On Saturday, September 13 Florida college football will take center stage. The #5 Miami Hurricanes will host the #18 South Florida Bulls in a rare ranked matchup between the two schools. South Florida is 2-0 and is coming off of back to back wins against ranked opponents. They started the season defeating #25 Boise State and are coming off a big win against the #13 Florida Gators after a game winning field goal by Nico Gramatica . Miami looks to stop the Bulls hot streak and put this seasons under dog story to rest. The Hurricanes are also 2-0 and look to be one of the best teams in the country to start the season. They are coming off wins to national champion runner up Notre Dame followed by a week 2 routing of Bethune Cookman. This is Miamis first ranked matchup with a Florida school besides UF and FSU in its 99 year history.
Last year these 2 teams met in Tampa with Miami coming away with the win 50-15.
Previous Meetings (Last 3)
2012: Miami 40, South Florida 9 (Miami Gardens)
2024: Miami 50, South Florida 15 (Tampa)
2013: Miami 49, South Florida 21 (Tampa)
The Hurricanes enter this years matchup as -17.5 point favorites. They will rely on strong defense that look to contain South Florida’s dual threat QB Byrum Brown. Brown has started off the season with 473 yards passing and 109 rushing yards. The Canes will need to bring pressure with their dominant Defensive Line to rattle Brown in the passing game as well as contain him on scrambles and design runs. New defensive coordinator Corey Heatherman has implemented an aggressive style that seems to fit the athletes at The U. Although still early the defense seems to be in line with what is expected.
USF Bulls rank 30th in the country by allowing just 11.5 points per game on defense. They held DJ Lagway last week to a 58.8 QBR and an Interception. We will look to see if they can match up with Miami’s weapons. The Bulls will have their hands full with the Canes offensive explosion. The offense of Miami has scored 72 points this season led by QB Carson Beck and his plethora of talent at the skill positions. Freshman WR Malachi Tony has been an instant impact , leading the team in receiving yards this season. LSU transfer CJ Daniels has also been a standout leading the team in Touchdowns with 3 . If the O Line can hold up look for some big plays in the passing game.
Cristobal’s message remains that he wants his team to focus on “being where your feet are.” An emphasis on being present and seizing the opportunities in front of you.“If you don’t prepare, you’re going to get your butts kicked,” Cristobal mentioned. “In this particular case, there’s absolutely nothing to say. … We practice a certain way, we prepare a certain way, and we’ve got to get a hell of a lot better to accomplish the stuff we want to accomplish.
Returning to the field this week will be RB Jordan Lyle, WR JoJo Trader, and DL Armondo Blount. All 3 missed the Bethune Cookman game, but have been full participants through the week of practice and expect to play.
