Hard to believe, but the Miami Hurricanes are approaching the mid-season point.
And after No. 1 Clemson demolished Georgia Tech 73-7 in Atlanta on Saturday, you can look back and ponder whether maybe the 42-17 Miami loss at Clemson wasn't quite as catastrophic as it might have seemed Oct. 10.
The No. 13 Canes, who defeated Pitt 31-19 Saturday at home, still have plenty to fix to keep them busy this week as they prepare for the Virginia Cavaliers (1-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) at 8 p.m. Saturday at Hard Rock (ACC Network). But who out there would have been upset before the season started to see Miami 4-1 at this point? Certainly not any realists.
The Canes proved they are capable of bouncing back, just like they said they would after the loss at Clemson. They also proved they could beat a team they were clearly supposed to beat in the eyes of prognosticators and the college football world _ something they continually failed to do last season.
"That was a very difficult game, which we suspected it would be going in," UM coach Manny Diaz said after Saturday's victory. "Pitt, they make everything hard."
Clemson, of course, made everything even harder, which made individual Hurricanes go beyond their jobs, put on their invisible capes and try to summon their super powers. But Saturday, Diaz said he was "really proud" of the Canes maintaining their composure and discipline in the face of struggle.
"We addressed it pretty solidly," Diaz said. "We had to look at the reasons for our performance, both as individuals and as a collective. This team, five games in, it appears as though we don't have an issue with effort and it appears we don't have an issue with attitude. We had an issue last week with discipline. We had an issue with guys trying to do more than the game required, which is something that can happen in that environment.
" ... It was always out of good intentions," the coach said, noting that nonetheless the Hurricanes listened to the staff's message all week, including "in our pregame talk."
"'Trust your teammates,"' Diaz said he told his players. "'Devote energy into the team effort and be a cog on the wheel and watch what happens.' That's why I say I was really proud of the way that we played good team ball today."
