'No excuse': No. 25 Miami Hurricanes stunned at home by Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke — the ACC's rookie of the year last season and the No. 11 player on Mel Kiper's Big Board for the NFL Draft — was benched in the third quarter of a disheartening 45-31 loss to Middle Tennessee State on Saturday.

A week after not producing an a touchdown in a 17-9 loss to Texas A&M, Van Dyke struggled again, this time against what appeared to be inferior competition. But the Blue Raiders — 25.5-point underdogs at kickoff time — picked him off twice before he was ultimately pulled by first-year coach Mario Cristobal after completing 16 of 32 passes for 138 yards and one touchdown.

«They coached better than us, they played better than us,» Cristobal said. «They were better. We didn't do a good enough job. There's no excuse. Real men look in the mirror and do something about it and don't allow any cracks to happen from the inside. We all came here for a purpose and a reason. We've got a lot of work to do.»

Van Dyke was replaced by Jake Garcia in the No. 25 Hurricanes' loss. On his postgame radio interview, Cristobal did not commit to a starter for Miami's next game vs. North Carolina, which isn't until Oct. 8.

«It was a poor job by me,» Cristobal said. «It was a poor job by our organization, and a credit to Middle for doing what they did.»

Garcia completed 10 of 19 passes for 161 yards for the Hurricanes, who heard plenty of boos from the fans who showed up to what was not even a half-filled stadium; most were long gone before the final whistle.

For Middle Tennessee State, big plays brought the biggest win in program history. Chase Cunningham passed for 408 yards and three touchdowns, including a 98-yarder to DJ England-Chisholm, and Middle Tennessee State stunned No. 25