Atlanta — Hold off on Miami’s return to national prominence. The Hurricanes ran into a huge roadblock: Georgia Tech’s triple-option offense.
The Yellow Jackets ran No. 23 Miami ragged in a game that could have moved the one-time powerhouse to the cusp of playing for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and a spot in a major bowl. Georgia Tech piled up 472 yards on the ground — the second-most ever allowed by the Hurricanes — in a 41-23 rout Thursday night.
Jonathan Dwyer ripped off 128 yards with just 10 carries in the first half, including a 58-yard touchdown on a play that typified a Miami defense that looked as though it had never even seen film on Georgia Tech’s unique, run-oriented scheme. Two linebackers got caught of position and Dwyer was off to the end zone.
By the end, the Hurricanes (7-4, 4-3) could do little more than huddle around heaters on a chilly night in Atlanta, totally outclassed in their first game as a ranked team in more than two years.
The five-time national champs, who had a losing record in 2007 but came into the game with five straight wins, could have clinched at least a tie for first in the Coastal Division with a win. And there was the possibility of wrapping it up Saturday if some other ACC games went their way.
Now, the race is more confusing than ever.
Georgia Tech (8-3, 5-3) takes over first in the convoluted Coastal, but the Yellow Jackets will need some help because three other contenders would win on a tiebreaker. Still, it was an impressive display by the triple-option offense, which piled up the most rushing yards ever on the Hurricanes other than a 536-yard effort by Auburn in 1944.
Dwyer scored again on his last play of the night, a 6-yard run in which he dragged along a couple of defenders and bounced off another, twisting his left knee. He spent much of the second half on a sideline exercise bike, the Yellow Jackets seeing no need to put him back in with a big game looming against rival Georgia on Nov. 29.
And maybe another game the following week — the ACC championship in Tampa, Fla.
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