Unranked Middle Tennessee banks big win, $1.5 million with upset of No. 25 Miami

MIAMI GARDENS — Saturday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium saw the Miami Hurricanes stunned, 45-31, by unranked Middle Tennessee.

The visitors headed back to Murfreesboro with a 3-1 record — and $1.5 million, plus $40,000 in travel expenses.

Miami coach Mario Cristobal's second loss on the season exposed where the Hurricanes truly stand after a soft first two victories over Bethune-Cookman and Southern Miss, and a wasted chance against Texas A&M last week.

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A somber-faced Cristobal opened the postgame press conference: "Poor job on me."

Saying any coach "worth an ounce" of integrity wouldn't put a loss like this week's on the players, Cristobal held himself and his staff the most accountable for another disappointing performance.

"I knew we had a long ways to go upon arrival," Cristobal said. "The progress that we have made, in some respects, I feel like certainly we've regressed."

Cristobal feels the Hurricanes need to find strength emotionally, placing a heavy emphasis on his players being men and adults in less-than-ideal scenarios.

The Miami football alum said players who can't exhibit leadership, from the locker room to the huddle, "should not have played the sport. Not here at the University of Miami."

The Hurricane offense, especially, looks like it could have a new leader as Atlantic Coast Conference play begins in two weeks.

Is it time for Jake Garcia to replace Tyler Van Dyke?

Tyler Van Dyke's first two pass attempts of the game were a sign of what would become one of the quarterback's worst performances to date.

Both throws were intercepted. The first resulted in a field goal and the second a 15-yard return to the end zone by Zaylin Wood.

Attributing the sophomore's performance to a change in scheme and losing "over 65 percent of his receiving production," it doesn't seem like Cristobal is stripping the starting job from Van Dyke just yet.

Van Dyke exited the game with about eight minutes left in the third quarter, completing 16 of 32 attempts for 138 yards and one touchdown pass.

Enter Jake Garcia.

It took three plays — 42 seconds — for the former four-star recruit to cut away at a 21-point deficit created by Van Dyke's miscues.

Yet, the redshirt freshman's performance didn't end with the pomp and circumstance it started with. Garcia finished 10-for-19 for 169 yards and no scores.

Offensive lineman Jalen Rivers said the team had to adjust, but trusted the decisions of the coaching staff. Ultimately, Rivers found Garcia to be more "vocal" than Van Dyke.

"I think Jake did a good job. He was calm and collected," junior offensive lineman Jakai Clark said.

Capitalizing in the red zone by UM

With four fruitless attempts in the red zone at Texas A&M last week, Miami's meeting with the Blue Raiders was a bit more productive, scoring on three of five chances. But that still was not good enough for the win.

A Van Dyke throw for a loss of 3 yards kept Miami from adding six to the board before the end of the first quarter.

Starting on the Blue Raiders' 15 at the top of the second, Van Dyke still couldn't finish the job as an attempt to tight end Will Mallory fell incomplete for a turnover on downs.

With the receiver room missing Xavier Restrepo, more focused efforts on getting tight ends involved in the pass game were evident.

Mallory, a senior, was targeted 10 times but caught just four passes for 50 yards. Two of those were for first downs.

Can Miami rely on the run game?

Miami's running backs may not be as reliable as their nine touchdowns entering Middle Tennessee suggested.

An extra Blue Raider was in the box and Miami was stunned into a slow start.

"We had about as bad of a first quarter as you could have. No excuses. I'm going to give it to you straight," Cristobal said.

The run game didn't score until Thad Franklin, Jr. made a 1-yard punch across the goal line with 6:11 left in the third quarter.

The Canes were averaging 2.2 yards per carry entering the fourth.

Miami's next rushing score wouldn't come until its third trip inside the 10 with 6:05 left in the game. Franklin pushed another yard into the end zone to score.

Chains were moved mostly by Miami's 307 receiving yards, the result of a struggling running game that totaled just 60 yards and playing from behind the entire game.

The Hurricanes averaged 1.6 yards per carry in the final stats.

"Our run game was nowhere near what it has been," Cristobal said.

Examining the receiver room

As a lingering foot injury sustained against Southern Mississippi kept Restrepo on the bench for the second straight game. That left fans asking who Miami's answer is in the meantime.

Key'Shawn Smith, Jacolby George, Michael Redding and Brashard Smith — the true receivers of the roster — were overshadowed by running back Henry Parrish Jr. and Frank Ladson  Jr. in the first half.

Parrish made a tricky 6-yard catch from Van Dyke for the Hurricanes' lone passing score.

Four passes — long of 39 — from Garcia helped Key'Shawn Smith to a team-high 81 yards receiving.

Before Garcia, Van Dyke's target of choice was Ladson. Playing his best since joining the Hurricanes in January, the transfer from Clemson caught six passes for 65 yards. Ladson had two receptions for 33 yards in the first three games.

Looking ahead to ACC play

Last year, Miami finished 5-3 in conference play and second in the Coastal. Entering the matchup against Middle Tennessee, Miami's defense was tied for first in the ACC, allowing just 12.3 points per game.

However, a weak opening schedule might've given Miami fans false hope for what they believed to be a new Miami under Cristobal.

A lack of man-coverage helped the Hurricanes implode early.

Three long touchdown passes by Chase Cunningham —  71, 69, and 98 yards — were aided by missed tackles.  DJ England-Chisolm, who had three catches for 15 yards on the season, finished with 169 yards on two receptions, both for touchdowns.

"There's no sugar-coating it. We've got to obviously scheme better or analyze matchups better to help our players be as successful as they can be," Cristobal said.

Miami has next week off. That's a much-needed break as the Hurricanes prepare for eight straight ACC opponents, starting Oct. 8 at home against North Carolina.

"With today's issues," Cristobal said, "We have a lot of work to do."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Unranked Middle Tennessee banks big win, $1.5 million on the road at No. 25 Miami