CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- With the Miami Hurricanes set for their 2019 home opener on Saturday (4:00 p.m., ACC Network) against FCS opponent Bethune-Cookman, head coach Manny Diaz revealed an important lesson about winning at home.

Miami lost at home to Duke last season and during the spring, the team went back to the stadium and run the stadium stairs while the Duke game played on the video scoreboards.

"They had to pay the bill," Diaz said. "That's the way it is. If you lose at home, you have a run at the stadium and we ran to the upper deck because we have Hurricane fans who pay their hard-earned money to sit in the upper deck to see them play and I wanted them to see what it looks like up there. To sit all the way up there to see us lose to Duke. No disrespect to Duke, but Miami has to win at home."

Junior running back DeeJay Dallas recalled the experience:

“Alright, so we didn’t know where we were going at first. So they get up, we get up, and we come in the Hecht (Athletic Center) and we get dressed and they tell us to be on the bus at this time. So we get on the bus. Everybody is still half asleep, the sun is still not up. On the way there, like me, I’m curious. I have been curious since a little boy. So I’m like, ‘Man, I am trying to see where we are going.’ I don’t like not knowing, you know? So we get on the highway. We are going up to Hard Rock and I start seeing sites that I know from going up to the game and then we take this cut off into I don’t know where, like where the busses go, and then they stop the bus and Hard Rock is probably like 300 yards away, far.

"And then they start blowing the whistle, ‘Beep, beep, beep. Everybody off the bus!’ So, we have got to run into Hard Rock, up the spiral, to the very top. The spiral was the hardest part, cause like, your legs are already dead, as soon as you get to the top you are like, ‘Man, dang.’ Then you got to go down, up, then down, up and down and up and down, and then the whole time they have got the Duke game playing. And I am like, ‘Dang. Dang.’ So, yeah, like the Duke game, you all know what happened, so yeah. It was rough.”

Miami lost 20-12 to Duke that day and responded with a 24-3 win over Pittsburgh in their only home game since, which clinched a bowl berth.

"Home is our turf and we shouldn’t lose on our turf," Dallas said.

It was a tough lesson the team has taken to heart.

"It was tough, but we've got to do it," senior safety Robert Knowles. "We don't have a choice. It was really tough, but at the same time it's a lesson learned. Everybody was upset, but at the same time we fought and everybody got through it."

Miami went 5-1 at home last season and is 34-8 in their last 42 home games dating back to 2012. While it is a good record, it is a far cry from when Miami strung together an NCAA-record 58-game home-winning streak from 1985-94 at the Orange Bowl.

"Hard Rock Stadium should be one of the most feared venues to come play in, no different than the Orange Bowl was," Diaz said. "The reason why the Orange Bowl was feared was because of the guys out there on the field and our great fan base made a lot of noise in the stands. We know it can happen. We have seen Hard Rock on special nights like a couple years ago and we've got to get the team to build the excitement that gets everybody in the community fired up to come watch them play."

The last time Miami did not lose a home game in a season was in 2002 when they went 6-0 on their way to the national championship game.

"Gut check really," redshirt freshman quarterback Jarren Williams said of the experience at the stadium. "We ran through that stadium. It really just drilled that mentality in us that losing at home is not a standard--that can't happen, that's unacceptable. I feel like doing that really put that mentality into everybody."

The home opener marks the first of five consecutive home games for the Hurricanes (0-2) as they look to get back on track and stay in contention to win the ACC Coastal Division.

"The only thing we're thinking about is, not losing, but more so winning," Williams said. "We're excited to be at home in front of our fans for the first time. I know everybody is excited so I'm excited too."

Christopher Stock has covered the Miami Hurricanes since 2003 and can be reached by e-mail at stock@insidetheu.com and on Twitter@InsideTheU.