Opinion: An Undefeated Miami Hurricanes Will Win The ACC
This is not the same old Hurricanes hype everyone has placed on the team for the past 20 years. Everything in college sports has changed, and no program reacts better to change than a Mario Cristobal one. With an expanded playoff system, additions of new teams into the ACC, an extra bye week, and a relatively light schedule, the Canes will win the ACC and go undefeated.
First, if you haven't noticed, the roster is loaded.
A dark horse Heisman candidate in Cam Ward, a dark horse offensive line for the Joe Moore Award, the best wide receiver room in the ACC, and one of the best backs in the country in Damien Martinez and the emerging Mark Fleatcher Jr will lead this team to be one of the most productive offensives in the nation. The tight ends for Miami will be used and not as decoys and when balanced out, they have the best offense in the ACC and a top-10 offense in the country just on production alone.
It's not just the new addition on offensive that gives the Canes the ability to go undefeated.
Sophomore Ruebain Bain Jr will be the most destructive player in the trenches for the Canes, and he has only gotten in better physical and mental shape. That's not the only name that should worry most teams because there is much more than just him. Fransico Mauigoa, Tyler Barron, Simeon Barrow Jr., Elijah Alston, and Ahkeem Mesidor will rotate all over the front seven. Last season the Canes had a top 25 run defense and a top 50 passing defense. The addition of Mishael Powell from the Washington Huskies will change that 50 to somewhere in the top 25.
The combination of a top-10 defense and offense smells like a national championship but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
The strength of schedule the Hurricanes have will get them to an undefeated season as well.
First, The Canes will not see Clemson this year. Now, this is not a notion that if the Tigers were on the schedule it would be an automatic loss. Miami went on the road with freshman quarterback Emory Williams and defeated them in double overtime last season. It was also the breakout game for Bain as he was tossing some of the best linemen in the country around like a practice bag. The only games Miami could be worried about are the back-to-back games against Louisville and Florida State. This is where Miami's schedule comes into play.
Miami will be coming off a bye week after traveling across the country to play against one of the newest additions to the ACC the California Bears. The Cardinals, on the other hand, will be running on fumes because the Canes would be their fourth straight game before their bye week. The Cardinals could be crawling into that game while the Canes will have some needed rest after a tedious trip to the West Coast. Then come the Seminoles.
FSU will still be on the road heading into Hard Rock Stadium. They will have had their bye week two weeks prior and be traveling after a presumable "victory" against Duke. Last season was a close game with some very questionable calls from the refs (those were safeties), but that could all change with this version of the Canes. Also, remember that Williams was starting to heat up after his performance against Clemson before suffering his season-ending injury. Once Tyler Van Dyke was reinserted into the lineup, the winning probability suddenly decreased for the Canes and the team lost 27-20.
There are still teams that can't be dismissed like an emerging Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. VT will be interesting because of the fun family battle between the two top QBs in the ACC with Ward and cousin Kyron Drones. However, if you don't think Miami will come out and pour it on after the mismanagement in last year's game against the Yellow Jackets, then you don't know Cristobal and his staff.
READ MORE: Family Competition Between Two Rival School Quarterbacks in Cameron Ward and Kyron Drones
The Hurricanes will remind the country why they are one of the premiere powerhouses in college football and year three under Cristobal will only be the beginning for the University of Miami.
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JUSTICE SANDLE