Miami Gardens – Let us begin with the highlights; it was a gorgeous South Florida day. As day turned to night, it got much uglier. The Miami Hurricanes lose to Florida State 45-3 in front of a sold-out, amped up crowd at Hard Rock stadium. Miami got two wins on the night. The first was when they won the coin toss. The second was the lack of the FSU Band because the fans would have heard that incessant chant all night long.

Things started badly for Miami as their defense committed a penalty on 3^rd & 11 which would have ended the Noles first drive. Instead, the Seminoles got a 1^st down and Jordan Travis then hit Ontario Wilson for a 56-yard touchdown. The Canes offense answered, kind of. Tyler Van Dyke started after much speculation and led the Canes on a 9 play 45-yard drive which ended with a 49-yard field goal. And that was it…Andy had the lone highlight of the night. He’s having a very nice season.

Miami’s next 10 offensive drives looked like this:

Punt, Punt, Punt, Interception, Punt, Punt, Fumble, Fumble, Punt, Interception. Miami finished with 62 passing yards. Canes had 188 total yards on the night. 9 penalties for 72-yards. 4-of-13 on 3^rd down. And, TVD re-injured his shoulder, calling into question whether he should have been playing in the first place. At the half, Miami had managed 76 total yards. It was total ineptitude. The offense is setting back football by decades. This performance will not silence the vocal detractors who have been making noise over the last couple of weeks.

Two years ago, Miami throttled FSU and Jordan Travis at The Rock 52-10. He remembered and put on a master class. He went 10-of-12 for 202 yards and 3 touchdowns. He threw to 10 different receivers and absolutely did whatever he wanted against Miami’s defense. The Seminoles are now 6-3 (4-3) and are well on their way to finishing over .500 and going bowling for the first time in years. For Miami 4-5 (2-3), getting to six wins looks to be a daunting task considering they are regressing instead of improving as the season enters the home stretch.

If you want to know how truly bad this night was for Miami, midway through the 3^rd quarter, longtime voice of the Hurricanes, Joe Zagacki, called it a ‘trainwreck’. He nailed it on the head. And for Joe Z to say that, it had to hurt his tongue. This team is in shambles right now. It is an utter mess. Has Mario made it worse? Who knows, but if he can fix this over the next few years, it will be an impressive feat. As for what he does to navigate the last three games? Perhaps prayer is the answer.