Miami Football: Grading the Hurricanes Loss to the Seminoles

The offense and special teams had been the only bright spot in a so-so season for the Hurricanes.

Going into Saturday's game against Florida State, Miami's kick and punt coverage hadn't allowed a touchdown all year, in fact they really haven't allowed a big run at all.

That all changed as Miami gave up their first return touchdown and if it weren't for a penalty, there would have been two.

The offense also was lost for the first three quarters as they struggled to move the ball against Florida State's defense.

They started to get things rolling at the end of the fourth quarter, but it was too late.

Here is my grades for the rivalry game between Miami and Florida State.

Quarterbacks: B

Jacory Harris completed 20 of 31 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown but also threw an interception.

Although his stats weren't horrible, Harris made some questionable throws throughout the game and actually had another interception that was negated by a roughing the passer penalty.

Harris also ran for 31 yards.

Stephen Morris got into the game as well completing 2-of-3 passes for 18 yards.

Running Backs: B

The Hurricane running backs were able to find a little breathing room on the ground as Lamar Miller ran for 92 yards on 22 carries and Mike James ran for 16 yards and two touchdowns.

Against Florida State's good defense it was pretty impressive, actually.

The only negative for the running game were the two fumbles by Miller, losing one of them.

Miami could have even had a better game if not for the turnovers and poor special teams play that eventually caused Miami to pass more.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: B-

The Hurricane receivers made some big time catches throughout the game, but also had some very important drops.

Allen Hurns made a couple good catches, but also dropped two passes. Hurns finished the night with five catches for 52 yards.

Tommy Streeter was again the Hurricanes best receiver of the night, but was getting banged up throughout the game.  Streeter led all receivers with four catches for 68 yards.

Travis Benjamin needed a big game and came up with just two catches for 29 yards. 

I thought that if Miami was able to utilize his speed and quickness more that would have put Miami in a better spot to win the game.

I will not blame it on the receiving corp as much as the coaches.

Offensive Line: D

Head coach Al Golden called out left tackle Brandon Washington a couple weeks ago for not playing to his potential.

Golden was right on the money and Washington proved his coach right as he was getting burned most of the night.

I honestly would like to see Seantrel Henderson or Malcolm Bunche at left tackle.  Both were fighting for the left tackle spot before the season opened.

Either way, the line has two more games to play together as a unit and need to protect Jacory's blindside and create better holes for Miller and James.

Harris was getting pounded for most of the game and the running backs had to make a majority of their runs on there own, sneaking through tiny holes.

The offensive line has been a big disappointment most of the year and this game was no different.

Defensive Line: B+

Who would have ever thought that I would be giving Miami's horrible defensive line any grade higher than a C, but they deserved it.

The defensive line literally shut down Florida States offense limiting the Seminoles to just 259 total yards.

The line lead by Micanor Regis, Olivier Vernon, Marcus Robinson, and Anthony Chickillo combined for three sacks.

Vernon continued to be as dominate as anyone in the country at his end position ending the night with five tackles, half a sack, one and half tackles for loss, and a forced fumbled.

The Hurricane defense as a whole only gave up 87 yards and three first downs in the first half.

Linebackers: B-

The linebackers came into the game banged up as Jordan Futch didn't play due to injury.

Kelvin Cain filled in for the hurting Futch and had five tackles.

This wasn't the best game for the linebackers but it was better than it has been thanks to another wonderful game by Sean Spence.

Spence has proved yet again that he may not only be one of the best linebackers in the ACC, but one of the best in the country.

He only had six tackles (one tackle for loss), but was around the ball all game long and his leadership on the defensive side was one of the main reasons the defense played so well.

Defensive Backs: B

The defensive backfield had a fairly decent night giving up only 196 yards and a touchdown through the air.

Vaughn Telemaque made some great plays and ended the night leading the Hurricanes in tackles with seven.

Cornerback Mike Williams had an opportunity for an early interception but the ball fell out of his hands.

The Hurricanes played without starting safety Ray Ray Armstrong who was suspended due to violating team rules.

Special Teams: F

I won't sugarcoat it, you can blame the Hurricanes special teams for the loss on Saturday.

All year long the Hurricanes have been brilliant on special teams.  They covered punt and kick returns perfectly and better than they have in years.

On Saturday they let the team down allowing a punt return for a touchdown to Greg Reid and almost another one but it was called back due to penalty.

The coverage team wasn't the only problem as Travis Benjamin mishandled a punt that was recovered by Florida State deep in Miami's territory.

Fortunately for Miami, the defense stepped up and limited Florida State to a field goal.

Coaches: D

Although the Hurricanes almost came back and beat the Seminoles, I really do not understand why Miami didn't do more to try and get their play makers the ball more.

Miami has superb athletes. If the coaching staff would have just opened the playbook more, like they did against Duke, Miami might have walked away with a win.

It wasn't until late in the fourth quarter when the coaches decided to throw some trick plays on Florida State and they worked to perfection.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the new coaches at Miami and I think Jedd Fisch is going to do some amazing things as an offensive coordinator for the Hurricanes.

Note: I won't even comment on the decision to put in Stephen Morris throughout the game to disrupt Jacory Harris and the offense. That just doesn't make any sense to me and had me livid every time they decided to do it.

Intangibles: B+

So what is basically came down to is Florida State didn't beat Miami.

Miami beat themselves.

If they didn't turn the ball over and make some costly mistakes there was no way Miami loses that game.

Although they lost, they could have easily given up and got blown out like they did last year (17-45), but they kept their composure and kept fighting.

What that shows to me is the players believe in themselves and what the coaches are trying to do.

That will be helpful come next year when most of the team will be returning.

That is, if Al Golden and the rest of the coaching staff don't leave for Happy Valley.