After Loss to Florida State, Miami Hurricanes Still Looking for Complete Game

Al Golden's first taste of the Miami-Florida State rivalry didn't go as planned. Three early turnovers buried the Miami Hurricanes in a hole they couldn't quite climb out of.

A costly Jacory Harris interception in the end zone, a muffed punt by Travis Benjamin and terrible punt coverage on a Greg Reid 83-yard return touchdown sealed the Canes' fate before halftime. The Canes did fight back in the end, but it was too little, too late. After their second 80-yard drive, capped off by a Mike James touchdown to make it 23-19, the Canes couldn't recover the onside kick.

This game could have been the game that gave the Hurricanes some momentum and some life to close out the season. After their ACC title hopes were dashed in Blacksburg a few weeks ago, Canes fans have been looking for an all-around complete game. I have yet to see that.

Even the Hurricanes' 49-14 victory over Duke last week wasn't a complete game. There just aren't those complete game routs the Canes used to have back in their Big East days. The 61-0 thrashing of Rutgers (or maybe 61-3, sorry, Rutgers fans) and the 38-0 beatdown of Temple seem like a thing of the past.

When the Canes played Bethune-Cookman this year (a FCS 1-AA team) they were only up 14-7 at half!!

Having said that, this team is headed in the right direction with Al Golden at the helm. I just would have liked to see the Canes win one big ACC game this season. They had their opportunity against Virginia Tech, but the defense just couldn't make that one big stop in the end to seal the deal. The Canes also had plenty of opportunities in the game today against Florida State, but the dropped passes, uncharacteristic fumbles and porous defense were just too much to overcome.

The offense against the Seminoles today made too many mental errors that prevented them from doing what they wanted to do. One thing that didn't make much sense was the Canes' play calling down 23-7 with 11:07 left in the game. On that drive, there were seven rushes and only three passes. Needing to salvage as much time as possible, you would think those numbers would be reversed.

Jacory bailed out the play calling with a 28-yard scamper, which got his team in the red-zone to eventually score. But when the drive was over, there was 6:27 left on the clock. If the Canes would have scored quicker, pulling off the comeback win wouldn't have been as difficult.

Tommy Streeter made some great catches as he has all year, but he left the game with an apparent knee injury. For the Canes to have any success in their next two games to end the season, it's imperative that he plays.

The defense today was shaky like it's been all year. The defense's philosophy on tackling seems to be running into the opposing player hoping they will fall down. Sean Spence really is the only for-sure tackler on the Canes defense and he won't be here next season. Ouch.

To close out the year, the Canes have the South Florida Bulls away and the Boston College Eagles at home. The Bulls are 5-4 and defeated the Canes last season in Miami, 23-20. Boston College only has two ACC wins this season and defeated the Canes in their last match-up in 2007, 28-14.

Looking at these two games, both are definitely winnable, but you never know with this year's Canes.

I'm still looking for that complete game.