The Miami Hurricanes lost their first game of the year to the Pittsburgh Panthers under a familiar formula. Miami’s inability to run the football reared its ugly head and placed its gaze directly on Malik Rosier.
The 15-0 streak and potential for an undefeated regular season are now calamitously parked in the rearview. Miami Hurricanes fans across the nation have woken up this morning with a collective whiplash and heartache.
The hardest fathomable item? How did a four win, seven loss Pittsburgh team ruin the ride? When you consider that four out of the five losses in the Mark Richt era occurred when the Miami Hurricanes cannot run the football, the answer materializes quickly familiar through a dense fog.
When the Hurricanes fail to reach 100 yards on the ground, it has fell victim to an unbalanced predictability which cannot diversify or execute enough to get out of its own way. Miami ran for an abysmal 45 yards averaging only 1.96 yards a carry vs Pitt on Friday en route to its first loss of the season.
In 2016, the Hurricanes ran for only 68 vs FSU, 42 vs VT and 18 vs ND. All losses. Then when you consider UNC in 2017 almost upset the Hurricanes as it held the ground game to 59 yards on 32 carries, you can see the pattern.