(BLACK PR WIRE) - Miami Gardens, Fla. – At Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida, the afternoon clouds grew darker and darker Saturday afternoon, but nothing seemed darker than the mood of Hurricane fans after their team lost a heartbreaker, 28-24 to the visiting Kansas State Wildcats. What looked like a fantastic comeback for quarterback Jacory Harris, who after having a sub-par performance in the first half, came out guns blazing en route to an impressive 272 yards passing with two touchdowns in the air.

But it was the touchdown that wasn’t which will be remembered by most Hurricane fans. With less than two minutes in the game, Miami’s offense had the ball, first down and goal to go on the Wildcat’s 2-yard line. After an incomplete pass and two running attempts both failed to get in the end zone, Miami found itself with fourth down and the same two yards to go to win the game. Harris rolled to his left looking to convert a short pass option, but when that option was not open, Harris turned up field toward the goal line and appeared to have made it in. However, after the official’s review of the play, Harris was ruled down on the 1-yard line and Kansas State ran out the last few seconds of the game.

Things were looking very good for Miami in the second half. Quarterback Harris was nearly perfect at 11-13 for the half and after connecting on a 34-yard touchdown strike to WR Travis Benjamin, just inside the start of the fourth quarter, Miami took the lead from the Wildcats, 24 – 21. That lead didn’t last long.

Miami actually outgained Kansas State in total offense, 411 yards to KSU’s 398, but the Hurricanes could not convert when they needed to. Or perhaps, more importantly, they couldn’t stop the Wildcats when they needed to. Twice in the game, Wildcat running back John Hubert broke off runs of over 45 yards to continue scoring drives for Kansas State in the second half. And when it wasn’t Hubert, KSU’s QB Collin Klein seemed to come through time after time with clutch plays of his own, either through the air or on his feet, generating over 220 yards total offense himself.

Case in point, after committing four straight penalties, the Wildcats were pinned back on their own 3-yard line and had 29 yards to go for a first down. But on second down, Klein scampered out of his own end zone for 26 yards and then tacked on another 13 yards for a Wildcat first down. In what could be the most surprising statistic of the game, Kansas State rushed for an average of over six yards per carry, on their way to a total of 265 yards on the ground.

With the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats coming to Sun Life Stadium this Saturday, Miami has a good chance of returning to the winning side of the ledger. And even with two losses this early in the season, Miami still has not hurt its chances to get to the ACC Championship game in Charlotte, via the Coastal Division. Of course, for Miami to beat the likes of Virginia Tech and North Carolina, they will have to play a complete game on both sides of the ball and for each of the four quarters. From what we have seen so far from Coach Golden and his staff, chances are very good that Hurricane fans will continue to see improvements in execution and production. But with the brunt of ACC conference play beginning in less than two weeks, there’s little time to waste.

To download a high-resolution photo, click here.