Miami Football: Grading the Hurricanes' Win over the North Carolina Tarheels

The Hurricanes beat the Tarheels for the first time ever in North Carolina on Saturday, improving their record to 3-3 (1-2 in the ACC).

Miami scored on their first five possessions, and it looked as though the Hurricanes were going to win by a landslide.

Miami took a 30-17 lead with under a minute to play, but North Carolina scored with 46 seconds left and got the onside kick with less than 40 seconds to go.

The Tarheels had no timeouts, as time ran out on North Carolina's comeback bid.  It was just North Carolina's second loss of the season (5-2, 1-2 in the ACC).

Here is the report card for the Hurricanes in their victory over the Tarheels.

Quarterback: A

Jacory Harris had his third straight game without an interception, as he completed 20 of 30 passes for 267 yards and three touchdowns.

With North Carolina zoning in on stopping Miami's rush game, Harris tore up the Tarheels secondary, as Harris had over seven passes go for over 20 yards.

Harris is the big reason why the Hurricanes beat North Carolina, as he stayed focused and rarely threw into any bad coverages.

Harris is playing as well as he ever has, and in the month of October, has thrown eight touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Running Backs: C-

Lamar Miller had two streaks snapped on Saturday.

The first was his five game streak of having at least one carry go for at least 40 yards, the only FBS player to do that.

Second was his five straight games of having over 100 yards rushing in a game.

Miller was limited to just 29 yards on 19 carries.

Now the reason I gave the Hurricanes a C- instead of an F (Hurricanes only had 44 total rushing yards) was because they didn't have to run the ball.

The Tarheels focused so much on stopping Miller and the rest of the Hurricanes, it let Harris and company throw the ball for most of the game.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: B

The receivers made some terrific catches and some huge plays for most of the first half, but also had three dropped passes.

This was the first game that I can remember a Hurricane dropping easy passes in a game.

Travis Benjamin was Harris' main target, as he caught eight passes for 99 yards and a touchdown.

Tommy Streeter continued his great season, catching four catches for 89 yards and a touchdown as well.

Streeter has been given the nickname "Touchdown Tommy" by some, as he has caught 18 balls this year, five of them going for touchdowns.

Clive Walford was the only tight end with a catch, as he had two of them for four yards.

Offensive Line: C

The good news is that Miami only had two penalties on the offensive line all day; the bad news was they didn't play all four quarters.

The offensive line looked sluggish in the second half, allowing North Carolina to put serious pressure on the Miami backfield.

The line also missed key blocks on many of the rushing plays, giving no open lanes to the Hurricane running backs.

Granted North Carolina has a great defensive team, but the line will need to be more consistent in ACC play.

Defensive Line: D

I truly am not going to get into the reason why the Hurricanes are struggling this year, because as I have the last three weeks, I am blaming a majority of it on the defensive line.

Not one player on the defensive line is consistent, and they have yet to find anyone that is able to get pressure on the quarterback.

Miami allowed 142 yards, but at times, showed signs of a good defense. However, they have yet to put together three good quarters.

Once again, they were undersized and got pushed around all game long.

The only good news for Miami is they get their best defensive lineman back next week in Olivier Vernon, who served a six-game suspension from the NCAA.

Linebackers: C-

If Sean Spence weren't on the team, I would be giving this position a D every game.

Spence's sack of UNC quarterback Bryn Renner at the end of the game was the main reason the Hurricanes won the game on Saturday.

With no timeouts left and UNC on Miami's 30-yard line, Spence sacked Renner allowing the time to continue to run, giving UNC just one more play before the time ran out.

Now before everyone thinks I am hating on the defense, there is hope.  The linebackers are raw and very young.

I honestly believe next year, this will be one of their best positions.

Just not this year.

Defensive Backs: D

It's so hard to grade a defensive backfield when a majority of the problem stems from the lack of pressure being put on the quarterback.

UNC quarterback Bryn Renner shredded the defensive backfield, though, as he completed 29-of-37 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns.

Once again, the defensive backfield seems lost at times, and the play coverage way too soft.

I am not 100 percent sure if it's the coaches' fault or just a lack of talent in the backfield, but I was not impressed with any of them.

They continue to get burned on short passes and do not wrap up on tackles, a problem the entire defense has.

Special Teams: B

The Hurricanes kick return team still continues to be very good, but they did almost give up kick off return for a touchdown. A block in the back to the kicker saved them.

Denzel Perryman did create a key play, knocking the ball loose from T.J. Thorpe on UNC's first kickoff return of the game.

Punter Dalton Botts didn't have a very good game either (34 yards per punt) and has been struggling of late.

Matt Bosher replacement Jake Wieclaw, though, has been impressive, as he went 3-for-3 on field goals, including a career high 43-yarder.

Overall, Miami's special teams was pretty solid.

Coaches: B-

The coaches did exactly what I begged from them, started the game off fast.

The problem this time was they played soft in the second half allowing UNC to almost comeback and win the game.

What I did love was the enthusiasm that coach Al Golden shows on the sideline.  The guy is so energetic and really wants these kids to succeed.

The coaches did a tremendous job in getting their team off to a great start, but need to continue to keep the pressure on teams, especially in ACC games.

Golden and offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch can not sit on the ball after a lead, not with this defense. 

Anything can happen in college football, and these coaches need to remember that no lead is safe.

Intangibles: B+

Although I gave the Hurricanes some bad grades on the defensive side, I truly believe they have enough power on offense to keep them in every game this year.

The offense is steadily improving, and once Seantrel Henderson get back to full strength, it will make Miami's offensive line even better.

The defense though will be a concern all year, but once these young players get more reps, the better they will get.

Miami has rotated 28 players on defense this year, but will get a boost next week when they get Olivier Vernon back.