The No. 12 Miami Hurricanes (9-2, 5-2 ACC) head into Pittsburgh to play the No. 22 Pitt Panthers (8-3, 6-1 ACC) with their season on the line.
A win gives Miami a glimmer of hope to sneak its way into the postseason, ending the season with four straight wins and back-to-back 10 win seasons. With the stakes at an all-time high, the Hurricanes will need to continue to play their best football against a Pitt team riding high.
The Panthers have won six of their last seven games, with their only blip being a 37-15 loss against No. 9 Notre Dame. With the Fighting Irish and the ‘Canes neck-and-neck in the College Football Playoff rankings, an impressive win in necessary for Miami to have any hope of sneaking into the postseason.
While Panthers’ coach Pat Narduzzi downplayed the importance of their matchup against Notre Dame, that is not the mentality from the team going into their game against Miami.
Pitt can claim a trip to the ACC Championship game for the first time since 2021 with a win against the ‘Canes and a loss from either No. 18 Virginia or No. 21 SMU. A loss to Miami and its playoff hopes are gone. As we saw last week in its dominant 42-28 win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Pitt can cause many problems and force an upset.
Pitt dominated the game in several ways, but more than anything, its offense dominated on the ground. Freshman running back Ja’Kyrian “Boosie” Turner entered the game with 414 yards and left it with 615. With 201 rushing yards, Turner gashed through the Yellow Jacket defense with speed, and with Miami coming off letting up its most yardage on the ground of the season at 194, Pitt could present some problems there. But the Hurricanes, their defensive leader Corey Heatherman, are well aware of the issues from last Saturday and are determined to not let them spiral.
“That was our worst tackling game of the year,” Heatherman said. “Just fundamentally and technique-wise we have to do a better job of trusting those fundamentals to play the way we want to play.”
Turner is a type of back that the Hurricanes have struggled with throughout the season, a smaller elusive scat back with speed. Miami’s linebackers and defensive backs need to take smart angles and rally to the football if Turner is able to get to the edges.
If fully healthy, Miami could be in for a game against a great backfield with Desmond Reid, another potential threat. The sophomore back is a great receiver and even had a game with 155 receiving yards this season. He’s been out since Pitt’s loss against Notre Dame two weeks ago, but if healthy, he and Turner could present a variety of problems for Miami.
During his press conference, Heatherman also pointed out that many of the Hurricanes’ missed tackles came on the quarterback. While true freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel isn’t the same runner as Kyron Drones, he is a great scrambler in the pocket and can take off when it’s needed.
Reuben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor need to constantly put pressure on Hentschel and bring him down when he’s in the grasp. That is very possible for the Hurricanes to accomplish. Pitt has dealt with injuries across its offensive line this season and last week; while they were able to manage, they allowed six sacks to Georgia Tech.
While it wasn’t a problem against GT, Heintschel often holds onto the ball for long periods of time, and Notre Dame was able to take advantage of that in their dominant win over Pitt. The Irish sacked Heintschel four times, constantly pressured him, and held him to 126 yards, including a pick-six.
Against ND, the Panthers got down early, preventing them to get their rushing attack going. When defenses are unable to rattle Heinstchel or prevent him to play complementary football between the coverage and pass rush, he can easily pick the Hurricanes apart. Since becoming the starter, Heintschel has gone 6-1 and turned this Pitt season around with his combination of poise, out-of-structure creation, and accuracy.
Miami’s pash rush is going to need to get home and with sophomore Justin Scott coming off a 2.5 sack game himself, Miami can collapse the pocket from all angles around Heintschel and rattle him. While he can dominate as a passer, Miami needs to eliminate the run game and put it all on Heintschel and that rocky offensive line to drop back and pass and let their defensive line go to work.
On the offensive end Miami is going to need to build off of the last couple of weeks and get their offense rolling early. After its rough middle of the season, where Miami struggled to come out firing as an offense, these last two weeks UM has clicked in the first half to start out strong.
In the first halves of their last two games, Miami has scored 44 points, and has thrown everything at teams early. Another new wrinkle we’ve seen has been the increased involvement from Elijah Lofton.
