Miami football needs to use bye week to avoid miserable season

After beginning the 2017 season 10-0 and on the heels of a 15 game winning streak the play of the Miami football team has seen more misery than success.

Getting a win on Saturday to get to .500 for the Miami football team was critical. Their 17-12 victory induced a lot of misery from the Hurricanes fan base. USA Today College Football writer Dan Wolken was among those who claimed the Hurricanes are “trending towards misery.”

Miami began the season with narrow losses to Florida and North Carolina by a combined seven points. A 63-0 victory over FCS Bethune-Cookman was a momentary burst of momentum for the Hurricanes.

A loud minority of Miami football fans are already claiming head coach Manny Diaz and offensive coordinator Dan Enos are not good enough. It is far too early in Diaz and Enos’ tenures to make that decision. They competed well in tough games against the Gators and Tar Heels to begin the 2019 season.

The Miami football team was the only Power Five team to play their first two games of 2019 away from home against two other Power Five programs. It was a challenging beginning to the 2019 season. Those games could have gone either way. As Diaz acknowledged though college football is a pass-fail business.

You either win or you lose. As Bill Parcells said you are as good as your record. Through four games of the 2019 season, Miami is mediocre. The Hurricanes are average to poor in too many categories to do anything but focus on their next game against Virginia Tech. Thinking any bigger currently could hinder their goals.

Wolken rightfully called out Miami fans without patience. It’s far too early to judge Diaz and his staff. In Butch Davis’ first season in 1995, the Hurricanes began 1-3. Included were blowout losses to UCLA and Florida State. On probation for the Pell Grant Scandal MIami won their last seven games to finish 8-3.

"“TRENDING TOWARD MISERYMiami: As former NBA coach Lionel Hollins once famously said: “When you have champagne taste, you can’t be on a beer budget.” Miami is a Natural Light football power whose fans thirst for Veuve Clicquot, and they’ve barely taken a sip of what Manny Diaz is pouring before deciding they want to spit it out. Seriously, it’s crazy.The narrative around Diaz has gone from “hometown hero” to “in over his head” before his first season is even halfway over, and Saturday’s ugly 17-12 win over Central Michigan did not upgrade his standing. Miami went 1-for-10 on third down and rushed for just 51 yards against a team that went 1-11 last season.”"

Miami has a bye week to contemplate what did and did not work against Central Michigan. The Hurricanes then begin a critical stretch with six consecutive ACC Games. The first three of those are at home against Virginia Tech, Virginia and Georgia Tech. The games against the Hokies and Cavaliers could decide the ACC Coastal.