Playing on their home field in the Orange Bowl Game against Wisconsin four weeks later Miami seemed to be ready to put the poor play behind them. The Hurricanes got off to a 14-3 lead in the first quarter before the Badgers took control of the game. Wisconsin took the game over with 21 unanswered points in the second quarter.
The Badgers led 24-14 at halftime and went on to a 34-24 victory. Miami ended the 2017 season 10-3 after a 10-0 start. With the majority of the team returning expectations were high for 2018. The Miami football team began 2018 eighth in both the Coaches and AP Media Polls.
LSU who began 2018 24th and 25th in the two polls shellacked Miami 33-17 in the season opener in Arlington, Texas. The game wasn’t even that close as the Hurricanes scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter after trailing 33-3 entering the final quarter.
With the three-game losing streak to end 2017, Miami’s loss to LSU was their fourth straight loss overall. That marked their fourth streak of four games or more in wins or losses during Richt’s tenure. It was at that point only 27 games in. After the loss to LSU, Miami ran off five straight wins.