Miami positioned itself as the early-season favorite in the ACC with a 41-17 drubbing of Florida on Saturday.
The No. 19 Hurricanes overmatched the Gators in nearly every facet as Miami’s remade roster showed what the recipe is for a College Football Playoff berth.
Former Washington State QB Cam Ward threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns in his first start for the Hurricanes, while Xavier Restrepo had over 100 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Miami led 24-10 at halftime and broke the game open with two touchdowns in the third quarter. The Gators went 75 yards in six plays to start the second half as the drive was capped off by a 1-yard TD run by RB Mark Fletcher. Six minutes later, Ward found Jacolby George for a 28-point lead.
As the Miami offense picked apart Florida’s defense, the Miami defense kept Florida in check even without star defensive end Rueben Bain. He left the game after sustaining an injury on the first possession but the Hurricanes’ defensive line was able to get consistent pressure without him. That group included Tennessee transfer Tyler Baron, as he got into the Miami backfield with ease during the second half.
Florida’s lone highlight came in the second quarter when Montrell Johnson broke off a 71-yard TD run. Outside of that, the Gators hardly did anything until the game was well out of hand and were forced to play freshman QB DJ Lagway in the second half after Graham Mertz was taken to the locker room following a hit after an interception.
The ACC is wide open for the Hurricanes
Week 1 is prime for overreacting. And Miami is a team prone to overreactions too. But here’s why what happened on Saturday may not be much of an overreaction at all.
Florida State, Virginia Tech and Clemson have already lost. The Seminoles lost in Week 0 to Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech lost in overtime earlier Saturday at Vanderbilt and Clemson was dominated once again by Georgia in a 34-3 defeat that showed just how far the Tigers have fallen from the top of college football in recent years.
Miami has been the most impressive ACC team so far. And it’s not even close. NC State, another preseason favorite atop the conference, got a win on Thursday night but the Wolfpack found themselves trailing to FCS Western Carolina in the second half before finally pulling away for a 17-point win.
If Miami can’t win the ACC this year with this talent, when can it?
In addition to Ward, the Hurricanes added RB Damien Martinez from Oregon State (15 carries for 65 yards), and Houston transfer Samuel Brown added three catches in his Miami debut. The defensive line has talent and depth thanks to the transfer portal. And most importantly, Miami appears to have an incredibly manageable schedule.
The Hurricanes get both Virginia Tech and Florida State and don’t have Clemson or NC State on the schedule. The toughest road game appears to be a trip to Louisville on October. 19 after a week off. Given how Miami looked on Saturday, this team should win 10 games.