The sophomore tight end was touted for his versatility, and it hasn’t been seen consistently until these last two weeks. The numbers aren’t eye-popping or out of this world, but his only two touchdown receptions have been from these past two weeks, and he’s also gotten a couple of carries.
It’s just one small piece in an offense that has shown a lot of expansion and freedom. Outside runs with true freshman Girard Pringle Jr. as he’s caught on with the offense, the increased usage of Malachi Toney wildcats and passes, and the usage of more trick plays and more shots downfield—all of it has come together to make this offense more explosive and aggressive to start games.
This Pittsburgh team is going to give the ‘Canes plenty to worry about, and that is mainly from the play of its elite linebacker core. Pitt has three guys with over 65 tackles, and its leader has been Rasheem Biles. The junior has 11.5 tackles for loss, and between snagging a pick-six or coming down in the run, he’s athletic, fast, and physical. Hurricanes’ offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson has taken notice of how Pitt and this group play.
“They’re going to run through you, and they play with an air of confidence and cockiness that most good defenses play with. And so, the physical part of the game we have to match.” Dawson said.
That physicality shows up in the stat sheet too; the Panthers allow the 11th fewest rushing yards per game at just 98.7, and they’ve allowed more than four yards per carry in just three games this year. Pitt commits to trying to stop the run, and so many teams are forced to air the ball out against them.
Teams attempt about 35 pass attempts per game against the Panthers, but there isn’t much success, allowing just a 62% completion rate and just about 237 yards per game. Where they have been exceptional has been in forcing turnovers from opposing quarterbacks.
The Panthers have 14 interceptions on the year with nine different players taking the ball away, and even more impressive, that trio of linebackers each have two. Carson Beck right now is playing his best football, completing 79.5% of his passes and throwing for eight touchdowns to zero interceptions. He’s gotten in a groove just as this offense has, and it’s been noticeable from head coach Mario Cristobal.
“We’re certainly getting—we’re finding a rhythm offensively right now, and it’s a combination of a lot of things, and [Beck’s] a big reason why, and I mean, there’s no substitute for repetitions.” Cristobal said.
Beck’s played clean ball for large stretches of this season, but the turnovers have come in bunches for Beck, with multiple games with two or more interceptions, and he needs to play a clean game. Miami’s offensive line has held up phenomenally this year, and Beck will have all the time in the world to pick apart the Pitt defense. Though the Pitt run defense is daunting, Miami is going to need to play a balanced game to set up the quick passing game and play action game that Beck thrives on.
Miami’s X-factor and force multiplier has been the best player on the offense, and that is Malachi Toney. Despite week-in and week-out teams game-planning for him, Beck has managed to find him consistently, and the true freshman has made plays at every chance he’s gotten. More than ever, it’ll be important for Miami to find him at every possible opportunity. Even though teams are game planning for him, Toney is always on the field, a tool that helps Shannon Dawson get creative with him.
“He’s in there every play, and so they can’t necessarily tell when we’re going to do all these things,” Dawson said. “So that allows us to be a little more creative because I’m not subbing the guy on the field with a special skill. What makes him special is he can do all the other stuff.”
With that uncertainty of where he’ll be or what he’ll be doing, Miami can surprise the Panthers wherever Toney pops up in the formation. If he and Beck continue to click, Miami can get rolling early and help take pressure off the run game to balance things out as the game progresses.
The Hurricanes have their backs against the wall. Even with a win there is no guarantee that Miami makes the playoffs, but their hopes vanish entirely with a loss. The question is can this Miami team handle the pressure? Having played many big games in his career coming over from Georgia, Beck understands the pressure and circumstances and is ready to face it.
“Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Just take every single day as its own day,” Beck said. “Just go play by play and execute each play and try to have more positive plays than negative plays and stay consistent and be explosive.”
While the ACC championship hopes still linger, this in all likelihood will be Miami’s last chance to prove to the committee that they belong in the college football playoff. And as coach Cristobal says himself, there’s only one test that matters, the field test.
“100% believer, and as football has always been in the field test,” Cristobal said. “We’re playing a great football team that is fighting for the exact same things that we are. And you have to be at your best from a preparation and practice standpoint.”
Miami’s final regular season game is set for 12:00 p.m. EST at Acrisure Stadium and will air on ABC.
