After two disappointing losses, Miami will face perhaps its toughest competition of the season when it travels to Virginia to take on the Cavaliers.

Virginia sits at 7-1 on the season and 4-1 in the ACC, good for the conference’s best record and a No. 10 ranking. The Cavaliers’ only loss came in Tallahassee against the Seminoles. On Oct. 7 Virginia defeated Clemson 30-10 and also beat North Carolina 56-24 in its second game of the season. Its most recent victory was a 16-0 shutout of Maryland last week.

In order to stop Virginia, Miami’s defense will have to play better. The Cavaliers run the ball very well with two different running backs in Wali Lundy and Alvin Pearman. The two backs have combined for 1,354 yards on the season and 20 touchdowns, so the Hurricanes will have a tough time stopping them, as Miami has struggled against the run in recent weeks.

“They are a power team and they have a good quarterback and good receivers, so they can do a little bit of everything,” Head Coach Larry Coker said. “So I’m not sure what they will bring to the table for us.”

Cavaliers quarterback Marques Hagans has completed 66.5 percent of his passes for 1486 yards on the season.

Stopping the Cavaliers offense would be difficult for any team, but Miami’s defense has been struggling in recent weeks. To compound their problems, senior cornerback Antrelle Rolle missed practice on Tuesday and his status for the game is unknown.

“Devin will get the first shot at it and Marcus Maxey would step in as well. We have players there, but hopefully he will be able to play,” Head Coach Larry Coker said. “I do know if the game was today, he would not be able to play.”

The good news for the Hurricane offense is that the injury suffered late in the Clemson game to running back Frank Gore does not appear to be serious. Gore practiced on Tuesday and should be ready to go on Saturday.

“Gore looks good. He ran really well and took everything in practice today,” Coker said.

A major issue in this game for Miami will be confidence. After dropping two straight games, the Hurricanes have to show resilience against a formidable Virginia team. They also won’t have the friendly Orange Bowl crowd in this game.

“We need to get our swagger back by winning. I want guys to have fun and enjoy this experience, but I’ve never seen losing be enjoyable. It is all about winning,” Coker said.

If the Hurricanes can win the rest of their games, they would still have a chance to win the ACC. Right now, however, the Hurricanes just need to worry about winning one game to get back on track.

“The main thing is preparation and having guys being enthusiastic and interested in what they need to do on and off the field,” Coker said. “When we take the field, we need to be confident in what we can do.”

Darren Grossman can be contacted at d.grossman@umiami.edu.

QUARTERBACK – UM

Brock Berlin has played the best football of his Hurricane career the past four weeks, but he did not throw a touchdown in last week’s loss to Clemson. That must change against a tough Virginia team.

Marques Hagans is the type of mobile quarterback that can give Miami’s defense a problem. He has only thrown for five touchdowns, however.

RUNNING BACK – UVA

Frank Gore should be healthy enough to play after twisting his ankle in the Clemson loss. The Hurricanes need more production from Tyrone Moss.

Wali Lundy has rushed for 725 yards and 14 touchdowns this season. Considering how much trouble the Hurricanes have had with mediocre running backs, Lundy could have a career game.

WIDE RECEIVER – UVA

Berlin now has a bevy of passing options, as Roscoe Parrish, Sinorice Moss, Darnell Jenkins, Akieem Jolla, Lance Leggett, Kevin Everett and Greg Olsen are all reliable targets.

Heath Miller might be the best tight end in the country, and he is certainly better than any receiving threat Miami has. Virginia also has depth at the position, as three Cavaliers have 17 receptions this season.

OFFENSIVE LINE – UVA

This battered unit will have to put together a courageous effort to hold off the Virginia pass rush.

Elton Brown has been named ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week twice this season. Right Tackle Brad Butler is 6’8″, so the Hurricane defensive ends will have a tough time Saturday.

DEFENSIVE LINE – UM

The d-line did a better job of getting penetration against Clemson, but they still have to play a full 60 minutes of football.

Sophomore Ahmad Brooks, who plays both linebacker and defensive end, was named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week for his effort against Maryland, but the unit as a whole is not better than Miami’s.

LINEBACKERS – Even

The way our linebackers have been playing, a Pop Warner team would have the edge over them. They need to start staying home to stop the run, especially against Lundy.

I don’t know much about Dennis Haley and Kai Parham, but they can’t be any worse than the UM linebackers right now.

SECONDARY – UM

The secondary didn’t allow any touchdowns last week, but they still gave up too many big plays that set up scores. Antrel Rolle and the gang need to have a big game.

Both of Virginia’s safeties are seniors, but they are inexperienced at the corners, with a sophomore and freshman starting. UM’s receivers should have a good outing.

