Miami put on a show for family weekend, treating the home crowd to a 62-0 shellacking of Ball State. The offense, led by another standout performance from quarterback Cam Ward, was firing on all cylinders. The defense, meanwhile, absolutely stifled the Cardinals on the ground and through the air.
As the ’Canes continue to build chemistry and momentum ahead of a road date against Southern Florida, here are three takeaways from Saturday’s more-than-convincing win.
The pass-catching group is as deep as it is talented
Saturday’s air attack centered around Jacolby George and Xavier Restrepo, who combined for 156 yards and three touchdowns. But the Hurricanes spread the ball around, as 12 different players caught at least one pass. Nine of those players amassed at least 20 yards, and five topped the 50-yard mark.
With players like Sam Brown Jr. and Isaiah Horton making an impact early in the season, and talented players like freshman Joshisa Trader even further down on the depth chart, Miami’s receiver room has the potential to become a nightmare through the air.
The run game needs to get going
As good as Miami’s offense looked on Saturday, the ground attack struggled for much of the game. At the end of the first half, the ’Canes had eight attempts for 16 yards. The offensive line — which lost starter Anez Cooper to an injury early on — struggled to get push or open holes early on.
The run game started to heat up as the game went on, and, thanks to some late-game reps from Ajay Allen and Jordan Lyle, Miami finished the game with nearly 250 yards on the ground. But that was late in a blowout win, so it may be taken with a grain of salt.
Winning teams have to be able to control the pace of play via the run game. It hasn’t hurt the team so far, but as the schedule toughens up, the Hurricanes will need to do a better job of establishing a consistent ground game with running backs Damien Martinez and Mark Fletcher Jr.
This defense has all the makings of a special group
The season is still young, but Miami’s defense has been absolutely dominant in the early going, culminating in Saturday’s shutout.
Miami’s recipe for defensive success has been the same in all three games: ferocious defensive line play that sets the secondary up to make big plays. It’s worked to near perfection thus far, as the Hurricanes have racked up 12 sacks while picking off opposing quarterbacks six times.
Miami’s clicking on both sides of the ball, and it’s showing. But the scariest part for opposing teams is that this isn’t even the ceiling. If the run game can find its footing and the defense can bring back injured defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr., the Hurricanes have the potential to be one of the most dangerous teams in college football.