Walton scores four TDs as No. 25 Miami pulls away from FAU after slow start

By Neal Nachman
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Updated: September 11, 2016

Entering the second game of the season, the goals for Miami were simple.

Play well. Avoid a slow start against an upset-minded South Florida foe. And improve to 2-0.

It took a little longer than 25th-ranked Hurricanes likely would have wanted, but in a game that seemed to echo their last meeting against Florida Atlantic, they eventually did.

After a sluggish start, the Hurricanes found their footing and ultimately picked up a 38-10 win over the Owls that was anything but pretty, but keeps Miami unbeaten in the young Mark Richt Era.

“I just want to score enough to win, truthfully,” Richt said. “I like it when there’s not a whole lot of drama at the end. I like when we can finish a game without everybody having a heart attack out there. … I like winning more than I worry about points.”

Ahead of Saturday’s game, many of the Hurricanes said they wanted to avoid a repeat of last year’s matchup against FAU, one in which players said some of them may have underestimated the Owls and thus, found themselves needing a serious second-half effort to get out of Boca Raton with a win.

But in another development that mirrored the 2015 matchup, running back Mark Walton had his say.

The junior, who last season rushed for three touchdowns in Miami’s 44-20 win over the Owls, rushed for a career-high 155 yards and had four touchdowns to help the Hurricanes clinch the win on this night.

He became the first Hurricane to score four rushing touchdowns in a single game since Tyrone Moss did the same against North Carolina in 2005. The last Hurricane to notch four touchdowns total, whether by pass or rush, was Mike James, who did it in 2012.

Later, Walton said precious little of that mattered.

“I’m not big on stats. I just go out there and play to my abilities,” Walton said. “It showed tonight with four touchdowns and I’m thankful for it. I couldn’t do anything without that o-line, like I said.”

Walton’s two-touchdown, 54-yard performance in the first half was one of the few bright spots for Miami on a night when both the offensive line and quarterback Brad Kaaya struggled early.

The Owls pressured Miami’s highly-touted signal caller in the first half, forcing him into two uncharacteristic interceptions. No team has managed that against Kaaya since Georgia Tech did it in a 28-17 win over Miami in 2014. And while FAU didn’t get the upset, the Owls made their presence felt.

FAU (1-1) held the Hurricanes to just 18 rushing yards in the first quarter and blocked a Michael Badgley field goal attempt to keep Miami scoreless until Walton scored on a 7-yard run with 7:53 left in the half.

But Miami’s defense – a unit depleted by injuries and dismissals – did its job too, with Michael Pinckney showing that, yet again, Miami’s trio of young linebackers has the potential to be special.

Pinckney notched a career-high nine tackles and was in on 1.5 sacks.

Ultimately, the Hurricanes finished with seven sacks and 13 tackles for loss, numbers that impressed Richt, defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and even Kaaya.

“The defense has been playing phenomenal,” Kaaya said. “I don’t think there’s been a drop-off and there’s been guys that have gotten injured. I think all those guys are rallying and playing sound football. … They’re playing great and it helps the offense. It takes the pressure off us.”

Still, as well as the Hurricanes defense played, Miami found itself fighting off FAU, which pulled within four in the first half and then cut Miami’s lead to 24-10 in the third quarter after a 38-yard touchdown run by Greg Howell.

After that, though, the Hurricanes pulled away, thanks in large part to Walton, who had both a 16-yard touchdown run and a 30-yard touchdown run in the second half. Fellow back Joe Yearby also had a 100-yard performance for the Hurricanes, finishing with 20 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown.

FAU quarterback Jason Driskel, meanwhile, was 18 of 36 for 167 yards, while Howell finished with a team-high 75 rushing yards for the Owls.

“There’s things that we did at times that made us look like a program that’s continuing to the direction we want to go,” FAU coach Charlie Partridge said. “We’re clearly not there yet.”