After the 17-12 victory for the Miami football team over Central Michigan on Saturday Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz stated that his team is still learning how to win.
The Miami football team drew a lot of criticism for the Hurricanes not being able to dominate Central Michigan who was practically unanimously considered an inferior opponent. After scoring a touchdown on the opening drive, Miami managed only 10 points the remainder of the game. A young team is still learning.
A second game this season with double-digit penalties, the offensive line failing to protect and too many mistakes stalled the Miami football team on offense. All of that is part of the process of learning how to win. Limiting the penalties is critical for Miami. As players and teams gain experience penalties are usually minimized.
Jarren Williams has done an exceptional job as a redshirt freshman quarterback both managing the game for the Hurricanes and making big plays when he has to. Williams threw for 250 yards and a touchdown against Central Michigan. On the season, Williams has thrown for 1.027 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions.
Williams had the first turnover of his college career on Saturday with a lost fumble. The fumble came late in the first half after Williams was sacked by Central Michigan’s Sean Adesanya and recovered by Jacques Bristol. One turnover in four games as a first-year starter has kept Miami in every game.
Diaz: “There’s 100 things we have to fix, but I’d rather fix them after a win.”
— Christy Chirinos (@ChristyChirinos) September 21, 2019
Diaz elaborated about the young Miami football team learning to win. A lot goes into that, especially at QB. Keeping the turnovers to an extreme minimum and knowing where and when the throw the football won Williams the starting job. His play on the field has upgraded the passing game.
"“Well, what you see is a team that is learning how to win football games. Understanding the structure of how from the first quarter to the fourth quarter, understanding how offense, defense, and special teams in terms of how we need to win a game and what loses games.I think what we found out today is we can do things that help you lose or get you beat. You can’t talk about it without going right to the penalties. Those things can deny great effort.When you look at the total yards, we were never off the field because of penalties–like hitting a guy after a play–that is very out of character for us and it will be addressed in practice. But you know what? It all matters.When you are trying to re-brand, all those things matter and all those selfish type plays hurt the whole football team.”"
Miami had penalties in all three phases of the game on Saturday. UM finished with 13 penalties for 93 yards in the win over Central Michigan. One sequence summed up the entire game for Miami. Louis Hedley boomed a punt 45-yards to the Chippewas three-yard line. It overturned by illegal formation on safety Robert Knowles.
Knowles should know better as a redshirt senior. You just cannot have the veterans on the team making mistakes. The re-punt went 17 yards after Central Michigan blocked it. Part of learning and growing as a team is not making mistakes at critical times. Hedley’s punt would have tipped the field.
Diaz has spoken often about hidden yardage. Good teams take advantage of that. Penalties, sacks and turnovers all contribute to field position and yards fans don’t always look it. As the roster for the Miami football team matures, the Hurricanes will aim to understand the structure of the game better.