Miami football alums react to win at Pittsburgh

Miami football alums noticed the Hurricanes 38-34 victory at Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Hurricanes defeated a ranked team while being unranked for consecutive weeks for the first time in school history. Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke led the Hurricanes going 32-42 for 426 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Miami football alums had questions, statements and congratulations for the Hurricanes defeating Pittsburgh for the fourth consecutive season. After the win in the Steel City, Miami returns home to face Georgia Tech next week. According to the ESPN Football Power Index, Miami will be favored to win their last four games.

The Hurricanes offense has thrived the last two weeks against the two best defenses in the ACC. After 421 total yards against North Carolina State’s top defense last week, Miami had 490 against Pittsburgh. The defense is still a concern after allowing 587 against Pittsburgh but had two inteceptions.

Panthers QB Kenny Pickett threw for 509 yards, three touchdowns and the two INTs. Both Miami interceptions were pivotal. The Hurricanes scored a TD on a Jaylan Knighton one-yard run following a Tyrique Stevenson interception in the second quarter. A James Williams INT helped clinch the Miami victory.

With all the criticism that the Miami football team has received this season the message from former Miami punter and current pre-game show analyst Brian Monroe posted after the game is a challenge to Miami fans. The Hurricanes have fought hard for the last four games that have been decided by a total of 10 points.

The first two of those four games were a two-point loss to Virginia when true freshman kicker Andres Borregales hit the left upright on a 33-yard field goal attempt with Miami trailing 30-28 on the last play of the game. Miami lost a week later at North Carolina when the Tar Heels had an interception after a tip.

The Miami offense has come alive with Van Dyke at QB. After slow starts in the losses to Virginia and North Carolina, Van Dyke started hot against North Carolina State and Pittsburgh. Van Dyke completed eight passes in 11 attempts for 237 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter as Miami took a 21-10 lead.

Sileo was a defensive tackle for Miami on Jimmy Johnson’s early teams and is currently a talk show host. The win over Pittsburgh with how the game started and how Miami closed the game was the most exciting of the year. Miami played much better defensively against NC State than Pittsburgh.

Sapp chose the simple tweet about the Miami line score and final (open the tweet) to express he was watching and did not go out fishing. The Pro Football Hall of Famer has previously been among the most vocal critics of Miami head coach Manny Diaz. Sapp has campaigned for Miami to hire Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin.

Two of the most recent Miami alums and 2021 NFL First-round picks tweeted their congratulations. The Miami front four misses the pressure that Phillips and Rousseau brought against Pittsburgh the last two seasons. Rousseau had three sacks against the Panthers in 2019 and Phillips 0.5 in 2020.

The three former Miami wide receivers all had thoughts after the game. The tweet by Leggett was especially poignant. Diaz has received an extreme amount of critisicm from the Miami fan base since being hired. After finding ways to lose early this season, Miami has found ways to win the last two weeks.

Miami has fought hard after the blowout losses to Alabama and Michigan State in September. The win over Pittsburgh on Saturday was the fifth one score game for Miami this season. Miami is 3-2 in those games. Miami has to win convingly next week over Georgia Tech or the naysayers will be vociferous at Hard Rock Stadium.