College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Miami Hurricanes season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Miami Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 6-7 overall, 4-4 in ACC
Head Coach: Manny Diaz, 2nd year, 6-7
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 49
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 60
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 22
NOTE: Obviously, no one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Miami Hurricanes Offense 3 Things To Know
– The offense was a stunning disaster. No one was expecting high-end pyrotechnics, but it wasn’t supposed to be a total dud at times that stalled in puzzling moments.
The Canes averaged just 367 yards and 26 points per game, but most of the points came in two games – scoring 63 against Bethune-Cookman and 52 against Louisville. Take away those two games, and they averaged fewer than 20 points per game over the other 11.
In comes new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee after handing the high-powered SMU offense over the last two years. The receivers are going to be a bit of a question mark, but he’s got the quarterback.
CFN in 60 Video: Miami Hurricanes Preview
– Former Ohio State transfer Tate Martell didn’t really work – he threw and completed one pass – and N’Kosi Perry was okay at times, but Jarren Williams was the surprise starter in the opener against Florida. Williams is looking to transfer because the Canes got a star.
D’Eriq King was a dominant statistical force for Houston, with the quickness and creativity sorely lacking in last year’s Miami attack. He threw for 4,925 yards and 50 touchdowns with ten picks, and ran for 1,421 yards with 28 scores – in his 34 games of work with the Cougars. Now he needs someone to throw to.
Junior Brevin Jordan is a next-level talent at tight end, but leading wideout KJ Osborn is gone along with Jeff Thomas. Mike Harley and Dee Wiggins combined for 58 catches with seven touchdowns, but the recruiting class should play a role early on with Michael Redding and Xavier Restepo two good-looking prospects.
– There wasn’t a running game. The Canes finished dead last in the ACC in rushing, partly because the combination of a rebuilt line and young quarterbacks led to a disastrous year for the pass protection. Fortunately, the front five that was so young and had so many issues should be a whole lot stronger. All five starters are expected back, working around 6-6, 345-pound senior Navaughn Donaldson at one guard.
Leading rusher DeeJay Dallas bolted early for the NFL, but juniors Cam’Ron Harris and Robert Burns have just enough experience to be okay. If all goes according to plan, King will be good for at least 500 yards from his quarterback spot.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Miami Hurricanes Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Miami Hurricanes Defense 3 Things To Know
– The defense did its part last season even though it didn’t get a whole lot of help from the offensive side. It was fourth in the nation in tackles for loss, was great at coming up with sacks, and finished 13th in the nation in total D.
Only two Canes were drafted, but four of the top six tacklers are done including the tremendous linebacking trio of Shaq Quarterman, Michael Pinckney and Romeo Finley.
The program hasn’t had any problems starting really, really young prospects, and it’s about to do it again with three underclassmen likely taking over a linebacker. There’s almost no size among the projected starting three, and there’s little to no experience. However …
– The ends might be the best in college football. Sophomore Gregory Rousseau is a top five overall NFL draft prospect on one side, and fantastic former Temple playmaker Quincy Roche – who made 137 tackles and 26 sacks for the Owls – taking over for Jon Garvin on the other. Throw into the mix of the upside of former UCLA transfer Jaelan Phillips, and look out. There’s a good enough rotation at tackle around 6-5, 310-pound senior Jonathan Ford to be a plus, too.
– As long as the pass rush continues to rock, the secondary will be more than fine. Corner Trajan Bandy left early, and good-hitting safety Robert Knowles is gone, but this is a good overall group with DJ Ivey back after leading the team with three picks, and with junior Gurvan Hall one of the ACC’s better tackling safeties. If former USC transfer Bubba Bolden can stay healthy, the secondary depth will be terrific.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Miami Hurricanes Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Miami Hurricanes Players
Best Miami Hurricanes Offensive Player
QB D’Eriq King, Sr.
The big-name quarterback transfer thing didn’t work all that well last year with Tate Martell, but he didn’t have the body of work that King brings. The former Houston all-around star threw for close to 3,000 yards and 36 touchdowns with six picks, and ran for 674 yards and 14 touchdowns, in 2018, but last year the season never got going and he shut it down after four weeks.
He’s only 5-11 and 195 pounds, but he’s electrifying, he can bomb away, and he’s got the upside to take the Cane offense and make it his from the start.
2. OG Navaughn Donaldson, Sr.
3. TE Brevin Jordan, Jr.
4. RB Cam’Ron Harris, Jr.
5. WR Mike Harley, Sr.
Best Miami Hurricanes Defensive Player
DE Gregory Rousseau, Soph.
He blew a tire as a true freshman – injuring his ankle before the year could get going – but he came back roaring with a brilliant All-ACC 2019 season. The team’s main pass rusher led the way with 15.5 sacks with 19.5 tackles for loss and 54 tackles.
