UNC Football early opponent preview: Miami Hurricanes
Keeping It Heel takes a look at each of the UNC Tar Heels football opponents in reverse order. This week we take a look at Miami the Miami Hurricanes.
Previous Team Previews:
NC State | Western Carolina | Pittsburgh
The Miami Hurricanes, also known as “The U” are steeped in tradition and championships. Miami football is in a lot of ways what Carolina basketball is.
A way of life.
Last season in Miami, UNC held on for a seven-point win after leading by 17 at halftime. The season before they destroyed Miami at the Hill 59-21.
Can the Tar Heels make it three wins in a row or will the Hurricanes reestablish order?
Head Coach: Mark Richt. Career Record 154-55 (9-4 at Miami). This will be his second season at Miami and his second head coaching stop.
Richt was previously the head coach at Georgia where he made a bowl game in each of his 15 seasons with the Bulldogs and finished first in his division six times.
The past three Miami coaches have finished first in their division once since joining the ACC (and that year they were ineligible).
Richt not only took the Hurricanes to a bowl game in his first season (16th straight for the coach), but he also won it for the first Miami bowl win since 2006.
Best Former Player: LB Ray Lewis. A 13-time Pro Bowler and ten-time All-Pro with two Super Bowl championships and a Super Bowl MVP. In his career, Lewis has 2,055 tackles, 41.5 Sacks, 31 interceptions, 17 forced fumbles, 20 fumble recoveries, and three touchdowns.
Lewis was twice named NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Lewis owns most records for an inside linebacker and is considered one of the best middle linebackers of all time.
Second Best Former Player: RB Frank Gore. A five-time Pro Bowler, one-time All-Pro, and one time Super Bowl Participant. Career has 2938 carries for 13,065 yards and 74 touchdowns.
Additionally, he also has 414 receptions for 3,413 and 16 more scores.
He currently sits at eighth all-time in career rushing yards and 17th all-time in career carries. If he runs for 1,000 yards this season, something he has only failed to do three times in his career, he will move to fifth all-time.
Everyone else in the top ten is in the NFL Hall of Fame.
In his illustrious career, Gore also led the NFC in rushing in 2006 and won the Art Rooney Award in 2016.
This was not an easy decision as Miami has produced a ton of talent.
Here is a short list of names that didn’t make the cut: Jim Kelly, Edgerrin James, Ed Reed, Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, Michael Irvin, Warren Sapp, Vince Wolfolk, Cortez Kennedy, Jessie Armstead, Devin Hester, and many more.
Last Season: Went 9-4 (5-3 in ACC play). Finished tied for second in the Coastal Division. Season highlights include winning four in a row to start the season and five in a row to end the season, including the bowl win over a ranked West Virginia team.
In the middle of those two win streaks, they lost four in a row, including three games decided by a grand total of 11 points. They also failed to win the Coastal once again.
This Season: Seven of their opponents finished last season with a winning record and seven made a bowl game.
Like so many other teams in the Coastal Division, Miami is also replacing a quarterback this season. Though with Richt there now that seems less of a concern. Miami also plays a tougher schedule than in years past.
So is this the year Miami takes home the Coastal? With key division games at home, a 10-2 record is totally within the realms of possibility. Do that and no one will be talking about what Miami hasn’t done lately.
Best Current Player: RB Mark Walton. Last season, he rushed the ball 209 times for 1117 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also caught the ball 27 times for an additional 240 yards and another score.
Walton came out running last year rushing for 401 yards and seven touchdowns in his first three games. Though he tapered off a bit after that he still finished with 6 games over 100 yards rushing as well as fifth in the ACC in total yards.
In the game against the Tar Heels, Walton rushed for 82 yards on 24 carries but never found the end zone. Despite not scoring the 82 yards was a high for Walton during a five-game slump where he failed to rush for 50 yards the other four games.
Match-up: Saturday, October 28th in Chapel Hill.
Prediction: Year after year Miami consistently out recruits the Tar Heels. However, despite this the Hurricanes are 6-7 against UNC since joining the ACC back in 2004. However, most of those seasons, UNC probably had the better coach, that is no longer the case.
Final score: Miami 24, UNC 16.
Yes, the game is in Chapel Hill, but Richt has now had a year to install his system. The talent gap is just too great.
Again with questions at quarterback and along the defense, it is just too hard to pick the Tar Heels to beat Miami for a third straight season.