Miami football unable to overcome early mistakes losing to North Carolina

The Miami football team gave up a 74-yard touchdown pass on the second drive of the game, stalled again in the red zone and had two costly turnovers in the fourth quarter losing 27-24 to North Carolina. Miami dug itself into another first-half hole when North Carolina took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.

Twice in the fourth quarter, Miami turned the ball over with a chance to tie the game. Jaylan Knighton fumbled on the North Carolina 17 yardline after running nine yards for a first down with 12:31 remaining and the Hurricanes trailing 24-17. Tyler Van Dyke threw an interception with eight seconds left and Miami down 27-24.

Van Dyke finished with 42 completions in 57 attempts for 496 yards, three touchdowns and the one interception. The 496 passing yards were the second most in Miami football history to Stephen Morris who threw for 566 yards in a 44-37 win over North Carolina State in 2012. Van Dyke carried the Miami offense all day.

Miami could not run for the second straight game. The Hurricanes finished with 23 carries for 41 yards. Knighton and Henry Parrish contributed as receivers. Knighton finished with two receptions for 56 yards in addition to three carries for 12 yards. Parrish had seven receptions for 46 yards and a TD and 11 carries for 19 yards.

Lapses and mistakes hurt Miami all day. Miami finished five of 14 on third down, turned the ball over on downs at the North Carolina one yardline, settled for another field goal in the redzone, plus the Knighton fumble at the Tar Heels’ 17 yardline. The defense continued to allow big completions in the first half.

North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye had five completions of 20 or more yards including the 74 yard TD pass to J.J. Jones to take the early lead. Miami lost on multiple things they needed to do entering the game. More long completions, falling into an early deficit and the lack of a running game hindered Miami in the loss.

Van Dyke played by far his best game of the 2022 season. The Miami defense played far better in the second half. Miami held North Carolina to more than 18 points below their season average. North Carolina scored their only points in the second half on two field goals. North Carolina had 142 yards in the second half.

The Miami football team was unable to overcome the 14-0 deficit. The Hurricanes did not lead for the third straight game. Miami had nine tackles for loss, five sacks and forced two North Carolina turnovers. The Miami defense was led by linebacker Corey Flagg with seven tackles, three TFLs and a 0.5 sack.

Offneisve linemen Jakai Clark and Justice Olawaseun were hurt versus North Carolina and left tackle Zion Nelson was out again. Miami falls to 2-3 this season and 0-1 in the ACC. The Hurricanes will play at 2-4, 1-2 Virginia Tech next Saturday. Virginia Tech lost 49-29 to Pittsburgh this week.