At 6-7 and 253 pounds he’s a very tall, very rangy defender with a great frame, and he gets off the ball in a hurry. With Temple transfer Quincy Roche helping the cause on the other side, teams aren’t going to be able to load up to stop him.
2. DE Quincy Roche, Sr.
3. S Gurvan Hall, Jr.
4. CB DJ Ivey, Jr.
5. CB Al Blades, Jr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Miami Hurricanes Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Miami Hurricanes Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Miami Hurricanes Offense
Let’s start with the basics under new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee – just get the thing moving.
Start with blocking better, getting the running game going, and relying on a quarterback who can do enough to keep defenses from pinning their ears back to get behind the line.
Too much pressure in the backfield led to no third down conversions – the Canes finished second-to-last in the nation on the key downs.
Miami’s offense might not have been anything special in 2018, but it converted 41% of the time on third downs. Last year? 27%, failing to hit the 30% mark in eight games.
By the way, at SMU last season, Lashlee’s offense converted 44% of its third down shots.
Biggest Key To The Miami Hurricanes Defense
Stay nasty against the run. Totally blown off in a disappointing year for the program record-wise was a special season from a run defense that finished 17th in the nation.
But it was more effective than that.
Georgia Tech was the only team to run for more than 200 yards on the Miami D that never got gouged. There were problems over the previous seasons against the teams that could pound. Last year, no one hit the five-yard-per-carry mark, and overall the defense allowed fewer than 1,500 rushing yards.
The concern this year will be the side and experience in the linebacking corps. Last year had a thumper in 240-pound Shaq Quarterman in the middle – this year the Canes will likely have bulked up safeties in the three spots.
Key Miami Hurricanes Player To A Successful Season
OT Zion Nelson, Soph.
Go ahead and throw the entire offensive line in this bucket. It was awful in pass protection and didn’t deliver nearly enough pop for the running game. To be fair, the front five went with a whole slew of young players who were thrown to the wolves.
It started with Nelson.
A relatively unheralded recruit, the 6-5, 273-pound Nelson bulked up fast and took over a starting job right out of the gate against Florida. On the plus side, the Cane coaching staff came up with a gem – a diamond-in-the-rough starting left tackle – but it also showed how thin the Miami O line was.
Give D’Eriq King just a little time to work, and the Hurricane season – at least on the offensive side – will be a whole lot better.
Key Game To The Miami Hurricanes Season
At Michigan State, Sept 26
It’s a tad misleading considering there have only been two opportunities, but 2015 was the last time Miami beat Power Five program in non-conference play.
The program is 4-0 all-time against Michigan State, but the last meeting was in 1989. This time around, if all goes according to plan, the Canes should be 3-0 before going to East Lansing in the forgive-the-cliche measuring stick game. This is the type of game a team that thinks it can be good should win.
– Miami Hurricanes Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Miami Fun Stats
– 3rd Down Conversions: Opponents 37% – Miami 27%
– Punt Return Average: Miami 14.24 – Opponents 5.50
– 4th Down Conversions: Opponents 12-of-17 (71%) – Miami 13-of-25 (52%)
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Miami Hurricanes Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Miami Hurricanes Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
It’s like Miami just can’t quite find the right identity and groove.
It’s always going to be impossible to measure up to the standards set when the program owned the college football world, but for the love of Louisiana Tech, you don’t lose 14-0 to a Conference USA team in the Independence Bowl.
Head coach Manny Diaz had a whole lot of good pieces in place, and he hammered the transfer world hard to find instant options to upgrade several key parts … and it didn’t work.
It’s not like the recruiting hasn’t been solid. Mark Richt brought in several good classes, and Diaz has been hammering hard, but there’s a bad-ass element missing, and that’s not just pining for the past.
The Turnover Chain is ridiculous when you’re going 6-7.
However, Diaz hit a home run with QB D’Eriq King from Houston. If he’s close to the 2018 version, all of a sudden Miami is a true player in the Coastal race.
Set The Miami Hurricanes Regular Season Win Total At … 8
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 9
The O line still has to prove it can block someone, the skill parts are almost all brand new, and three killers are gone from the linebacking corps.
Be careful analyzing these Hurricanes as the season goes on – they should be a good team that fattens up on a schedule full of empty calories.
There’s no Clemson on the slate, and it’s nice to miss Louisville, too.
The road games at Virginia and Virginia Tech are dangerous, and going to Michigan State isn’t going to be easy, but there’s no excuse not to hit at least eight wins with this schedule.
No, this isn’t going to be a vintage Hurricane powerhouse team, but if King is King, demand that it gets to the ACC Championship for the second time in four years.
