Brad Kaaya, Phillip Dorsett Help Miami Hurricanes Cruise Past Arkansas State, 41-20

The story this week seemed to be “Arkansas State won’t be an easy win for the Miami Hurricanes.” Some websites actually put the Canes on upset alert, and some of them went as far as picking the Red Wolves to win the game. The Canes put all of that to rest on Saturday afternoon with a 41-20 win over Arkansas State and it was a really good performance, too.

It was a bit of a hectic week on social media because a lot of fans were disgruntled with the play-calling, or the head coaching security and honestly, it was all really annoying. There was even a fundraiser, or whatever you wanna call it, to fly a plane over Sun Life Stadium asking for the firing of Al Golden. It was just really good to get back to talking about football, and the Canes came out swinging.

After receiving most of the heat so far this season — and deservingly so — James Coley decided to open up his playbook a little more. The Canes ran a number of trick plays (some were head scratchers) but it was good to see some more trust in his offense.

Coley wasted no time to turn his offense loose on Saturday.

On the second Hurricanes offensive play, Brad Kaaya hit Phillip Dorsett for 63 of his 201 total yards  and gave Miami a quick 7-0 lead over the Red Wolves. Dorsett just absolutely flew past his defender and Kaaya led him perfectly into the end zone. Dorsett’s 201 yards put him third in Miami’s single-game receiving yards list. Finished 19 yards shy from Eddie Brown’s record set in 1984 against Boston College.

After that quick strike by the Canes, the defense had a poor drive against a tough Fredi Knighten led Arkansas State offense. Knighten led the Red Wolves down the field and capped off a 11-play, 65 yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run.

The Miami must’ve been looking forward to the Floyd Mayweather-Marcos Maidana fight because they were just throwing haymakers to start this one.

Kaaya hit Dorsett yet again down the field for another 51 yards and set the Canes up in the red zone. The very next play, the true freshmen quarterback linked up with tight end Clive Walford for a 19-yard touchdown pass to give the Hurricanes a 14-7 lead.

The Canes continued their first quarter offensive rampage with a 33-yard Duke Johnson touchdown run, Michael Badgley, who started this game in place of Matt Goudis, missed the ensuing point after. That touchdown run moved Duke Johnson on top of Willis McGahee for 8th all-time on the Miami rushing list. That’s pretty good.

After a poor drive that led to the Arkansas State touchdown, the Miami defense settled down and started to make some plays to hold the Red Wolves from driving up and down the field. They also got help from kicker Luke Ferguson, who missed two field goal tries in the first half.

In a game that was filled with trick plays (especially from Miami,) Arkansas State decided to try a fake punt pass and the result was Raphael Kirby picking up his first career interception. The play was as bad as it sounds.

The ensuing Miami drive saw Kaaya and Walford connect on a big third down conversion, and it was finished off with a 27-yard Gus Edwards touchdown run with 1:16 left in the half.

Just before the half came to an end, Arkansas State struck on a trick play. After an Artie Burns pass interference call, wide receiver Tres Houston connected on a pass to a wide open Fredi Knighten for 19-yards and a touchdown. That 3-play, 60 yard drive cut the Canes lead to 27-14 heading into the locker room.

The second half started off with yet another trick play. Arkansas State ran an onside kick that caught everyone by surprise, and they recovered the ball. After a few positive plays for the Red Wolves, the drive was stalled by a Miami defense that was great for a third straight game.

After a Fredi Knighten fumble, Kaaya and Dorsett weren’t done as they linked up for yet another 63-yard touchdown pass. By the way, if you had any doubts that Dorsett ran a 4.18 40-yard dash time, you should probably watch him run on this touchdown. He’s FAST.

The next Canes offensive drive, Kaaya connected with his fellow freshman Braxton Berrios for 33 yards that took Miami down to the Arkansas State 6-yard line. Two plays later, Kaaya hit Berrios for his first touchdown reception as a Miami Hurricane. And I don’t think it’ll be the last.

Kaaya’s night appeared to have come to an end, but a 7-yard touchdown run by Johnston White, Al Golden decided to bring back his starting quarterback.

After a string of runs, Kaaya dropped back for a third-down throw, but it was intercepted by Qushaun Lee. That turned out to be last throw of his night, which was great. Kaaya connected on 15 of his 23 pass attempts en route to 341 passing yards and four touchdowns.

It was the most touchdowns thrown for by a Miami Hurricanes freshman since Jacory Harris did so back in 2008.

The Canes now turn their attention to the game against Nebraska next weekend. I know a lot of people have been waiting for this one, but we should take some time to enjoy and celebrate this win that puts the Hurricanes at 2-1 on the season.