Duke Johnson rushed for a career high 186 yards and scored a touchdown to help the Miami Hurricanes claim victory in a turf war Friday night with Florida Atlantic. Miami defeated the Owls 34-6 on a night in which the school celebrated the 30th anniversary of the 1983 national championship Hurricanes.
Johnson, the ACC’s leading rusher returning in 2013, had a 53-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give Miami a 10-0 lead but it took a while for the Hurricanes to really deliver a knockout blow against the Owls. Two touchdowns in the third quarter helped ive Miami reason to breathe easy.
Miami quarterback Stephen Morris did not have a standout performance, but was effective enough to get by this week. Eight different receivers caught a pass for Miami, including Morris for a loss of 16 yards on one ill-advised play.
The night marked the start of another season with a dark cloud floating above it of course. The NCAA’s investigation in to the University of Miami continues to drag on, but Golden hopes to have his team focused on taking care of what they can on the field. Moving forward, Miami has plenty of work to do if they are to become a challenger in the ACC. Miami converted just four of 14 third down attempts but they did rack up over 500 yards of offense, more than doubling the production by Florida Atlantic. Penalties plagued Miami early and often, which will surely be something head coach Al Golden feels a need to address moving forward.
Miami will host the Florida Gators next week in Miami.