Miami Preview From the Other Side

The #8 Hurricanes blow into town this weekend for Saturday night’s 7:30 kickoff on ESPN and we took some time to talk with CanesInSight beat writer Trinton Breeze to talk Miami football.

After some agonizingly closed losses last season, the Canes have come out of the gate hot behind WSU transfer QB Cam Ward and a strong portal class to start the season 4-0.

“I think the Canes turned the corner because the Canes already had their close scoring battle against Virginia Tech, which was very scary,” Breeze noted. “So now we can say to ourselves we are better than that and that will make us more hungry to play better. 

“It’s truly amazing how much Cam upped his game after transferring to Miami. Honestly, he is behind an offensive line that is Top-10 in the country which at W-State he didn’t have, and that’s why he is truly showing out. Ward also upped his game by taking care of the ball on the ground as he has only fumbled once this season and has thrown only three interceptions. Canes fans could not ask for more from Ward. He also showed us he can play in tight games as you saw last week when the Canes had a thriller against Virginia Tech. The way that he just holds himself in the pocket so comfortably just makes him a special player. He takes his time and doesn’t get rushed. If he doesn’t have anything, he takes the check down, which is called being smart.

“Our offensive line is truly special. Everybody should know the name Francis Mauigoa. He will be a future first round draft pick and he has not disappointed. He’s by far the Canes' best lineman on offense, Miami was a little banged last couple of weeks with veteran OT Jalen Rivers sitting out a couple games, but could be returning this week for the California game, which will be huge for the Canes as the Golden Bears have got to the quarterback 9 times this season.

“On the defensive line the Canes were banged up with arguably the best edge in the ACC - Rueben Bain sitting out since the Florida game but is cleared to go against California this weekend. Tyler Baron, who was Bain’s replacement while he was hurt did not disappoint as he was leading the nation for sacks in Week 3 and 4 and has a total of 4.5 sacks this season which is good enough for 14^th in the nation in sacks. Overall the Canes' defensive and offensive lines are truly special and could be a big factor in the game this weekend.

“My concern is more on the defensive side of the ball. I know our offense can score and put up numbers, however, our run game has lacked this season or at least from our starters like Martinez. He has just been on a slow start as a Cane but hopefully he’ll get tons of carries and could get yardage this weekend.

“On our defensive side of the ball, my concern goes to our tackling and the Canes will go up against a harder running back with Jaydn Ott up next for Miami. It will be interesting to see how our tackling improves from last week with going up against one of the best running backs in the ACC.”

4 to watch on offense:

• QB Cam Ward
• WR Xavier Restrepo
• OL Francis Mauigoa
• RB Damien Martinez

4 to watch on defense:

• EDGE Rueben Bain
• LB Francisco Mauigoa
• LB Wesley Bissainthe
• SS Meesh Powell

Wrapping up, head coach Mario Cristobal has had a rep for not quite living up to his teams’ talent and Wilcox’s Cal teams often played give the Miami head coaches teams trouble but he’s built up plenty of good will with the Cane’s fan base so far.

“I cannot speak for everybody because everyone’s got different opinions but I would say 97% of Hurricanes fans really love Mario Cristobal,” Breeze noted. “He came back to his school and has already brought in two top-10 recruiting classes and we saw he can recruit in the portal.”

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