D'Eriq King, Michael Harley lead No. 11 Miami past Virginia, 19-14

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Hurricanes entered with coach Manny Diaz talking about avoiding the “gravity of mediocrity” against Virginia.

As present as that pull was at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday night, the Hurricanes swam against the current and came away victorious.

Quarterback D’Eriq King threw for 322 yards, 170 of them went to senior receiver Michael Harley, and No. 11 Miami edged Virginia, 19-14, in a sloppy game under on-and-off rain at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday night.

The Hurricanes (5-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), despite having eight players unavailable, won their second straight since the loss at No. 1 Clemson as they’re vying to stay alive for a potential rematch with the Tigers in the ACC Championship Game.

The Cavaliers (1-4, 1-4) lost their fourth consecutive game.

King finished 21 of 30 with one touchdown, which went to Harley, and no interceptions. He added 28 rushing yards. Harley’s 170 receiving yards were a career high. He had 10 receptions and converted several key third downs.

Freshman running back Donald Chaney Jr. punched in a 1-yard touchdown out of the Wildcat formation to put the Hurricanes up, 19-7, with 12:04 remaining. King was sacked on a two-point conversion attempt that would’ve made it a 14-point advantage, but he converted a third-and-11 and a third-and-10 to Harley to keep the 14-play, 80-yard drive going.

The Hurricanes still didn’t put the Cavaliers away, however. A breakdown in coverage allowed UVA wideout Ra’Shaun Henry to get wide open for a 35-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brennan Armstrong with 5:27 remaining.

Miami picked up two first downs on its ensuing drive — one from King to Harley and the other on a pass interference drawn by Dee Wiggins — to punt back to Virginia with 30 seconds remaining. Virginia tried a hook and ladder but fumbled one of the lateral exchanges, and UM defensive end Quincy Roche recovered it to seal the victory.

Leading 10-7 at halftime, the only points of the third quarter came on Jose Borregales’ second field goal of the night. It was a chip shot from 20 yards away after the Hurricanes were pushed back trying to punch the ball in from 1 yard out.

Miami scored first right away on Saturday. On its second play from scrimmage, King hit Harley deep for a 43-yard touchdown. It followed a 32-yard pass from King to Mallory on the opening offensive play.

Virginia responded with an 11-play, 64-yard drive that resulted in a 2-yard touchdown pass from Armstrong to tight end Tony Poljan, who did an impressive job of tapping one foot into the back of the end zone as safety Bubba Bolden tried to push him out while airborne. Neither team scored another touchdown until the fourth quarter.

Safety Amari Carter was disqualified on Miami’s first defensive play for targeting. With fourth safety Brian Balom one of the players unavailable, it put the Hurricanes in a position where they had to lean on Bolden and Gurvan Hall at safety. Then, Hall was injured momentarily, and freshman Jalen Harrell played his first meaningful snaps at UM. Striker Gilbert Frierson also saw snaps at safety.

Carter has been called for targeting four times since last season and had two others earlier this season initially called but overturned upon review. He was also ejected at Clemson on Oct. 10, and Saturday’s disqualification marks the second consecutive season where his game against Virginia ended prematurely.

Borregales had his first failed attempt as Miami kicker early in the second quarter when UVA’s D’Angelo Amos blocked his 42-yard try. Borregales booted a 32-yard attempt through the uprights with 1:02 left before halftime to put UM in front, 10-7. Virginia’s Brian Delaney missed one from 36 yards away before that.

Among Miami players unavailable was junior tight end Brevin Jordan, who was known to have a shoulder injury. There were six surprise scratches on Saturday, all freshmen.

The Hurricanes are idle next week before a Friday night game at N.C. State on Nov. 6.

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