Miami Hurricanes News and Notes — Miami coaches speak to media following loss to North Carolina, Central Michigan game time announced, more

The Hurricanes coaches each got time at the podium Monday afternoon as they met with members of the media to discuss the loss to North Carolina less than 48 hours after the game ended.

Manny Diaz kicked things off by saying that it is possible to be both angry and optimistic about where the program is today.

Angry that the team came out flat and handed the Tar Heels a quick 17-points and giving up a 4th & 17 late in the fourth quarter that would have surely ended the game.

Optimistic about the fact that the team fought back when they could have rolled over and accepted the fact that they were down two touchdowns early in the game and just quit. Instead, they scored just before the half ended, which cut the deficit down to just four. A late fourth quarter touchdown catch by sophomore tight end Will Mallory gave the Hurricanes a 25-20 lead with just under five minutes to go.

Dan Enos, who was critical of Jarren Williams after the Florida game, praised his young quarterback for competing and showing toughness and courage. Williams went 30/39 passing for 309 yards and two touchdowns. Overall the Hurricanes offense out-gained North Carolina by over 100 yards and had possession of the football for 10 more minutes than they did.

If you did a blind resume based on the team stats from this game, you would take Miami 10/10 times. They just couldn't overcome early defensive mishaps and missed redone opportunities, which wound up costing them the game.

Hurricanes defensive coordinator Blake Baker credits inexperience rather than a lack of talent to the defensive struggles —especially in the back end of the unit.

Trajan Bandy and D.J. Ivey were both taken deep by Tar Heel wide receivers, which was extremely uncharacteristic of a Hurricanes defense of late. It’s clear that the pass defense has taken a step back, which Manny Diaz admitted today.

The Hurricanes also announced that Miami will play Central Michigan at 4:00 p.m. on ACC Network, which gives the Hurricanes another game on the network that is unavailable to a majority of South Florida homes.