The Lows Keep Coming

5 years ago, in 2014, 6-6 Miami was riding a 3-game losing streak to conclude the regular season. They found themselves facing another mediocre team in South Carolina. Miami lost the bowl game—dropping to 6-7 on the year—another inexcusable losing-season. In 2019, the Hurricanes played the same bowl game, lost again, and ended up with the same record. Has any real progress been made in half a decade?

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Heading into the Hurricanes’ bowl game, expectations were low. Miami came into the matchup on a 2-game losing streak—dropping games to FIU and a 5-win Duke team. While the ‘Canes were favored to win, the Miami team that took the field on Thursday summed up all of the season’s disappointments.

Identifying offensive struggles seems like a ‘broken record’ at this point—but it’s impossible to ignore when Miami continues to find ways to get worse. Louisiana Tech is obviously a respectable team—amounting 10-wins on the year. However, the ‘Canes were shut-out and flat-out dominated by Louisiana Tech’s defense in what should be Dan Enos’ last game as a staff member of Miami.

Even in Miami’s other horrid performances of 2019, we can find a ‘window’ in which Miami is able to score points quickly. Against FIU, it came late in the game. Against Duke, it was in the first half. While both of those contests also resulted in losses—a shutout against a G5 opponent is a new low no matter the context. There was no ‘window’ for the ‘Canes—even after a miraculous interception by Gilbert Frierson.

While the departure of Dan Enos still hasn’t been confirmed by Blake James, 2020 is already shaping up to be a make-or-break year.

In conclusion, Miami’s loss in the Independence Bowl brought out the worst version of the 2019 ‘Canes. If something doesn’t change soon, we could be in for an even longer stretch of mediocrity.