CORAL GABLES, Fla. _ For the Miami Hurricanes football team, the Friday night pre-game ritual is almost always the same. The team has dinner together. Players then split up and go to either offensive or defensive team meetings. Once those are done, they come together once more, this time to relax, usually by watching whatever college football game is on TV.
And so, last week, Miami's coaches and players got a real-time look at the team they would face in eight days _ Syracuse. What they saw was an Orange team that moved quickly, capitalized on opportunities and notched one of the biggest upsets of the season, a 27-24 win over defending national champion Clemson, a heavy favorite entering the game.
If Miami coach Mark Richt had any concerns about his players taking not Syracuse seriously because of the Orange's struggles in recent seasons or the fact the two programs haven't met in years, he didn't after that game. Syracuse did a nice job of making sure it wouldn't be taken lightly when it takes the field Saturday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium.
"I would hope that we would be ready no matter what, but you can't deny what happened," Richt said. "I don't have to explain in anything to anybody how good these guys are. It's very evident. ... Our guys (watched) it live and saw for themselves what was about to come up this weekend. I didn't have to say anything."
For the Hurricanes, one of the challenges against the Orange (4-3, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) is figuring out a way to keep pace with Syracuse, which runs an average of 86 plays per game. Although South Florida's heat and humidity may be on Miami's side against an upstate New York team that plays indoors, the Hurricanes also know they can't afford to start slow, as they did in their past two games.
Yes, Miami (5-0, 3-0) was able to put together thrilling, last-second drives to beat both Florida State and Georgia Tech, but falling behind against Syracuse will be less than ideal. The Orange jumped to a 14-7 lead of Clemson last Friday and while the Tigers rallied _ thanks in part to a defensive touchdown _ they never managed to grab the lead.
"This offense, if you watch them, they're very explosive. As slow as we've been starting the first couple halves the last two games, we can't let that happen again," Miami quarterback Malik Rosier said. "These guys ... I think the first two drives, they wound up putting 14 on Clemson. So these guys can score. They can score fast. They can score at any moment. We have to be able to keep up with them. We have to be able to score. We have to be able to put pressure on them."
Three reasons for Syracuse's offensive efficiency? Quarterback Eric Dungey and receivers Steve Ishmael and Ervin Phillips, who have combined for 15 touchdowns between them. Dungey ranks fifth nationally in completions per game (26.8), sixth in points responsible for (122) and seventh in total offense (352.3). His two top receivers, meanwhile, have accounted for 1,371 of Syracuse's 2,395 receiving yards.
Miami will counter with Rosier, who will try to avoid the streakiness he showed early against both the Seminoles and Yellow Jackets. Still, in his five starts, the quarterback has completed 59.1 percent of his passes and ranks fourth in the ACC in total offense (304 yards per game).
Travis Homer, who made his first start last week in place of injured running back Mark Walton, had a career-high 170 yards against the Yellow Jackets and showed he's a viable threat to both run and catch the ball.
Meanwhile, Miami could get a boost with the possible return of former Freshman All-American receiver Ahmmon Richards, right guard Navaughn Donaldson and safety Sheldrick Redwine, all of whom missed last week's game against Georgia Tech while dealing with various injuries.
Having all of them at their best could go a long way to helping the Hurricanes get past Syracuse and remain unbeaten in its push for a berth in the ACC Championship Game.
"I think we've shown resiliency. We haven't lost, yet. We have no quit in this team. Our faith is strong and we come out here and work every day," defensive end Trent Harris said. "And each week we're going to get better and better."
