Miami won California and Virginia Tech games with dominant fourth quarters

Miami used dominant fourth quarters to beat California and Virginia Tech in their last two games. Miami has been a dominant second half team all season. Facing double-digit deficits in the fourth quarter Miami wore down California and Virginia Tech to earn comeback victories.

Although both games featured controversial endings, the perseverance and resilience of Miami led them to trust Mario Cristobal and the plan of the coaching staff to earn nearly improbable wins. Miami is second nationally averaging 14.6 points per game in the fourth quarter and 10th allowing 3.4.

Virginia Tech scored a TD with 12:05 remaining in the fourth quarter to take a 34-24 lead. Miami outgained Virginia Tech 132-104 and had the ball for 9:15 while outscoring the Hokies 14-7 in the fourth quarter. After scoring a touchdown to cut the deficit to 34-31, Miami forced a three and out to get the ball back.

Miami had a nine play, 70-yard, drive in 3:25 to cut the deficit to 34-31. Cam Ward threw a six-yard TD pass to Cam McCormick with 8:40 left in the game to pull Miami within three. After forcing the three and out, Miami had a 10-play, 57-yard drive in 5:50 to take a 38-34 lead. A Ward one-yard TD pass to Isaiah Horton gave Miami a 38-34 lead,

The game winning TD drive featured an improbable Ward pass to Riley Williams on the play before Ward connected with Horton to give Miami the lead. Ward escaped from a sure sack and flipped the ball to Williams who advanced to the one yardline to set Miami up for the game-winning score.

The Miami defense allowed a nine-play,, 57-yard drive over the next 1:57 that culminated in the now-infamous reversed hail mary. That was an aberration for Miami in the fourth quarter. Miami has been dominant in the fourth quarter for most of the season. Miami improved to 5-0 with the win over Virginia Tech.

A week later at California, Miami fell behind 35-10 in the third quarter. After trailing 21-10 at halftime, Cam Ward threw an interception Nohl Williams of California returned 40 yards for a TD on the first drive of the second half to give the Golden Bears a 28-10 lead with 13:07 left in the third quarter.

Miami was susceptible to big plays at California. The Golden Bears had four completions of 50 yards or more. The last one was a Fernando Mendoza completion to Jaivian Thomas for 56 yards to the Miami 29 yardline to set up the last California TD. Miami allowed a field goal on the next California drive and then locked down defensively.

Miami held California to 29 yards on 13 plays over their last three drives of the game. On its last four scoring drives versus California, Miami had 32 plays for 312 yards. Miami took a knee on its final drive of the game to earn the win. The Hurricanes had a 278-26 total yard advantage in the fourth quarter.

Under Jimmy Johnson, the mantra for Miami was the fourth quarter is ours. Mario Cristobal has instilled the same attitude for Miami this season. Wearing teams down should continue to put Miami in a position to win in every game this season. The physicality Miami plays with has led to the 6-0 Miami start in 2024.