For the past three years, the Miami Hurricanes have lost their ACC opener. Last year, the Canes looked like the best team in the ACC when they suffered one of the most gut-wrenching losses in the past five years, falling to Georgia Tech. In 2022, the Canes lost to North Carolina 27-24 in their opener. They finished both their 2022 and 2023 seasons with a sub-.500, 3-5 ACC record. Now, Miami, having once again started 4-0, had an opportunity to exorcise their demons and win their ACC opener at home on prime-time Friday Night Football. Fans were confident because this year felt different. Miami had a better roster than in years past. They had Cam Ward and the “CAM-PAIGN” for Heisman, as Cam Ward was coming in scorching hot with 14 touchdowns and just two interceptions. It seemed Miami had all the ingredients for a dominant performance.
Then the game started. Right away, the same mistakes and miscues that had haunted Miami in the past reared their ugly head. Ward fumbled on the opening drive, and it was recovered by Virginia Tech. Then, on their first offensive possession, Kyron Jones hit Bhayshul Tuten for a 25-yard touchdown.
Miami responded with Ward leading two touchdown drives, with Jacolby George and Elijah Arroyo finding the end zone. Maybe the opening drive was just a fluke. Maybe Miami had settled down and was ready to blow out the 2-2 Virginia Tech team at home. Then, at the goal line, a questionable holding call negated a touchdown that would have given the Canes a 21-7 lead. Instead, Ward threw an interception that led to a 55-yard Tuten touchdown run. A 14-point swing in favor of Virginia Tech. Miami’s next possession? An empty drive leading to a punt while Virginia Tech added another touchdown and a field goal. Borregales managed to hit a 56-yard field goal, but Miami was fortunate to be down just 24-17 at halftime. Yet, it felt like much more. It felt like the Canes’ aura was gone, and they were on the brink of collapse.
At the start of the third quarter, Virginia Tech added a field goal, giving the Hokies a 10-point lead. Miami tried to respond, but Ward threw his second interception to former Canes linebacker Kaleb Spencer, who returned it for 77 yards, putting Virginia Tech in prime position to score.
This is where Miami found itself again—on the brink of total collapse. ACC opener, déjà vu. The Hurricanes had been in this situation countless times before. How many times had they folded against Louisville, Georgia Tech, and especially North Carolina, where back-breaking interceptions led to total implosion? Miami was struggling. They had lost Tyler Barron and were without their star defensive end, Rueben Bain. Their starting left tackle, Jalen Rivers, who had been a wall all season, was also out. This felt like the moment Miami would break and continue the cycle that had haunted them for 20+ years: being so close to a breakthrough, yet so far away.
Then it happened—just a moment, but it encapsulated all the culture change that Cristobal has been preaching for the past two years. That 77-yard interception return would have broken Miami in the past. It would have been a pick-six backbreaker. But this time, Elijah Arroyo ran all the way across the field to make a touchdown-saving tackle. The effort and hustle showed a team that refused to break—a team whose mental makeup was no longer fragile, but unbreakable. Virginia Tech arrogantly decided to go for it on fourth down instead of taking the field goal, and the result was Miami ball, down by 10.
The Canes responded with an eight-play touchdown drive to cut the lead to three, before Virginia Tech responded with another touchdown. Miami, undeterred, punched back with a Cam McCormick touchdown, bringing the score to a three-point deficit, with Tech holding a 34-31 lead with 8:40 left in the fourth. This team refused to quit. Even though Virginia Tech’s run game had been gashing Miami’s defense all day long, to the tune of 206 rushing yards, the Canes refused to give up. They had not faced adversity all season, and Virginia Tech came into their house—a packed house of over 59,000 fans—and punched them in the mouth multiple times. Each time, the Canes got up and made plays. They did what great teams do: they responded. Miami was able to get the ball back after a crucial stop with just under eight minutes left, and then, magic happened.
In a drive that will probably be played during Cam Ward’s Heisman acceptance speech, the Canes made big-time play after big-time play. With the game on the line on 4th-and-3, Ward found a falling Xavier Restrepo, who made a catch while on the ground to keep the drive alive.
Then, with 2:30 left in the game, Ward was hit multiple times, yet somehow refused to go down. He flicked a pass, Mahomes-style, to Riley Williams, who stiff-armed a defender and ran all the way to the yard line before getting tackled, in one of the most amazing sequences you’ll see all season.
Ward finished the drive with a touchdown pass to a wide-open Isaiah Horton. On a day when Colbie Young had a Bama defender snatch the ball from his hands, it was his replacement, Horton, making the game-sealing touchdown catch.
Miami converted the two-point conversion, going up 38-34. Yet the game wasn’t over, and Virginia Tech managed to get the ball into the end zone on a controversial play that was initially ruled a touchdown. Upon further review, it was clear that the Virginia Tech wide receiver never had full possession of the ball. Most Canes fans thought it was over—there was no way the ACC refs, who had screwed Miami so many times in the past, would make the right decision here. But for once, Miami got the right call. Not only did the Virginia Tech wide receiver not secure the ball all the way through, but the ball was touched by a Miami defender while he was out of bounds, making it an incomplete catch.
The ACC explained their decision:
“During the review process of the last play of the Virginia Tech at Miami game, it was determined that the loose ball was touched by a Miami player while he was out of bounds, which makes it an incomplete pass and immediately ends the play.”
Video evidence was clear:
Miami had done what great teams do: respond and survive. On a day when #4 Ole Miss fell to unranked Kentucky, the Canes were able to fight and pull out a tough win. You never know the character of a team until they get punched in the mouth, and what Miami showed is that they are for real. They are mentally tough and can overcome adversity, even with 5+ in-game injuries and multiple key starters out. Miami showed that the Miami of the past 20 years is dead. This is the new Miami—a championship-level Miami. Coach Cristobal did not downplay the significance of this win for the Canes:
“I want to focus on the fact that this team, probably over the last 20 years, lost a game like this. This team found a way, so they can take that however they want. I’m proud of the effort. I’m not proud of the way we coached and played, but sometimes, you’ve just got to find a way to get a ‘W,’ and we found a way to get it.”
Of course, there is a lot to work on and a lot to improve. Coach Guidry was outcoached in this game. The run defense was gashed. Ward threw two interceptions, and the linebackers whiffed and missed tackles all game. Despite this, Miami persevered, Miami battled and fought back. For the first time since 2017, when they won 10 games, Miami is 5-0. For the first time ever, the Canes are 5-0 to finish September. The culture has changed, and what we learned is that the Canes have heart. They have championship DNA and a championship-level mentality.
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