A fumble inside the five-yard line right before halftime shifted the trajectory of the game. Syracuse fought hard in the first half, but it seems like that’s all we came to play—just one half. The team didn’t show up for the 3rd and 4th quarters, and our defense completely fell apart.
Coach Dealer had a great game plan, though. He won the turnover battle 6-0 and held Cuse to only 131 passing yards. It’s been a long season, full of ups and downs, and we’ve had to adapt to playing the "simulation way." But despite the challenges, it’s been fun, addicting, and absolutely worth it.
Now, it’s on to the offseason, and we’ll be back with a chip on our shoulder. Whether it’s with Syracuse or somewhere else, I wish my players well. We’ll be practicing hard and ready to come back stronger.
Miami went into Syracuse looking to keep their chances of an ACC Championship game appearance alive. Things would not get off to the start that they were hoping as Syracuse would go on a 9 play drive that would end with a 25 yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 advantage. The Canes offense would come out and look to answer, however they would not. They would go 3 and out, but would get extremely lucky as the MLB for Syracuse would drop an easy interception. The Canes defense would then start making big plays. They would force a fumble on the second play of the drive getting the ball back to their offense. Five plays later the Canes would be in the endzone on a Damien Martinez 4 yard touchdown run, tying the game at 7-7. Syracuse would be forced to punt on their next possession but would have perfect placement as it went out of bounds at the 1 yard line. Miami would put a nice drive together and get down to the 3 yard line of Syracuse. The Orange would make 3 nice defensive plays and force Miami to a 20 yard field goal. "That was a big stand they made when we had the ball inside the 5 yard line," said Coach Dealer, "we need to make sure in the future we punch those into the endzone for seven instead of only getting three." Syracuse would come back out on offense and would be rolling. They looked like they would be going in for a touchdown, but the Miami defense would make a huge hit and recover a fumble inside the 5 yard line. The Canes offense would come out and 7 plays later Cam Ward would hit Jacolby George for a 2 yard TD and a 17-7 lead. The very next possession for Syracuse would not go well. Miami's Mishael Powell would intercept the pass and take it back for the touchdown and a 24-7 lead at the half. "That pick by Mishael was a big play. Giving us that kind of lead and then getting the ball to start the second half was big," said Dealer.
The Canes would use another big quarter in quarter number 3 to really bust the game wide open. Ward would score on a run and Martinez would get his second touchdown of the game. Powell would have two interceptions in the 3rd quarter and four total for the game. "I was really proud of how our team came out and played on the road," said Dealer, "hopefully we can keep playing like this and have a shot at an ACC Championship."
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