Miami football bad losses continuing annual occurrence

The Miami football team’s inexcusable 23-20 loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday night is the latest mystifying defeat by the Hurricanes. Miami seemingly has at least one inexcusable loss every season in recent memory. The way Miami lost to Georgia Tech wasn’t the only egregious thing about their defeat on Saturday.

Miami entered the game versus Georgia Tech as a 20.5 point favorite. Losing to Georgia Tech outright was the first time Miami did not cover the point spread versus an FBS opponent in 2023. The only game that Miami has not covered the spread this season was as a 52.5-point favorite versus FCS Bethune-Cookman.

Miami defeated Bethune-Cookman 48-7. Not only did Miami cover in its other three victories this season, they did so by double digits in each game. The loss to Georgia Tech as nearly a 20.5-point favorite and particularly how they lost will linger at least the rest of the season and potentially for eternity.

Georgia Tech has covered the last four times they were a double-digit underdog to Miami with three outright wins per Chris Fallica of Fox Sports. Miami lost 45-31 to Middle Tennessee State as a 25.5-point favorite and 45-21 to Duke as a 10-point favorite at home during the 2022 season.

Losing games as a double-digit favorite or getting blown out has become an all-too-common occurrence for the Miami football program for nearly 20 years. Some of the losses over the years for Miami were not games they were expected to win but became blowouts far worse than the point spread.

In games against elite teams like Alabama and Clemson, Miami has far too often lost by 30 or more points. Miami will have a chance to change that narrative on October 21 when they host Clemson. In 2021 Miami lost home games to Michigan State (-7) and Virginia (-3.5) as a favorite.

In 2020, Miami entered its home game versus North Carolina in December with an 8-1 record. A 42-17 loss at Clemson was their only defeat before playing North Carolina. The Tar Heels left Hard Rock Stadium with a 62-26 victory. The bad losses have transcended different head coaches and staffs.

There are multiple other examples. Florida International and Louisiana Tech in 2019 and at Pittsburgh with a 10-0 record in 2017 are other games that could be mentioned. Figuring out how to keep the Miami football team focused every week is something the Miami football staff needs to change as part of the new culture.