Malik Rosier, Miami Use Late Rally to Beat Virginia, Move to 10-0

The Miami Hurricanes have flirted with disaster against ACC foes all season, and Saturday was no different. 

Fresh off a 41-8 drubbing of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the third-ranked Hurricanes stagnated early before they woke up and downed the Virginia Cavaliers 44-28 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, after falling behind by 14 points in the third quarter.       

But thanks to safety Jaquan Johnson's pick-six, several clutch plays from quarterback Malik Rosier and a stout second-half showing on defense, the Hurricanes improved to 10-0 and further solidified their status as College Football Playoff contenders in 2017. 

Rosier completed 15 of 28 passes for 210 yards and had four total touchdowns (three passing) and two interceptions to keep the Hurricanes offense humming, but he wasn't the most dynamic quarterback on the field.     

That honor belonged to Virginia's Kurt Benkert, who dropped dime after dime to give the Cavaliers a 28-14 lead less than three minutes into the third quarter. 

In his finest performance of the season to date, the senior lit it up to the tune of 384 yards and four scores while completing 75.7 percent of his passes. For context, the Hurricanes allowed nine passing touchdowns in their first nine games combined. 

Analysts across the sport all took note of Benkert's rising NFL draft stock as he shredded Miami's vaunted secondary: 

Benkert's lone mistake came midway through the third quarter, when Johnson took a first-down pass 30 yards to the house seven seconds after Rosier hit Lawrence Cager for a nine-yard touchdown. 

The Hurricanes kept their foot on the gas and ultimately ripped off 30 unanswered points, including an eight-yard scoring scamper by Rosier with 4:03 remaining to go up by nine and send the Cavaliers packing. 

WPLG's Will Manso pointed to Rosier's mental toughness as one of the primary factors that fueled Miami's comeback: 

Safely locked into the CFP Top Four for another week, Miami will try to get out to a quicker start in Week 13 against the Pittsburgh Panthers before they set their sights on an ACC Championship Game clash with the No. 2 Clemson Tigers. 

Virginia, which fell to 6-5 with the loss, will try to close out its regular season with an intrastate victory over Virginia Tech at Scott Stadium next Friday.