Miami evened its record at 2-2 with a 45-14 win over Bethune-Cookman on Saturday.
MIAMI GARDENS- It wasn’t always pretty but Miami defeated Bethune-Cookman Saturday 45-14. The Hurricanes trailed early, after Bethune quarterback Jackie Wilson connected with Eddie Poole on a touchdown score. The Wildcats held on to the 7-0 lead until the middle of the second quarter when Jacory Harris found Tommy Sreeter for a 56-yard score. The touchdown catch would be followed up by a Lamar Miller 3-yard touchdown run that put Miami up for good. Combined Miami’s two first half scoring drives took 19 seconds.
The Hurricanes first scoring drive in the second half had to feel like an eternity in comparison when the Canes scored on a 3-play 59 yard drive that took 1:13 and was capped by a Lamar Miller 43-yard touchdown run. Bethune-Cookman would put together one last scoring drive closing the gap to 21-14. But for the rest of the third quarter and fourth was all Miami.
A Jake Wieclaw 30-yard field goal, a Tommy Streeter 27-yard touchdown, and an Eduardo Clements 1-yard touchdown would be the offense’s contribution to the second half scoring. The play that sealed the victory and got the sparse crowd excited was the last scoring play of the game, a 59-yard touchdown return by the recently activated linebacker Kelvin Cain.
The game Saturday was supposed to be a warm up to the Coastal Division rivalry game against Virginia Tech next week, but for a little more than a half, Bethune-Cookman, gave Miami all that they could handle. A missed field goal just before half and an early fumble at the goal line kept this game from being closer than it could or should have been. The Wildcats were physical and outplayed Miami. But in the end talent took over and Miami cruised to victory.
The game wasn’t always pretty, but Miami seemed to turn it on when they needed to today. The Canes finished a three game home stand 2-1 and moved to 2-2 overall. The Wildcats played physical and may have given Miami the warm up they needed to head into Blacksburg next week to take on the rival Virginia Tech Hokies. Saturday’s game will be the first of three straight division conference games and could give the Canes the boost they need to win a division championship.
Game Notes: The Hurricanes received a boost when Shayon Green and Seantrell Henderson returned from injury. The return of Green allowed the Canes to move Adewale Ojomo to defensive tackle, a move made to spark pressure from the defensive line position. Henderson played sparingly, but the game was a big step for the big man to show he is ready for a bigger load following back surgery. The Canes lost Ramon Buchanon to an undisclosed leg injury; he left the field on crutches. Freshman Denzel Perryman and senior Jordan Futch replaced Buchanon. Perryman filled in admirably with seven solo tackles. The smash in smash and dash, Mike James was banged up and played very little in the game, Coach Al Golden believes he will be ready next week against Virginia Tech. Lamar Miller went over 100 yards for the fourth straight game. The Canes have to go back to week 11 of 2010 to find their last game without an interception; Jacory Harris threw two touchdowns and no picks against Bethune-Cookman this week. Ray Ray Armstrong and Dyron Dye will return from suspension next week against the Hokies leaving Olivier Vernon as the only member left suspended for NCAA violations. Vernon will serve two more games before returning to the team.
