MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The biggest contribution that a Miami player made on the Hurricanes’ regular-season finale against Pittsburgh apparently came a night before kickoff, when Jaquan Johnson addressed his teammates.

He likened adversity to quicksand, and talked about how to escape.

“It really hit us hard, in the heart,” running back Travis Homer said.

Homer was apparently listening, as were plenty of other Hurricanes. Homer needed only eight carries to rush for 168 yards, DeeJay Dallas ran back a punt for one of his two scores and Miami knocked off No. 24 Pittsburgh 24-3 on Saturday.

“I think our guys rose to the occasion,” Miami coach Mark Richt said. “It was very obvious that it was a dominating defensive performance, and I thought it was a dominating special-teams performance as well.”

The Hurricanes (7-5, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) yielded only 200 yards, held Pitt to a 1-for-15 effort on third-down conversion tries and forced 12 punts in a game where they yielded only 11 first downs. Miami also had six sacks and 14 tackles for loss.

“We’re 7-5,” cornerback Michael Jackson Sr. said, “but we’re not a 7-5 defense.”

Kenny Pickett completed 14 of 22 passes for 130 yards for Pitt (7-5, 6-2), which had already locked up the ACC Coastal Division.