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Missed Opportunities
QB Harris lifts Miami to victory
Journal photo by lauren Carroll
Injured quarterback Riley Skinner of Wake Forest watches the last few minutes of the game against Miami from the sideline.
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Published: November 1, 2009
Not content to carve up only No. 18 Miami, Wake Forest turned the blade on itself in the fourth quarter of yesterday's 28-27 loss in front of 30,011 at BB&T Field.
Jacory Harris directed an 82-yard drive that resulted in a 16-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin that proved to be the game winner after a 60-yard field goal attempt by Wake Forest freshman Jimmy Newman landed far short as time expired.
But on a dreary Halloween night, it was the way the Deacons squandered their most prolific offensive performance of the season -- in terms of 555 yards gained -- that will haunt them for months, if not years, to come.
"I'll give credit to Miami," freshman linebacker Joey Ehrmann said. "They're a really good team.
"But this game was ours."
The sentiment was shared throughout one of the quietest locker rooms senior defensive tackle John Russell has ever known. The Deacons led 20-7 late in the second quarter and 27-14 when Newman missed a 45-yard field-goal attempt with 12½ minutes left before the Hurricanes (6-2, 3-2) roared back with two touchdowns on their final three possessions.
The first was set up by Devon Brown's fumbled punt that was recovered at the Wake Forest 2. Harris kept the game-winning drive alive with two key completions, one to Thearon Collier for 29 yards on a third-and-10 and the other to Aldarius Johnson for 29 yards on a fourth-and-16.
"After some losses you hear guys talking and stuff," Russell said. "But it wasn't like that in there (yesterday). That's just because we knew that game was ours to win but it ended up it was ours to lose.
"Miami made some great plays and we didn't, and there were few chances where we could have done some things and we didn't. We're going to look back at the film and say `What could have been.' "
The momentum had already turned on Newman's missed field-goal attempt and Brown's dropped punt by the time Riley Skinner, the Deacons' fourth-year starter who completed 29 of 43 passes for 349 yards and two touchdowns, was knocked out of the game with a concussion while scrambling for a first down with 6:22 remaining.
Brown's muff of Matt Bosher's soaring 55-yard punt marred an otherwise impressive performance in which he caught 12 passes for 101 yards. Sam Shields recovered for the Hurricanes at the 2 and Harris hit tight end Tevaris Johnson for a touchdown pass on the next play to pull Miami to 27-21.
"I had a lot of catches and made plays on offense, but that one dropped punt, that was really the difference in the game," Brown said. "It changed all the momentum. If I had just made that one more play it could have been a different outcome.
"It was a good punt and the rain was coming down and all, but that's no excuse. It's my job. I'm back there to catch the punt. That's what we always talk about, 100 percent possession, no matter what, no matter what it takes. And I just let it get away from me."
Backup Ryan McManus, a fifth-year senior who arrived at Wake Forest as a walk-on, was pressed into only his third game at quarterback after Skinner was knocked out of the game. He connected with Brown for 15 yards and a first down and then handed off to Josh Adams for 12 yards and what appeared to be another first down before a penalty flag hit the wet turf.
Barrett McMillin was called for holding, leaving the Deacons (4-5, 2-3) in a second-and-20 they couldn't convert.
Only a week ago, tackle Jeff Griffin was called for holding with three minutes left in a 13-10 loss at Navy.
"The holding call just took us out of the drive," Coach Jim Grobe of the Deacons said. "I'm not sure we could have done much more with Riley."
Miami's final drive was a heart-breaker for a defense that up until that point had held Miami to 274 yards and two sustained touchdown drives. On both of the key completions, to Collier and Johnson for 29 yards each, Harris threw jump balls that his receivers out-battled safety Josh Bush to catch.
"They made the plays there at the end and we didn't," Russell said. "They threw up two jump balls in crucial situations and their guys come down with it and ours don't. It's tough."
Harris' 16-yard completion to Benjamin in the left corner of the end zone was reviewed, but upheld for a 28-27 Miami lead, leaving the Deacons with 68 seconds remaining. McManus' 12-yard completion to Adams picked up one first down and McManus' scramble for 16 gave Wake Forest another at the Hurricanes' 43.
But four seconds remained after McManus' incomplete pass to Marshall Williams, prompting Grobe to send Newman into the game for a 60-yard attempt. Newman didn't catch the ball cleanly enough to have a chance.
"We've actually hit 57 yarders on a pretty regular basis in practice, both kickers Cline Beam and Jimmy," Grobe said. "It felt like we had a little bit of help (with the wind).
"One of the problems was the air was heavy with the mist and that kind of stuff. We felt like he's capable of making it if he hits it right. He just didn't get it as good as he can."
dcollins@wsjournal.com.
727-7323
Miami 0 1
4 0 14 -- 28
Wake Forest 10 10 7 0 -- 27
First Quarter
WFU--FG Newman 23, 9:16.
WFU--Bohanon 3 pass from Skinner (Newman kick), 2:23.
Second Quarter
WFU--Skinner 7 run (Newman kick), 10:36.
Miami--A.Johnson 35 pass from J.Harris (Bosher kick), 9:08.
WFU--FG Newman 42, :42.
Miami--Berry 3 run (Bosher kick), :03.
Third Quarter
WFU--Givens 44 pass from Skinner (Newman kick), 5:38.
Fourth Quarter
Miami--T.Johnson 2 pass from J.Harris (Bosher kick), 11:47.
Miami--Benjamin 13 pass from J.Harris (Bosher kick), 1:08.
A--30,011.
TEAM STATISTICS
Miami
WFU
First downs 19 33
Rushes-yards 21-26 33-147
Passing 330 408
Comp-Att-Int 22-43-1 35-53-1
Return Yards (-5) (-12)
Punts-Avg. 9-43.0 4-41.3
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-3
Penalties-Yards 7-57 8-60
Time of Possession 21:08 38:52
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHI
NG--Miami, Cooper 6-27, Berry 7-26, Benjamin 1-10, M.James 1-7, J.Harris 6-(minus 44). Wake Forest, Adams 9-48, Skinner 7-43, Pendergrass 10-25, McManus 3-17, Ma.Williams 1-7, Bohanon 2-4, Brown 1-3.
PASSING--Miami, J.Harris 22-43-1-330. Wake Forest, Skinner 29-43-1-349, McManus 5-9-0-42, Ma.Williams 1-1-0-17.
RECEIVING--Miami, Hankerson 5-97, Collier 4-78, Benjamin 4-50, A.Johnson 3-74, Byrd 2-13, M.James 1-12, Cooper 1-2, Graham 1-2, T.Johnson 1-2. Wake Forest, Brown 12-101, Ma.Williams 5-81, Adams 5-71, Rinfrette 4-44, Givens 3-60, Ford 3-18, Skinner 1-17, Pendergrass 1-13, Bohanon 1-3.
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