Miami Hurricanes Football: Three Stars from the Duke Game

Miami came out the gates very slow against the Duke Blue Devils. After a series of three-and-outs, the Canes found their spark after a successful fake punt by Louis Hedley. Cam’Ron Harris finished off the drive with a 8-yard TD run. Miami fell behind after a Quentin Harris 24-yard TD run early in the second quarter. Injuries to Cam’Ron Harris and John Campbell Jr., left Miami shuffling the deck of the starting offense. Robert Burns and Will Mallory helped give Miami the lead heading into halftime. Following the half, Camden Price connected on a FG which gave the Canes a 4 point lead. Duke reclaimed the lead after a Deon Jackson 2-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. The lead grew after a Jalon Calhoun TD with 6:55 left. N’Kosi Perry’s playmaking ability couldn’t help the Canes’ comeback effort as they fell to the Blue Devils 27-17.

Third Star: K.J. Osborn

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Whether it was making tough contested catches or executing a tremendous seal block for Robert Burns’ first TD of the season. K.J. Osborn showed it all today. Outside of the a near-gaffe on his second quarter punt return, Osborn had very few mental errors in the game. Osborn also had a tremendous and sensational punt return to give the Canes great field position with 8 minutes left in the third quarter.

Second Star: Gregory Rousseau

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Gregory Rousseau impacted the game very early and often. The freshman defensive end sacked Quentin Harris in the first quarter and continued to hunt throughout the matchup. Rousseau also had a key 3rd-down run stop to give the Canes the ball back before the end of the first half. Rousseau finished the game with 3 sacks, taking his regular season total to 15. The Canes pass rush and pressure sustained throughout the game and Rousseau was a huge reason for that.

First Star: Will Mallory

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Brevin Jordan played one snap today. Luckily for Miami, Will Mallory answered the call today and was the main source of offense for the Canes. In the first half, Mallory was had 4 catches for 93 yards. The sophomore tight end’s production went ice cold in the second half. However, Miami’s short-lived lead was built by Mallory’s early-game production.

The Hurricanes ended the season on a two-game losing streak and will continue the soul searching process heading into bowl season.