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Canes Passing Game Anemic In 2011

MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – The Miami Hurricanes ground attack is second to none in the country. But, eventually the passing attack will have to save the Canes and so far, no quarterback is instilling any confidence.

The Hurricanes passing game was led in the Ohio State victory by senior Jacory Harris. The reinstated quarterback was 16 of 23 for 123 yards, two touchdowns, and the proverbial two interceptions.

The interceptions have been one of the biggest problems Harris has had while under center at the U. Since last season, he's thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. He was rescued last Saturday because Ohio State isn't the team it once was and had no playmakers on offense.

Harris completed 69 percent of his passes in the victory over Ohio State. But, through two games this season, Miami's passing offense is ranked 102nd in the country. That puts Miami's passing offense lower than teams like Rice, Akron, Louisiana-Monroe, and Florida International.

For a team that wants to move back into the Top 25, that's simply not going to cut it.

Canes head coach Al Golden said the complete lack of balance in the Hurricanes offense last Saturday was due to having the lead late and deciding to milk the clock for the last nine minutes of the game.

Still, Harris' struggles followed the opening game where Stephen Morris threw two interceptions. For the season, the Canes' two quarterbacks have thrown two touchdowns and four interceptions. The Canes offense has a total of five turnovers through two games.

"I'm satisfied; but look, I'm like everyone else, we don't want to be a team that has lots of turnovers," Golden said. "We got to get that fixed."

Next up on the schedule for the Canes is the Kansas State Wildcats. The Wildcats lead the nation in scoring defense at just 3.5 points allowed per game. However, those games were against Kent State and Eastern Kentucky.

Kansas State is only averaging 24 points per game against inferior competition, so Saturday's game should give the Hurricanes a good chance of moving to 2-1 before playing Bethune Cookman the following week.

Things get a lot tougher for the Canes, who should be 3-1 when they travel to Blacksburg, Virginia to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies.

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