Another week, another late victory for the Miami Hurricanes in ACC play. A week after narrowly escaping Chapel Hill with a win over North Carolina, Miami returned home to score a late victory against Wake Forest. Duke Johnson rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns and Antonio Crawford‘s interception of a Tanner Price pass sealed a tight win for the Hurricanes, 24-21. What a week for Miami.
The second half continued to be a defensive battle. Wake Forest continued to run clock as much as they could while on offense but failed to add any points on the scoreboard after leading Miami 14-10 at the half. Not being able to put points on the board eventually came back to haunt Wake Forest, so it seemed. Miami had battled field position for much of the afternoon with a stagnant offense not helping the cause. From their own nine-yard line in the fourth quarter, that changed when Stephen Morris let loose a deep ball to Stacey Coley for a 44-yard gain down the right sideline. Coley showed good concentration as he fell to the ground and had to secure a loose football falling in to his lap on the ground.But three plays later Miami was forced to punt. The field position game had been flipped in Miami’s favor though.
On Miami’s next drive a return to the running game was key as Miami ran all eight plays, mostly calling on Johnson. Johnson capped the eight-play drive with a touchdown for a 17-14 lead. Wake Forest responded though with a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on the ensuing possession. Price completed five straight attempts on the drive, including a 36-yard wheel route to Dominique Gibson that caught Miami off guard for the go-ahead score.
Then it was the Duke Johnson show one last time. Johnson carried the football eight times on Miami’s next possession and he picked up his second touchdown a play after it appeared he had already done so. A video review upheld a no-touchdown call although it appeared Johnson did pick up a touchdown. Regardless, Johnson finished the job one play later and Miami held on..
Miami escaped, but they made plays when they absolutely needed to do so. But how much confidence will Miami take from this game before heading to Tallahassee next week to take on Florida State? Wake Forest was methodical with their offensive approach, and it worked well. Florida State should be able to take advantage of the some weaknesses exposed in Miami’s defense, and with a much more talented roster Florida State should be able to break open some bigger plays than Wake Forest was able to.
Miami remains undefeated, but they have cracks.