Virginia Game a 'Must-Win' For Miami Hurricanes
By Joe Zagacki
CORAL GABLES -- Despite all the noise and hoopla surrounding the University of Miami's win over Duke, the Canes' focus is now on Virginia as Miami ties to stay in the ACC Coastal race.
Saturday's game has become a must-win.
"I have stressed this Virginia team is 4-1 against us the last five years and I think that got our teams attention," coach Larry Scott said. "They know this is a good ballclub coming in here. We need to play better, faster and more physical than they do. It's a very important game for us and we'll be ready for the challenge of locking heads with these guys."
Miami is preparing for a hard-nosed game with the Cavaliers, who like to run the ball behind a big offensive line. On the other side, Virginia plays a pressure defense blitzing more than 50 percent of the time.
"This is a well-coached defense with John Tenuta and former Hurricanes coach Mike Archer," offensive line coach Art Kehoe said. "They combine that package and it takes forever to decode what they're. What's so impressive about them is how they execute their defense. They do an excellent job of timing their stunts and disguising their coverages. Our communication is going to have to be very clear and we need to make sure we have them blocked for 60 minutes said Kehoe."
The player Miami has been concerned about all week is running back Taquan Mizzell. He leads the nation in receiving yards for a running back. He is also the Cavaliers' leading rusher. They call him "smoke" because he's so elusive and hard to tackle. He is a former five-star recruit and Virginia takes advantage of his athletic ability by moving him all over the field. The population around him will be the key as it will take more than one tackler to bring him down.
Notes
- This is the 13th meeting between Miami and Virginia. The series is tied 6-6 and Virginia has won six of the last nine.
- Brad Kaaya is still going through concussion protocol. He's second in the ACC in passing yards.
- In 2014, Virginia forced 29 turnovers. This year, they have just eight so far, including only one interception compared to 15 last season.
Follow Joe on Twitter @CanesVoice
