Miami’s undefeated is no more, as the Canes lost to Louisville 24-21 on Friday night at Hard Rock Stadium.
Carson Beck had an absolutely disastrous performance, throwing 4 picks. The rest of the stats are
irrelevant, frankly. Miami’s offensive line got its butt whipped from start to finish in run blocking, mustering just 63 yards on only 24 attempts. Malachi Toney kept Miami in the game with 9 catches for 135 yards.
This game went to crap quickly and stayed there for most of the game. The Cardinals set the tone early, going 75 yards for a 7-0 lead that was powered by the most obvious fake field goal opportunity ever that the Cardinals converted on 4th and 2. After a quick Miami punt, yes, Louisville was in the end zone again 4 plays and 46 yards later, and trouble was brewing.
Miami quickly got back into the game on back to back chunk plays to CJ Daniels and Toney to get to goal to go, with Mark Fletcher, Jr. bowling his way in.
Miami’s defense stiffened, but Carson Beck got into a giving mood, throwing two long picks that were intercepted on impressive plays by Louisville’s secondary where the defensive backs stretched out for the grab. A field goal got Miami to 14-10 in the locker room.
Miami squandered the first drive of the second half, and the Cardinals tacked on a field goal to up their lead. Miami would answer back eventually with a field goal of their own, but the Cardinals put Miami in a danger zone with a 36-yard touchdown to Chris Bell on 4th and 2 early in the fourth quarter.
Miami forced a fumble late to get back into the end zone and get the two-point try to get to 24-21 and forced a punt to get the ball back with 4 minutes left. After driving to the Louisville 33, Beck’s fourth interception of the game sealed it for Louisville.
An inexcusable loss, and one we’ll dig into here over the weekend more.
