Mario Cristobal was still angry about the officiating after the game. Lofton looked like he caught a 4th-down touchdown with 3:36 left, but Notre Dame's Luke Talich knocked it away and the pass was ruled incomplete. Cristobal said he was "beyond upset" with the call, and also said he was proud of the team's resilience. Miami is 6-0 in the ACC, so the loss didn't hurt its conference standing. It did hurt the playoff picture, and the margin for error is gone.
Duke looks like a different team than it was a month ago. In October the Blue Devils dropped back-to-back one-score games, 28-25 at Georgia Tech and 24-20 at home to North Carolina. Then they edged Virginia 19-16 on the road and blew out Boston College 47-2 and NC State 41-3. In the NC State game, Sheppard ran for 217 yards and 3 touchdowns, including a 69-yard score on the 4th play of the game, and Pellicciotta returned a kick 100 yards for a Kick Six. NC State didn't score a touchdown at all.
North Carolina is the only opponent both teams have played recently, and the results are worth comparing. Duke held the Tar Heels to 24 points but lost by 4 at home. Miami gave up 35 to them on the road and won by 3 anyway. That's the basic matchup: Duke's defense has been stingy, and Miami has won by outscoring people. The Canes have given up 35 points twice in their last 5 games, to Florida State and to UNC, so a Duke run game that can grind out long drives is a real test.
The early forecast for Miami Gardens is 68 degrees and clear with almost no chance of rain. Wind is projected around 15 mph, which could matter for kicking and deep passes if it holds through the week. Duke is unranked at 7-2 and Miami is No. 5 at 8-1. Miami's lone loss came to a top-5 team on the road, and Duke has won its last 3 by a combined 107-21. If Toney is back and the Miami defense plays like it did against Clemson, the Canes should win comfortably. If Sheppard is running for 5 yards a carry in the 2nd half, this game gets uncomfortable for Miami.
