Miami

Hurricanes Top Mountaineers in Russell Athletic Bowl

The Hurricanes rebounded from a slow start with 31 points in an easy win over West Virginia

The Miami Hurricanes started slow before coming away 31-14 winners over the West Virginia Mountaineers on Wednesday.

The win in the Russell Athletic Bowl gave Miami a 9-4 record on the year, and ended head coach Mark Richt's first season in a positive way. This game may have also been the final one for Brad Kaaya in a UM uniform, as the junior could head to the NFL a year early. Kaaya has yet to announce his plans for 2017, but that decision should come soon. Miami entered this contest without a win in a bowl game since 2006.

This game which took place in Orlando did not start so well for Miami, but it turned around in the second quarter. The Hurricanes punted six times in the first quarter, a season-high and failed to record a first down until the second quarter. Trailing by seven, Miami would post three straight touchdowns before the half. The third TD came with just 27 seconds left on the first half clock.

When the second half got underway, Miami continued the offensive attack. The Hurricanes made it a 28-7 game before four minutes had gone by in the third quarter. After WVU scored a TD, the Hurricanes answered back with a field goal. On the ensuing drive, Miami's defense stepped up with a big sack during a fourth down situation to force a turnover on downs.

If this was the end of Kaaya's time in Miami, he ended things on a high note. Even though the night began slowly for the junior, Kaaya finished up with four touchdown passes. The QB had 282 yards in the air on 24-34 passing and was not picked off during the contest.

With the big lead, Miami turned to the running game more down the stretch. This allowed Mark Walton to pad his stats a little, though the final totals were still low. Walton who had an exceptional regular season ended up with 52 yards on 14 carries. Miami had only 84 yards overall on the ground, but did not end up needing that aspect of the game in this one.

The Mountaineers entered the game ranked 16th in the country, while Miami was unranked. The victory for the Hurricanes could propel them into the Top 25. Miami was ranked earlier this season when it began the schedule with a 4-0 record.

Miami had some success and some failures this season, but it was a successful campaign for the program overall. UM should continue the momentum in 2017 if all the key parts of the team return.

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