Miami Hurricanes 2023 season preview: Game 1 Miami (Ohio)

Dating back over the last five years, the Miami Hurricanes have not won consecutive season openers since 2017, but that is likely to change as UM kicks off the 2023 season against Miami (Ohio) Sep. 1 inside Hard Rock Stadium.

Under the guidance of first-year head coach Mario Cristobal in 2022, the Hurricanes got off to a great start in their opening contest with a 70-13 win over Bethune-Cookman and will hope to find similar success against the Red Hawks.

Last year, under ninth-year head coach Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio) finished the season with a 6-7 record and returns 14 of Martin’s 22 starters from the 2022 campaign.

One of those returners will be redshirt-junior quarterback Brett Gabbert, the younger brother of NFL quarterback Blaine Gabbert, who played in just four games last season due to a broken collarbone. Prior to his injury, Gabbert threw for 816 yards, with four touchdowns and zero interceptions. He is now fully healthy.

Some expect Miami (Ohio) to compete for a Mid-American Conference Championship with the fifth-year veteran quarterback Gabbert under center alongside a handful of offensive threats, including Notre Dame wide receiver transfer Joe Wilkins Jr., and freshmen Javon Tracy and Que Williams. Also returning for Miami is last season’s second-leading rusher, Keyon Mozze, who will look to surpass the 471 rushing yards he ran last season.

On the defensive side of the ball for Martin’s Red Hawks squad, nine players who started games last year return this season after ending last year as the conference’s top-ranked defense in 2022. Nationally, Miami (Ohio) had the 34th-best scoring defense in the country, allowing just 22.6 points per contest.

Standouts on the defensive side of the ball for the Red Hawks are DE Corey Suttle (6 sacks) and DE Caiden Woullard (4 sacks), who will look to cause issues on the edge for the Hurricanes’ offensive line. At linebacker, Mathew Salopek (124 tackles) and Dominic Nardone (17 tackles) will look to fill the void left behind by Ryan McWood, who led the team with 134 tackles.

At defensive back, Miami (Ohio) will return both starters from last year Ambe Caldwell (37 tackles 5 PBUs) and Jacquez Warren (63 tackles 2 INT), while at cornerback, two new faces TJ Rush and Jalen Peterson are the projected starters heading into the fall.

While this contest may not be a walk in the park – as some might expect – the Hurricanes should be able to handle business against the Red Hawks and get the 2023 season underway on the right foot heading into a major matchup against Texas A&M.

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