Miami football alums react to loss to FIU via Twitter

After a loss to FIU that head coach Manny Diaz said was one of the worst in the history of the Miami football program Hurricanes alums reacted via Twitter with their thoughts.

The Miami football team came out flat before trying to rally in the fourth quarter in a 30-24 loss to FIU on Saturday night at Marlins Park. The Hurricanes trailed 16-3 entering the fourth quarter before showing signs of life in the final 15 minutes. It was far too late. FIU controlled the Hurricanes throughout.

The loss to FIU continued a season full of head-scratching losses. Miami became the first team in over 40 years to lose three times in one season as a 14 point favorite or more. The Panthers victory qualified them for a bowl game and was the first in the history for FIU against a Power Five football program.

The Miami fan base was angry and alums of the Miami football program were embarrassed. The two previous losses as a double-digit favorite this season came against ACC Coastal Division rivals Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech were not nearly as inexplicable as Saturday’s loss to FIU was. Attitudes need to change.

Former Miami offensive lineman Kelvin Harris who is one of the best Miami football twitter follows brought Hurricanes fans off the ledge in a response to a fan who believes UM cannot recover from the loss to FIU with the current coaching staff.

Fans always live in the moment good or bad far too much. After Jarren Williams set the Miami football record and tied the ACC standard with six TD passes against Louisville two weeks ago the redshirt freshman QB and Hurricanes coaching staff were being praised. That was all forgotten in the loss to FIU.

Either Miami has been vastly overrated by oddsmakers and gamblers or the Hurricanes are not taking games against lesser opponents seriously enough. The truth likely lies somewhere in the middle. Miami alum Chris Fallica who is an ESPN GameDay staple provided facts with Miami as a two TD favorite this season.

Harris continued to correctly lecture the fans about Manny Diaz and his staff needing time to build a program. In the era of social media, prospective players notice the behavior of a fanbase. It takes winning to turn cynicism into wider support. Even Nick Saban had calls for his firing after Alabama lost to LSU.

Former Miami wide receiver Ahmmon Richards who had to retire as a junior in 2018 because of a neck injury asked what happened and received a response from Harris.

Harris showed he is about as genuine as it gets on social media as he was just as disappointed as everyone else when the game first went final.

There has been a lot of comments this season from the Miami fanbase and alums of the football team about the Hurricanes playing down to the completion. Fallica’s stats about the three losses as double-digit favorites illustrate that. ESPN’s college football metrics guru Bill Connelly added to the head-scratching losses.

Connelly’s point is something that Hurricanes fans everywhere will state loudly, that Miami is a better football team than their record shows. Miami head coach Manny Diaz called the loss to FIU “one of the darkest nights in this program’s history.” The Hurricanes still have two games to build momentum for 2020.

If Miami can defeat Duke and win their to be determined bowl game the Hurricanes have to go out and build on that with an advantageous schedule to begin the 2020 season. Temple is the 2020 season opener at Hard Rock Stadium followed by UAB and Wagner in Miami Gardens. Those are games Miami has to win.

Losses this season to Georgia Tech and FIU need to be put behind them. Now is not the time to panic, that has been the prevailing message from Rashad Butler on the Miami football postgame show. Repeated calls from fans called for Diaz and/or coordinators Dan Enos and Blake Baker to get fired. Let the last two games play out.