SPECIAL TEAMS – UM

I don’t know much about Virginia’s special teams, but I can’t imagine it having a better player than Devin Hester.

Safety Marquis Weeks handles the kick return duties, but I can assure you he is no Hester.

Sat. Nov. 20 Wofford TBA
Tue. Nov. 23 South Carolina State 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 27 Xavier 7:30 p.m.
Mon. Nov. 29 Florida Atlantic 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 04 at Florida 12:00 p.m.
Tue. Dec. 07 at Florida Int’l 7:00 p.m.
Sun. Dec. 12 Massachusetts 2:00 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 18 Stetson 4:00 p.m.
Thu. Dec. 23 Tennessee Tech 7:30 p.m.
Thu. Dec. 30 Appalachian State 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Jan. 02 Norfolk State 2:30 p.m.
Wed. Jan. 06 at Georgia Tech 7:00 p.m.
Sun. Jan. 09 NC State 4:00 p.m.
Wed. Jan. 12 at Virginia 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 15 Florida State 2:00 p.m.
Wed. Jan. 19 Duke 8:30 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 22 at North Carolina 8:00 p.m.
Wed. Jan. 26 Clemson 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 29 at Wake Forest 4:00 p.m.
Wed. Feb. 02 Virginia Tech 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 05 Maryland 3:00 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 12 at Clemson 12:00 p.m.
Tue. Feb. 15 Wake Forest 7:00 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 19 at Virginia Tech 7:30 p.m.
Tue. Feb. 22 at Florida State 6:30 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 26 Georgia Tech 4:00 p.m.
Thu. Mar. 03 at Duke 7:00 p.m.
March 10-13 ACC Championship TBA

While everyone seems to have low expectations for the men’s basketball team’s inaugural season in the ACC, the players and coaching staff are keeping their ears closed and focus narrow.

After losing one of the best players in school history, Darius Rice, to graduation and two key contributors, Armondo Surratt and Karron Clarke, to other schools, new Head Coach Frank Haith will have to use the pieces he was given after accepting the job in April.

Haith is not complaining about inheriting the athleticism and scoring ability of junior guard Robert Hite and sophomore guard Guillermo Diaz, two players who picked up the scoring burden when Rice was battling injuries last year. Hite and Diaz will be counted on to lead the charge on offense and defense.

Haith said Hite and Diaz are clearly the go-to guys on this year’s team, but they both have several elements of their games that need improvement.

“They’re both very talented, both very athletic,” Haith said. “Sometimes those are two scary words because they’re talented and athletic, but we want them to be good basketball players. We’ve spent a lot of time talking to each kid about being complete and being consistent. I think this team needs that out of them. They have to be good on both ends of the floor.”

Hite said he has a clear understanding of what Haith wants out of the Hurricanes this season.

“Defensively, we just want to get after it,” Hite said. “We want to make teams panic and rush. We want to contest every shot and keep them out of the paint. Offensively, we just want to get up and down the court and run. Last year we scored almost every time we ran in transition.”

While Hite and Diaz are tremendously talented players, they will not be able to win games in the ACC by themselves. Haith said senior forward Will Frisby and junior forward Gary Hamilton will be counted on to provide points in the paint.

“We’ve got to have collective scoring in the paint too from a number of guys,” Haith said. “I think Will Frisby, though he only hit one bucket [in the exhibition win over Barry], is a guy that can give us some offense in the paint. But if the other guys can get us six to eight points a night that will help us.”

Frisby said he is not at all intimidated by the post presences in the ACC, like Shelden Williams of Duke and Sean May of North Carolina.

“I don’t think those guys are any better than me or Gary,” Frisby said. “I think they may seem a little better because of the programs that they are in. They’re guys that are focused on; they’re go-to guys. I think they have no more talent than Gary or I have.”

Sophomore Anthony Harris will take over at point guard for the Hurricanes, and in the victory over Barry he scored 11 points, had four assists and committed only one turnover.

“Hopefully he can build on his performance the other night and not become settled with what he did,” Haith said. “But he did show that he has potential to be a really good player. My biggest thing with him is not looking for trouble. If he’ll play good defense and not turn the ball over and make open shots he’ll find his niche on this team.”

With key contributions from these five players and role players like forward Anthony King and guard Eric Wilkins, Haith expects the Hurricanes to be competitive throughout what is being called a rebuilding year.

“We’ve got to continue to get better,” Haith said. “Our schedule is pretty tough early. We play Xavier third game out and we’ve got Florida pretty early, so we’ve just got to continue to advance our level of intensity, which I think is getting better.”

Eric Kalis can be contacted at e.kalis@umiami.edu.