Athlon Sports recently broke down the Miami Hurricanes game-by-game for the 2013 season and the general consensus is somewhere between a 9-3 or 10-2 regular season, with losses coming to both Florida (9/7) and Florida State (11/2), as well as a possible ACC loss on the road at North Carolina on Thursday October 17th.
The writers who chimed in were Steve Lassan, John Castillo, David Fox, Ryan Tice, Braden Gall and Mark Ross – some who write for Athlon, while others are freelancers, sports writers or cover specific programs (re: Tice is a beat writer for NC State).
Some thoughts from the handful of writers, in no particular order. Some little nuggets and some painfully obvious stuff that fans already knew, but national writers are just scratching the surface on:
– Stephen Morris at quarterback and Duke Johnson at running back are obviously two of the nation’s best.
– The defense which allowed an average of 486.4 yards per game last year can improve if / when players like safety Deon Bush and linebacker Alex Figueroa fall into their roles.
– Lassan points out that Miami gets eleven days of rest before playing North Carolina in Chapel Hill, yet still predicts the Tar Heels beat the Hurricanes.
– Castillo, like the others, points out that the early part of the schedule is obviously favorable to UM, going Florida Atlantic, Florida, Savannah State, @South Florida and Georgia Tech – four of five games at home. Another obvious statement in stating that if Miami beats Florida, this is a top ten squad. If not, it’ll most-likely result in an 8-4 season.
– Offense will be even better than last year’s solid offense, but defense will again be huge downfall if the ship isn’t righted over there (duh!)
– Fox has Miami going 10-2 on the season, beating Florida and Florida State, but losing at home to Georgia Tech and on the road to North Carolina. Fox is the only writer calling for a win over the Gators and / or Noles. The other five beat writers pick Miami to lose both games.
– Gall states that even with the deep, competitive ACC Coastal and off-the-field turmoil for Miami, that there’s reason for optimism as last year’s underclassmen are a year older and wiser, that Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech head to South Florida and that had the Canes not had such a brutal out of conference schedule in 2012, UM could’ve easily been a 9-3 team, or better.
– Ross states that the in-conference swing games are North Carolina and Pittsburgh, and like most other writers still feels that the ACC Coastal is Miami’s for the taking.
Nothing earth-shattering with the piece, but it underlines that most feel Miami is primed for a return to semi-greatness this season, with the sky the limit if the Canes can topple the Gators early. The offense is expected to explode, while the defense returns ten starters, more experience and will again welcome some immediate-impact freshman who can help make a difference.
Clean things up defensively and Miami can definitely climb in the rankings as the 2013 season rolls on.
If D’ fense Coordinator can get a 75% clue on running a better defense than last year and quit having the defense end bunched in by the offense’s guard and center. The Canes Will win it all !!
Steve, a bit of a stretch, my man. If you really think the lone issue is the defense Mark D’Onofrio is running, versus the personnel, conditioning, overall culture and understanding of what it takes to be a winning program, not sure what else to tell you.
Let’s save all the “fire the DC” talk for December and let’s see what D’Onofrio can do year two with a little more talent and depth. It’s still green on that side of the ball, but if D’Onofrio is moving from the field to the booth, he has a little more faith in his player personnel than he did last season.