The news just keeps getting worse and worse for the Miami Hurricanes. A team that has not been able to win a single ACC Coastal Division championship is trending in the wrong direction well before the season has even started.
Strengths
The Hurricanes’ superstar player is running back Duke Johnson, who missed portions of last season with an injury and wasn’t able to post the huge numbers the Hurricanes need from him. Johnson is a threat to score on any play in which he touches the ball. He is extremely fast and is a terror in the open field. The Hurricanes want to be able to get him in open space in addition to working him occasionally between the tackles. When Johnson is playing, he makes an impact. Last season, he averaged a whopping 6.3 yards per carry, and in 2012, that average was 6.8. The high yards per carry average is a product of two things, one of them positive and one of them negative. The positive factor is that Johnson was able to break a huge run more constantly than a lot of other running backs in the country. The negative part is that he didn’t accumulate enough carries due to injuries. The lack of carries ironically propped up his average. Had Johnson carried the ball 100 more times, his overall average would have gone down, but that would have meant that he was getting steady work in every game. With Johnson not playing in every game, though, Miami stood at a clear disadvantage. If Johnson is in good shape and can stay that way, however, the Hurricanes will have a chance to do big things. They’re strong at linebacker and have the ability to contain opposing offenses if they can get more help from their defensive line.
Weaknesses
The Hurricanes are hurting very badly at quarterback. Miami watched Ryan Williams go down with an injury in the offseason. Kevin Olsen has been hurt as well, though he participated in a recent practice. One quarterback who was held out of practice this past Monday, August 18, was Jake Heaps, a transfer from Kansas who had previously played at Brigham Young without much success. Heaps had trouble processing the game and reacting to various situations. He had hoped that upon coming to Miami at a later point in his snake-bitten college career, he would receive a fresh start and could have used his hard-knocks experiences at BYU and Kansas to his benefit. However, Heaps has needed to “rest his arm,” according to Miami officials. The Hurricanes don’t have any fully healthy quarterbacks, at least among their top three options. If this team can’t find a reliable and healthy quarterback in time for the start of the season, they’re in trouble, especially because they start with a conference game.
Schedule
That conference game on opening night comes against Louisville on the road. Miami also has to go through Florida State, a longtime rival which is in full glory at the moment. Miami has to win at home against Duke if it wants to have any real shot at winning the Coastal Division.
Outlook
The Hurricanes are in trouble. The lack of healthy quarterbacks is such a complete and widespread crisis that there seems to be no really good solution… other than hope that Duke Johnson wins the Heisman with an incredible, off-the-charts season.
Pick: Under 7.5 +125
