MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Hope nearly turned to despair Saturday for the Miami Hurricanes.
Nearly.
Seven days after getting dominated by No. 1 Alabama in their season opener, the No. 22 Hurricanes returned home to more stress against the Sun Belt Conference’s Appalachian State, but survived with a 25-23 victory.
UM’s 43-yard field goal by 18-year-old freshman Andy Borregales, his third of the night, put the Canes up for good with 2:04 left. Then, on fourth-and-6 at App State’s 47-yard line, Mountaineers quarterback Chase Brice’s pass was broken up by UM cornerback Tyrique Stevenson — his third pass breakup of the game.
Miami took over with 55 seconds left and ran out the clock.
UM (1-1) earned its first victory since Dec. 5, 2020 at Duke, after which the Canes lost to North Carolina in the regular-season finale, Oklahoma State in the Dec. 29 Cheez-It Bowl and to Bama in the 2021 opener.
But the boos by the home crowd of 45,877 rose to a crescendo at halftime as the Canes ran into the locker room with a 14-12 deficit. The social media bombardment of UM coach Manny Diaz — the word “fire’’ mentioned frequently — began well before the game ended.
And the frustration of everyone except Mountaineers fans surely had boiled over by the time App State’s Jalen Virgil sprinted up the right sideline to return a kickoff 100 yards to give App State that first lead with 6:07 left in the opening half. The touchdown came 12 seconds after Borregales kicked a 27-yard field goal — immediately after UM tailback Cam’Ron Harris’ 5-yard touchdown rush was nullifed by the Canes’ illegal formation penalty.
The 100-yard kickoff return, by the way, came seconds after an announcement in the press box that UM starting weak-side linebacker Keontra Smith and running back Don Chaney Jr, who scored UM’s first touchdown, were out of the game with lower extremity injuries. Chaney was seen on crutches in the fourth quarter with a bulky brace on his right knee.
On UM’s ensuing drive, Borregales had his 35-yard field-goal attempt blocked by Caleb Spurlin to go into halftime trailing.
The historically little powerhouse of App State, which had defeated its last two Power 5 opponents, fell to 1-1.
UM’s D’Eriq King went 20 of 33 for 200 yards and ran for 67. He was sacked twice.
The Canes, led on the ground by Cam’Ron Harris’ 91 yards rushing and a touchdown, gained 375 yards and allowed 326.
UM retook the lead, 19-14, on a 12-yard rush by Harris to culminate a six-play, 75-yard drive at 13:32 of the third quarter. But the Mountaineers charged right back, kicking a 22-yard field goal at 9:21 to narrow UM’s lead to 19-17.
Borregales kicked a clutch 38-yard field goal at 9:15 of the final quarter to put Miami ahead by five points.
The historically little powerhouse of App State, which had defeated its last two Power 5 opponents, fell to 1-1.
After the Hurricanes won the toss and chose to defer, the Canes forced App State to punt, helped in part by Jahfari Harvey’s back-to-back sacks, one of which ultimately didn’t count after UM was called for a false start. Lou Hedley’s 41-yard punt gave the Mountaineers the ball on the App State 2-yard line. Then, on third down, UM’s Chantz Williams tipped Chase Brice’s pass, which fell into the arms of a diving Canes striker Amari Carter.
Three plays later, Chaney had his first touchdown of the season with a 1-yard plunge to make it 7-0 UM at 9:09 of the opening quarter. The drive took all of 49 seconds and had the crowd fired up.
But the Mountaineers responded with their own touchdown, the key play being Camerun Peoples’ 28-yard sprint untouched down the middle on fourth-and-2.
UM added two points on a safety to go ahead 9-7 with 53 seconds left in the first quarter when Christian Johnstone snapped the ball way over the head of punter Xavier Subotsch.
The Canes have two more nonconference home opponents (Michigan State next Saturday and Central Connecticut State on Sept. 25) before beginning their ACC conference slate with Virginia on Thursday night, Sept. 30, at Hard Rock. After Virginia, it’s seven consecutive league matchups for Miami, including its next road game Oct. 16 at UNC in Chapel Hill, N.C.
