Miami was really good for most of 2016, not just the bowl. Here come expectations

Miami began the Russell Athletic Bowl with five consecutive three-and-outs. Late in the first quarter, WVU pulled off the same feat. The Mountaineers only once drove more than 40 yards in a possession, and Miami finished the game gaining 42 yards on its final 15 plays.

This was a game of droughts ... and one burst. When UM’s Brad Kaaya and Ahmmon Richards connected for a 51-yard score with 6:30 left in the first half, it tied the game at 7-7 and kick-started a short run of Hurricane success. They drove 59 yards in six plays to go up 14-7 on their next possession, then improbably went 70 yards in five plays in the final minute of the first half go up 21-7. They took advantage of a dubious third-down pass interference penalty to score a touchdown on their first drive of the second half, and that was about it. They tacked on a field goal to pull away for a 31-14 win in Orlando.

Miami held the ball for 31:46, 68 snaps, and 14 possessions. They gained two-thirds of their yards in just four drives, 20 plays, and 7:20. And it was more than enough because a dramatically improved Hurricane defense wasn’t letting WVU even think about keeping up.

Miami headed into bowl season with a Def. S&P+ ranking of 14th, 40 spots higher than last year. The Hurricanes boasted one of the most havoc-raising defensive fronts in college football, and finish the season with 108 tackles for loss after producing nine more (from 10 different players, no less) against WVU.

Kaaya is probably the best-known player on the team, and his decision on whether to return to school for his senior year will determine just how high the Hurricanes’ preseason ranking is. But they found the S&P+ top 15 with defense and special teams, and Wednesday’s performance suggests they probably won’t be falling out of the final top 15.

This was a hell of a way to wrap up a three-act season.

The first two acts were predictable; the third, not so much. Miami began the year 4-0 with four brilliant performances, then did what it has done a lot in recent years: Lose to Florida State and fall into a funk. 4-0 became 4-4, but to its everlasting credit, Mark Richt’s first Cane squad rebounded.

Miami took down Pitt, Virginia, NC State, Duke, and now WVU by an average score of 37-18 to finish 9-4 for the first time in five years and win a bowl for the first time in 11. And they did so with quite a few freshmen and sophomores in the rotation.

Not a bad debut for the former Miami quarterback and Georgia head coach.

It’s hard to play like a top-five offense without your starting quarterback (Nathan Peterman), star running back (James Conner), and All-American guard (Dorian Johnson). That isn’t exactly a revelatory thought, but Pitt affirmed it nonetheless in Wednesday’s Pinstripe Bowl loss to Northwestern. The Panthers gained just 70 yards in 20 snaps when Peterman, the last of the three, went down, and finished the game by losing turnovers on three consecutive possessions.

That was enough to turn the tide in favor of Pat Fitzgerald’s Wildcats, who scored their third bowl win ever and won their 17th game in two years; they’ve only once topped that total.

Injuries aside, Pitt was already in trouble because of blown scoring opportunities and Justin Jackson. The Panthers entered the game first in the country in points per scoring opportunity (first downs inside the opponent’s 40) but settled for a field goal on their first possession, got stuffed on fourth-and-goal on their second, and threw an interception from the NU 10 on the third.

Meanwhile, Jackson just ran and ran. His two second-quarter scores gave NU a 14-3 lead late in the first half, and his 40-yard juke-and-dash made it 21-17 in the third quarter. He finished with 32 carries for 224 yards, and combined with some fourth-down wheeling and dealing — the Wildcats were 4-for-4 on fourth downs — that gave the Wildcats enough to close the deal.

It’s a disappointing finish in Pittsburgh. The careers of Peterman, Johnson, and (probably) Conner ended a few minutes earlier than expected, and the final game of offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s one-year Pitt tenure (he’s leaving for LSU) ended with blown chances and backups.

Jesse Ertz was a two-star recruit per Rivals.com; he completed 14 of 20 passes for 195 yards. Justin Silmon is a former walk-on; he rushed 10 times for 77 yards. Byron Pringle was a mid-three-star JUCO transfer with no other known offers; he caught a 79-yard touchdown pass. D.J. Reed was a no-star JUCO transfer; he had six solo tackles and three assists. Kendall Adams was a two-star safety; he picked off a pass.

Et cetera. Sometimes you’re typecast for a reason.

Kansas State’s five-year recruiting was 61st heading into 2016 — Bill Snyder’s Wildcats basically recruit like a decent mid-major. And for the fourth time in six years, following a 33-28 win over Texas A&M in the Texas Bowl, they finish a season with at least nine wins.

Also:

K-State entered the game 0-3 against teams in the S&P+ top 30 and 8-1 against everybody else; they also entered the game with one of the least explosive offenses in the country. Things change. Against an A&M team ranked 19th, the Wildcats scored on a 79-yard pass and a 52-yard run, eased to a 33-21 lead early in the fourth quarter, then made a late defensive stand to seal the deal.

Snyder’s wasn’t the only happy returning-from-retirement story on Wednesday night. Out in Santa Clara, Joe Williams was running wild.

Utah’s senior running back quit football for four games early in the year; he returned for the final six games of the season and averaged 185 yards per game. And after producing 99 rushing yards and a 56-yard catch in the first three quarters of the Foster Farms Bowl against Indiana, he eventually sank the Hoosiers with 123 yards on eight carries in the fourth.

It took a while, though. Indiana took a 24-23 lead with 10:10 left, and Williams responded with carries of 18, 11, and 15 yards before fumbling. But after IU missed a 40-yard field goal, Williams set up the winning points with rushes of 21, 3, 8, and 32 yards.

Williams was just about the only sure thing in a game of instability. Both passing games produced some big plays, but starting QBs Troy Williams (Utah) and Richard Lagow (IU) combined to complete just 25 of 62 passes with two interceptions and eight sacks. Meanwhile, IU backs Devine Redding and Ricky Brookins averaged only 4.3 yards per carry. The teams combined for six fumbles, losing five of them. This was a strange, sloppy game. And the one-time retiree made the difference.