Five Takeaways from Miami’s 38-31 loss to Louisville

On Saturday, Miami fell short of pulling off another upset, losing to No. 10 Louisville 38-31.

Here are five thoughts from the game.

The Miami defense was playing at a high level this season, coming into the game versus Louisville. The Canes brought the 19th-best defense in the country to the table, allowing just 312.5 yards per game, and the sixth-best rushing defense at 86.0 yards per game.

Miami did not look like a top-20 defense Saturday afternoon.

The Hurricanes allowed 470 total yards (162 rushing, 308 passing), its second-worst showing of the season (North Carolina – 508 total yards, 235 rushing yards, 273 passing yards).

The tight ends for Louisville had an early Thanksgiving feast against Miami. Nate Kurisky, Joey Gatewood, and Josh Lifson combined nine receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown. Kurisky led all Louisville pass-catchers with five for 50 and the game’s first score: a two-yard catch.

Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer did not hit the Hard Stadium turf on Saturday, as the Miami defense failed to get one sack. Plummer had plenty of time to find open pass-catchers the entire afternoon.

Twelve different receivers caught passes for the Cardinals, including offensive lineman Trevonte Sylvester, who snuck out for a touchdown catch with eight seconds left in the half to make it a 21-20 game (extra point blocked).

Miami also struggled to stop Louisville’s offense in the red zone. Louisville was 4-5 in the red zone scoring 28 points. The only time the Cardinals did not score in the red zone was a missed field goal attempt from 24 yards in the second quarter.

Defensive lineman Branson Deen was asked if Louisville showed anything different on the field from what they saw on film.

“Not really,” Deen said. “It was just a crazy thing to see them come out in the same look and run so much different things to hurt us, but like I said we can’t give nobody too much credit. We got to execute better and be more detailed in our fits. We don’t want to give them too much credit but they did a good job.”

Louisville had ten plays of over 15 yards, including the back-breaking 58-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Coleman, Jr., with 5:34 left in the game. Defensive back Te’Cory Couch and Jaden Davis collided with each other, and Safety Kamren Kinchens missed an opportunity to prevent the score, failing to push the Louisville wide receiver out of bounds.

Miami was gashed all afternoon, a disappointing showing for the fans in the final home game of the season.

Despite the defensive woes, Miami had a chance to win this game in the final moments.

Tyler Van Dyke started this game with what looked like a designed QB run for seven yards, and many felt the game would be different in terms of playcalling. Next, we saw wide receiver Brashard Smith rush from the wildcat, and later, a flea flicker went for 30 yards to Xavier Restrepo. He would eventually score on the drive on a 15-yard catch, diving over the goal line. Miami’s next score would come on an end-around rush to Smith; he would take 34 yards for a touchdown.

Miami, however, would fail to get into the end zone in the fourth quarter. The Hurricanes had three drives for three points in the final period. On the first drive in the fourth, Miami got to the Louisville 28-yard line and faced 3rd and 11. Dawson chose to run the ball with Mark Fletcher, which was stopped for a four-yard loss. Miami settled for a field goal.

Now down by a touchdown, Miami would get to the Louisville four-yard line with 1:33 left in the game. A one-yard gain by Fletcher and three straight incompletions would turn the ball over on downs.

“Felt like the play calls were good. Just got to execute honestly,” Van Dyke said of the drive. “Just trying to give my guys chances to make plays, and ultimately it didn’t. We’ll watch the film on that and see what we could have done better.”

The defense forced one more offensive possession with 19 seconds left, but a failed Hail Mary attempt caught by Restrepo was stopped five yards short of the goal line, which would end the game.

Miami outgained the Cardinals 486-470 but failed to score enough points, going 2-3 in the red zone, scoring 14.

Fletcher has clearly emerged as the number-one running back for the Miami Hurricanes. He has 468 yards on 91 carries this year (5.1 per carry) and topped his career total with 126 yards against Louisville.

He averaged 7.4 yards per carry against the Cardinals and had a 54-yard run where he nearly scored but was stopped at the half-yard line.

“I was just simply running,” Fletcher said after the game. “I was trying my best to get there at the end; he kind of pulled me. I thought I stepped out of bounds. I did. I didn’t think I scored. I know he got me a little bit. I just got to get a little faster.”

Fletcher was rewarded with his efforts with carries at the goal line that he would eventually punch in for the touchdown.

“I appreciate that they didn’t take me out.”

Fletcher also showed the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, catching a 25-yard pass with 20 coming after the catch. Fletcher can be an every-down back and could carry this team to wins. Miami may have its seventh win if he gets a few more carries at the end of the game.

Van Dyke passed for 24-39 for 327 yards, one touchdown, and zero turnovers. It was a good, not great, game from the Miami signal caller, but from what we’ve seen from him as of late, we can’t expect much more.

Van Dyke committed 13 turnovers prior to the Louisville game but registered his best QB rating since the 41-31 loss to North Carolina.

At the end of the game, one would expect a four-year quarterback to find a way to finish the deal with a score(s) to win or tie, but Van Dyke couldn’t connect in crunch time.

Van Dyke has only two fourth-quarter comeback wins on his resume, and both of those games came in 2021 against NC State and Georgia Tech.

This is the ceiling for Van Dyke, and expecting more from the Miami quarterback is unrealistic.

Miami has battled against two top-ten teams in as many weeks. The Hurricanes had the chance to win the game on the final drive against 4th-ranked Florida State and 10th-ranked Louisville.

Miami is better than a 6-5. Indeed, the Georgia Tech game should have been a win, and one could argue that they have played the most challenging ACC schedule this season, playing the current top five teams in the conference (FSU, Louisville, NC State, Georgia Tech, and UNC).

Turnovers killed Miami in its losses, and Louisville outschemed Miami on Saturday. If this team is better than its record suggests, Miami should win at Boston College (6-5) on Black Friday. The question is, will they be motivated knowing they will play in a bowl game either way?