MIAMI GARDENS — Before heading to the locker room at halftime, Mario Cristobal told the radio station WQAM that the Hurricanes had played “as bad as we can play.” He may have been underselling Miami’s performance.
Up against a Middle Tennessee State squad that entered the game as 26.5-point underdogs, the Hurricanes let a bad start turn into an abysmal game. They fell behind 10-0, which became 17-3, which turned into 24-3. Although the team briefly showed more life after the UM staff benched Tyler Van Dyke for Jake Garcia, it wasn’t enough to save the Hurricanes from a 45-31 defeat.