes made a handful of plays that ultimately finished drives and won them this game. The names contributing to this win…Jacory Harris, Travis Benjamin, Aldarius Johnson, Graig Cooper, Thearon Collier, Damien Berry…they bring back memories of hope and what could have been. On the day, Miami ran 21 times for 26 yards, Jacory Harris was sacked 6 times, and yet they persevered.

Perhaps, the most shocking stat is the combined time of possession on Miami’s 4 TD drives was a total of 3 minutes and 55 seconds. And they literally did nothing the rest of the game. They had multiple drives that gained negative yards. Meanwhile, Wake Forest had multiple 40+ yard drives that yielded no points.

Jacory Harris did throw for 330 yards, but it was really a handful of drives where those yards came. We also should not forget Aldarius Johnson, who ended up never playing another down for Miami in the aftermath of the Nevin Shapiro scandal. He was fantastic in this game, and his leaping catch on 4th and 16 by itself makes this game memorable.

In the end, Miami converted multiple 3rd and 4th and longs, had 14 of their 28 points come via 2-minute drills at the end of halves, another 7 on a 2-yard drive off a muffed punt, and the final 7 come via a no-huddle attack…and Wake Forest basically dominated everything else and lost.

The Canes didn’t deserve to win, but did.

The Aftermath

Miami blew the 2019 season. There’s no other way to put it. They somehow navigated this start to the schedule:

Still can't believe Al Golden complained about playing at FAU when Randy Shannon once started the season like pic.twitter.com/E7cQQn7NYA

— Vishnu Parasuraman (@vrp2003) March 29, 2020

In position to win the ACC Coastal and probably the conference, and then imploded against Clemson. In a game in which the Canes’ outgained Clemson, they gave it away with 4 turnovers, a botched squib kickoff, and a busted coverage…and found themselves in overtime. In OT, Miami drove inside the Clemson 5, couldn’t punch it in and kicked a FG. They then somehow gave up a 26-yard TD pass on 2nd-and-11 when it looked like they might force a long FG. That really blew the season.

In the aftermath of that, this Wake Forest game became a footnote, but likely balanced out the record since Miami did not deserve to win this game. The real question is, had they held on against Clemson, do they then win this Wake Forest game more easily, do they win at North Carolina later in the year, do they win the ACC Coastal and the ACC? We’ll never know.

In hindsight, the 2009 Clemson game was the one that told the story of the Randy Shannon Era. He brought in talent, got it to the precipice, and blew it at inopportune times. The Wake Forest game was a reminder of the heart of those teams, and their ability to make plays.

This team ended up being the best of the Randy Shannon Era, losing the Champs Sports Bowl to Wisconsin. But on paper, and the way they played much of the year, they were the ACC’s best team. It’s unfortunate that the results didn’t show it.

For Wake Forest, they were midway through a 5-game losing streak that ultimately saw them miss a bowl game at 5-7. In addition to this loss, they had two 3-point losses, and 2 overtime losses. So all told, 6 of their 7 losses came by a FG or less, with 2 in OT. This was likely not even Wake Forest’s most heartbreaking loss of the year.

Have memories of this game? Tweet us at @vrp2003 and @5ReasonsSports