Miami Hurricanes Football: Armstrong Jr., Abdullah Run Past Miami; Huskers Beat Canes, 41-31

After the loss versus Louisville, most Miami Hurricanes fans were hoping to see Miami win one of their two tough road games this season. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Miami dropped their second game of the season to a Nebraska team that ran the ball 53 times. Ameer Abdullah showed the nation why he’s going to be making the trip to New York for the Heisman presentation. He ran all over the Miami defense with 229 yards on 35 carries. Tommy Armstrong Jr. wasn’t far behind with 96 yards on the ground of his own. Nebraska just had it’s way with the Miami defense Saturday night.

There were a lot of things that everybody wanted to know about how Miami was going to approach this game, and one of those things was how James Coley was going to run the offense against Nebraska. Fans wanted to know if they were going to get to see the Brad Kaaya that broke the true freshman yardage record in Miami’s history, or if they were going to see the Kaaya that was limited against Louisville.

Early on, we saw Coley giving Kaaya the green light to throw and the freshman was impressive at the start of this one, in front of yet another sold-out crowd.

The offense came out rolling. A play action pass down the middle to Malcolm Lewis got the Canes 15 quick yards. Duke Johnson then went for 17-yards on a perfectly executed draw play. Next play was a 17-yard gain on a bubble screen to Stacy Coley, and just like that, the Canes were in business. The first drive ended with a Kaaya to Walford pass from nine yards out that put the Canes up early, 7-0. It was the third straight game that the Canes offense started the game off with a touchdown drive.

Another thing that we all wanted to see was how the defense holds up against top competition. Unlike the offense, it was a poor start by the Miami defense. And the bad effort trickled down for the rest of the night.

The Cornhuskers marched down the field and they did it quickly. After a couple of big gains by Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska’s quarterback Tommy Armrstrong Jr. connected with Kenny Bell for 40-yards and a touchdown. The drive took 2 minutes and 14 seconds, and just like that, the Miami lead was gone.

The next Miami drive started off with great promise. After a 26 yard reception by Duke Johnson and a 23 yard reception by Berrios put the Canes deep into Nebraska territory. But the drive ended when David Santos made a diving interception on a pass intended to Clive Walford. It was a poor effort by Walford, who didn’t fight for the ball and gave way for Santos to come up with the interception.

After consecutive three-and-outs by both offenses, the Canes defense made a play. It looked like the Nebraska offense was getting ready for another scoring drive, but Deon Bush got the crown of his helmet right on the ball and caused Abdullah to fumble the ball. Anthony Chickillo came up with the recovery and the Canes were in business.

Four plays later, Brad Kaaya hit Clive Walford in the middle of the end zone for a Hurricanes touchdown. Duke Johnson, who finished with 84 yards receiving (Career-high) led that drive with a big 32-yard reception.

Much like earlier in the half, the Nebraska offense responded right back. It was a long and lengthy drive that was basically all Abdullah and Armstrong Jr. on the ground. 14-plays and nearly seven minutes later, the Cornhuskers tied the game at 14.

After a three-and-out by the Canes offense, the Huskers started off their next drive at their own 48-yard line. Again, it was the Abdullah show, who had 121 yards on the ground in the first half. Luckily for Miami, the defense made a couple of goal-line stands and they were able to hold Nebraska to a Drew Brown 19-yard field goal that put the Huskers up 17-14 heading into the half.

The second half started the same way the first half ended. Nebraska’s offense just running the ball right down the defense’s throat. It was an 11-play 75-yard drive by the Huskers led again by Abdullah, who finished off the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run.

Sep 20, 2014; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Bo Pelini talks to cornerback Josh Mitchell (5) and linebacker David Santos (41) during the game against the Miami Hurricanes in the first half at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

When it seemed like it was going to be another one of those games that end in Miami getting blown out in the second half, the Canes offense responded. Duke Johnson had a couple of big runs, and a face mask penalty got the Canes into Nebraska territory. After a couple of runs by Gus Edwards that got the Canes into a goal-line situation, Brad Kaaya answered with a big time throw to Malcolm Lewis in the back of the end zone for a Miami touchdown that cut the lead to 24-21 with just over 5 minutes to play in the third quarter.

One thing that I personally wanted to see tonight was the secondary, which was highly praised during camp, to make a play. Tracy Howard answered that call. Miscommunication between Armstrong Jr. and his receiver led to Tracy Howard making a diving interception to give the ball back to Miami.

Right when it looked like Miami had all the momentum, disaster struck. While fighting for extra yards, Duke Johnson was stripped by Trevor Roach and it was picked up by Josh Mitchell and he took it back for 57 yards and a Nebraska touchdown.

During the next Miami drive, for a second it looked like the game was about to end. Kaaya threw it late down the middle of the field and got picked off. After the refs cleared up a scrum that broke out after the play led by Standish Dobard and Josh Mitchell,  the referees let everyone know that the flag on the play was roughing the passer. After a drive that got the Canes into a first and goal situation, Randy Gregory made his presence felt with a big sack on Brad Kaaya. That Gregory sack forced Miami to kick a field goal and cut the Nebraska lead to 31-24.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Nebraska ran the ball over and over and over again. Huge gains by Ameer Abdullah and Tommy Armstrong Jr. got the Cornhuskers back into Miami territory. This time, however, the Canes were able to make a stop and force Nebraska into a field goal. The 39-yard field goal by Drew Brown was good, but not before it hit the upright and then it went in, because of why not.

After a Miami interception and a bunch of stupid unnecessary penalties at the end of the play had Nebraska right back into Miami territory. And guess what? Ameer Abdullah ran all over the Canes defense again and capped it off with a 10-yard touchdown, his second of the game.

Miami’s offense then put together a long, 15-play drive that took just over four minutes and ended with a Kaaya to Braxton Berrios four yard touchdown throw and catch.

For it being his second road game in his collegiate career, in front of 91,000+ fans, Kaaya proved to be the future of Miami. He [Kaaya] threw for 359 yards and three touchdowns, to go along with two interceptions.

Duke Johnson ran for 93 yards on 18 carries for Miami in the loss.