MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. _ After winning 10 consecutive games to start the season, enduring a hurricane that wreaked havoc on their schedule, winning their first ACC Coastal Division crown and rising as high as No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings, the Miami Hurricanes saw their national championship hopes end with a demoralizing loss to Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game earlier this month.
They entered their first Orange Bowl appearance since 2003 looking to punctuate what was a memorable season with a second bowl win in a row.
Instead, many of the issues that plagued Miami in its previous two losses re-emerged and the 10th-ranked Hurricanes, who started fast and fizzled late Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium, came up short in a 34-24 loss to sixth-ranked Wisconsin, the Big Ten runner-up.
For Miami, it marked the third consecutive loss of the year following a head-scratcher in Pittsburgh to close out the regular season and the loss to defending national champion Clemson in Charlotte. It was also the Hurricanes' first loss at Hard Rock Stadium in more than a year.
And while there was plenty of talk entering the game about Badgers standout Jonathan Taylor, who on Saturday set a new Football Bowl Subdivision freshman rushing record, it was Wisconsin quarterback Alex Hornibrook that was virtually unstoppable, completing 23 of 34 passes for 258 yards and four touchdowns to help give the Badgers their first 13-win season in program history.
Early on though, it seemed as if Miami's speed _ something the Hurricanes pride themselves on _ would be too much for Wisconsin to handle.
The Badgers, who came into the game ranked second among FBS programs against the run after holding opponents to 92.6 yards per game, couldn't keep pace with the Hurricanes in the first quarter.
Miami jumped to a quick 14-3 lead with the Hurricanes using running backs DeeJay Dallas and Travis Homer, and quarterback Malik Rosier to run the ball nearly at will.
On their first scoring drive of the night, down 3-0, the Hurricanes (10-3) used that trio to run on six of seven plays. Ultimately, they picked up 75 yards and scored on a 5-yard run from Homer.
Less than four minutes later, Miami pushed its lead to 11 points, this time by snapping the ball directly to Dallas, who moved to running back earlier this year to give Miami depth after Mark Walton was lost for the season. And on those back-to-back plays, Dallas delivered, first on a six-yard run and next on a 39-yard scoring run.
By the end of the quarter, the Hurricanes had totaled 115 rushing yards, including a career-high 57 from Dallas, who averaged 14.2 yards per carry.
And then, inexplicably, the Hurricanes went away from the run and Wisconsin (13-1) capitalized.
Rosier, who struggled in those late-season losses at Pittsburgh and against Clemson, was picked off on the first play of the second quarter by Wisconsin's Andrew Van Ginkel. Three plays later Hornibrook connected on a 20-yard scoring pass to Danny Davis, whose touchdown pulled the Badgers within 14-10.
One drive later, Wisconsin took the lead on a 16-yard scoring pass from Hornibrook to A.J. Taylor and two drives later, the Badgers seemed to have swung momentum completely their way, erasing their early deficit and building a 24-14 lead on the strength of another Hornibrook scoring pass, this one a 5-yarder to Davis.
During that span, Miami's offense struggled much the way it did in its losses. Along with Rosier's interception, twice the Wisconsin defense forced two three-and-outs, the Hurricanes not managing a third-down conversion until the fourth quarter.
And in that stretch, one moment seemed to capture the Hurricanes' frustration in essence as normally low-key coach Mark Richt was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after officials appeared to miss a holding call that led to that last Wisconsin touchdown of the half.
The Hurricanes found some offensive success early in the second half with Rosier hitting a wide open Lawrence Cager for a 38-yard touchdown that pulled them within 24-21. The play also gave Rosier his 31st touchdown of the season, pushing him past Vinny Testaverde's single-season record set in 1986.
But that's as close as the Hurricanes would get. Down 10 in the fourth quarter, senior kicker Michael Badgley missed a 24-yard field goal and on the Hurricanes' final drive, Rosier threw his third interception of the night.
The quarterback finished 11 of 26 for 203 yards with three interceptions and one touchdown. Dallas finished with a team-high 69 rushing yards, while Cager had a team-high 76 receiving yards for Miami.
