Countdown to Kickoff: Opponent Previews – Miami

The ACC has always been home to chaos. Its former Coastal division even held the moniker of Coastal Chaos until the divisions were dropped. That’s why it’s fitting the ACC series that defies all logical sense and reasoning is among former Coastal opponents Miami and Georgia Tech. It doesn’t matter the record or talent level in this matchup because when these two meet dumb things happen.

Last year was all that bottled up in one special cocktail that would make the late great Jimmy Buffett even question if such a mixture should be legal. Miami had started their season hot going 4-0 behind an offense led by Tyler Van Dyke putting up 43 points per game with one big one over Texas A&M. Then they ran into statically the worst defense in the ACC (who could not stop Bowling Green the previous week) and fell flat on their faces. Yes, the same offense that shredded the likes of an SEC defense coughed up 5 turnovers to Georgia Tech. The last one was a fumble where Coach Cristobal took leave of his senses and summoned instant karma to the field when he should have taken a knee.

Now forgoing all the nonsense that Miami seems to conjure they put together quite a roster this year and that is what Cristobal was hired to do. In his time there he has signed the 7th and 4th overall recruiting classes for 2023 and 2024. Add in some proven playmakers off the transfer portal with returning production and this is the best roster in the ACC top to bottom right now. Now it’s time for Miami to put it all together and maybe just maybe be somewhat back…or in ACC terms finally winning the conference since joining.

Offense

Tyler Van Dyke had been effective at Miami off and on but injuries and inconsistency led to him transferring before the bowl game to Wisconsin. Miami floundered in the transfer portal for a while until Cam Ward withdrew his name from the NFL Draft and became one of the top transfers for this cycle. He was electric at Washington State with 3,732 passing yards and 25 touchdowns. His only knock was that he lost 12 fumbles. His passing production should remain strong with Miami bringing back their top two receivers Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George who combined for almost 2000 yards and 14 touchdowns. Restrepo is a deadly weapon when it comes to finding gaps in the coverage.

Miami used a committee running back approach last year and lost two key contributors with Henry Parrish and Don Chaney both leaving. So they decided to go after the other remnant of the Pac-2 and raid Oregon State for Damien Martinez who is probably one of the other top offensive transfers behind Cam Ward. Martinez will have three returning starters up front on the offensive line but they lose C Matt Lee and LG Javion Cohen from a unit that produced 173 rush yards per game. The lone question for this offense is whether the offensive line will perform to elevate the running game from 173 rush yards per game and give Cam Ward the same protection they gave Van Dyke allowing only 16 sacks.

Defense

While the offense is getting the focus from the transfer portal the defense took in most of the 15-player haul after seeing most of the starting production move on. The defensive line will most likely see three new faces from the portal but Rueban Bain does return on the edge and he will be one of the top defensive players to watch in the ACC this Fall. He had 7.5 sacks as a true freshman and will be key in trying to reproduce the pressure Miami generated on QBs last season.

If there is one area you can truly pick holes in this roster it will be in the secondary. They had lapses in coverage last year, especially to the teams with quality QBs on their schedule. The late fumble against Georgia Tech was bad enough to give the Yellow Jackets a chance but two straight plays of busted coverage and allowing a receiver to run free on a Hail Mary showed a lack of cohesion for assignments.

Daryl Porter will return at Corner to give some leadership to what will be the least experienced unit on the team. Miami will only return one INT in production and that will come from the LB Francisco Mauigoa who was also the team leader in tackles.

Special Teams

The kicking game is in good hands with Andres Borregales coming back from a nice 22 for 26 FG season last year with the longest from 51 yards. They return punter Dylan Joyce who averages 44 yards a punt. Miami will be looking for a new return man this season as Brashard Smith leaves with his 579 return yards from last year.

Matchup

If we just looked at this game on paper it would appear Miami has all the advantages. They certainly kept Georgia Tech in check on offense until the last few drives last year so if they avoid some abysmally bad game management it would be wise to assume they can win in Atlanta. I’d still wager though that Georgia Tech’s offense could be one of the better ones Miami faces.

If there is going to be an upset in this one I think it will be how healthy each team’s roster looks late into the season. Georgia Tech benefits from having a bye week before the matchup and Miami will have just played their annual rivalry game with FSU two weeks prior. One thing Miami is always bad about though is letting one loss spiral into more so having FSU and a trap game against Duke right before could have Miami reeling.

Based on previous experience I’d say the wacky Georgia weather decides to deliver snow in November and freezes the Cane’s ability to move the ball while Georgia Tech runs off with a double-digit win. “When this series is played, the weird becomes normal.”