ANALYSIS: Top 3 toughest offenses the Miami Hurricanes will face this season
Today we are breaking down the top three offenses the Miami Hurricanes will face this season. With new coordinator Lance Guidry on board, these will be the programs that probably will keep him up most at night.
TOUGHEST OFFENSES MIAMI WILL FACE
3. vs. CLEMSON, Oct. 21
The shine has come off this elite Tigers program the last couple of seasons with an offense that’s struggled a bit and a team that’s not quite so dominant on the national stage. But this year, in a new Air Raid system under new coordinator Garrett Riley, we are ranking Clemson as the third-toughest attack the UM defense will face. A reason for that, in addition to the expectation it will be an improved Tigers offense, is that Miami also just doesn’t play a lot of teams with top-level attacks. And we consider FSU and North Carolina (the top two on this list) as pretty far above Clemson on this list. But back to the Tigers. Clemson hopes it can improve on its 410 yards and 33.2 points per game, and that will start with QB Cade Klubnik, a 5-star in the Class of 2022 who was the backup to DJ Uiagalelei until taking the reins after he was MVP of the ACC title game (a 39-10 win over UNC). In that game he threw for 279 yards on 20 of 24 completions with a TD and no interceptions, adding 30 yards and another TD on the ground. He then started the bowl game vs. Tennessee and threw for 320 yards and ran for 51 with a TD … but he was intercepted twice and the team lost, 31-14. Helping on offense is a lot of weapons back including four starting OL back as well as WR Antonio Williams off a strong freshman year (604 yard, 4 TDs) and star RB Will Shipley (1,202 yards, 15 TDs). Shipley is considered a Heisman favorite. The big losses here are to the NFL with WR Joseph Ngata (526 yards, 2 TDs), LT Jordan McFadden and TE Davis Allen (443 yards, 5 TDs). So there’s a lot of talent returning and a new offensive system that has people in Clemson, S.C. excited.
2. at FLORIDA STATE, Nov. 11
Coming off a breakout 10-3 season, the FSU offense will carry this team behind QB Jordan Travis, who is getting early Heisman Trophy Buzz after throwing for 3,214 yards with 24 TDs and five INTs while adding 417 rush yards and five more scores. This is a formidable attack that averaged 36.1 points and 484.2 yards per game (214.1 rushing). Other returners: the top talent at RB and WR is back led by Trey Benson (990 rush yards, 9 TDs) and WR Johnny Wilson (897 yards, 5 TDs). It also will help FSU that TE Jaheim Bell arrives in the portal via South Carolina – he’s a reliable pass catching option. And the line returns five players that started games and will also be helped by UTEP transfer Jeremiah Byers, who was considered one of the top tackles in the portal. FSU scored 40 or more points in seven games last season … for comparison, Miami did that once. And in the Seminoles’ final six games last year the attack really hit its stride, scoring 41, 45, 38, 49, 45 and 35 points (the latter In a 35-32 bowl win against Oklahoma). This will be a huge test for Lance Guidry and his group.
1. at NORTH CAROLINA, Oct. 14
This one will probably be the first major test of the Lance Guidry era at Miami. That’s because of the first five opponents, none are expected to feature an offense anywhere close to North Carolina’s. The two tougher games out of those five are Texas A&M and a middle-of-the-road Georgia Tech program, both which barely averaged over 20 points a game in 2022. UNC, meanwhile, averaged a high-flying 34.4 points and 462.8 yards last year. And it all starts with Heisman Trophy candidate Drake Maye. All the North Carolina QB did a year ago was compile 4,321 pass yards and 38 TDs with 698 rush yards and seven more scores). Lead back Elijah Green (558 yards, 8 TDs) returns, which will help. Oh, and did we mention that the OL has back four guys that have started and are all fifth-year players or older? Of note: This is a team that does have to deal with losing WRs Josh Downs (94 catches, 1,029 yards, 11 TDs) and Antione Green (434 catches, 798 yards, 7 TDs). UNC hopes that Georgia Tech transfer Nate McCollum (655 yards, 3 TDs) and Kent State transfer Devontez Walker (921 yards, 11 TDs) can help pick up the slack. The team also has a new coordinator in Chip Lindsey with Phil Longo gone to Wisconsin, but the passing scheme has not changed. We expect UNC to have a lot of high-scoring games, similar to last year, with the expectation that the offense will again have its way most of the time but the D having a lot of question marks.
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