After two weeks of working and waiting for its next opportunity, Miami (2-2, 0-0) is finally set to open conference play Saturday at home against Coastal Division foe North Carolina.
The Tar Heels (4-1, 1-0) come to Hard Rock Stadium having won two of their last three. In its last outing, North Carolina totaled 527 yards of offense in a dominant 41-10 win over Virginia Tech and quarterback Drake Maye, a freshman, posted another big performance.
Maye, who has emerged as the ACC’s top passer early in the year, completed 26 of 36 passes for 363 yards and three touchdowns against the Hokies. On the season, he’s completed 70 percent of his passes and thrown for 1,594 yards and 19 touchdowns.
The Hurricanes know Maye poses a significant threat, especially given that Miami’s defense is trying to bounce back after giving up touchdown passes of 71, 69 and 98 yards against Middle Tennessee State.
Working to eliminate those kinds of big plays has been a focus during the bye, Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal said.
“Well, there were about four plays that resulted in about 315-plus yards. Explosive plays hurt us…Typically, explosive plays are the result of an offense making a big play or a bust on defense,” Cristobal said. “I don’t know if things have to be rehashed, in terms of whether a guy got beat or we didn’t communicate well enough. It’s the same stuff. It hasn’t changed in two weeks, in terms of what actually happened. More important is what have we done going forward to address it…assessing it, attacking it, with practice, with a plan. A form of communication, technique work, scheme work, [and finding] ways to help our guys be in situations where they can be successful has been the answer and the approach for us.”
Another area the Hurricanes say they’ve prioritized improvement on during the bye? Finding ways to score quickly and not put themselves in an early bind.
In three of its first four games, Miami has found itself playing from behind, with opponents scoring first. Middle Tennessee, in particular, jumped to a 24-3 lead that proved too much for the Hurricanes to overcome.
That can’t happen against a team like North Carolina, Miami’s players acknowledged.
They – and Cristobal – said the issue has been addressed.
“Players have gotten together and said ‘Man, what can we do to start fast? It’s something we need to do between us, talk to the coaches about and see if there’s something we can come to…
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