Miami Hurricanes 2023 season preview: Game 5 Georgia Tech
After a four-game out-of-conference stretch to open the 2023 campaign, Mario Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes host Georgia Tech at home for their opening Atlantic Coast Conference matchup of the year on Oct. 7.
Heading into the game, the Hurricanes will be plenty rested against the Yellow Jackets, coming off their first bye week after facing Temple in game 4, and will hope to earn their third consecutive win over their ACC foe at home inside Hard Rock Stadium.
Last season the Hurricanes downed the Yellow Jackets 35-14 in Atlanta, but will face a much different squad this time around under head coach Brent Key, who led Georgia Tech to a 4-4 record as the interim head coach last year.
This season the Yellow Jacket offense will look a bit different after losing former starting QB Jeff Sims in the transfer portal and adding former Texas A&M quarterback Haynes King (1,220 yards, 7 TDs, 6 INTs in six games), who will battle in fall drills against Zach Pyron for the starting job under center.
Miami (Ohio) game 1 preview … Texas A&M preview … Temple preview
Additionally, the Yellow Jackets have been forced to deal with the losses of WR Nate McCollum (team-high 60 catches, 655 yards, and 3 TDs) to North Carolina and top RB Hassan Hall (team-high 555 yards). Looking to replace McCollum will be Malik Rutherford and Alabama transfer Christian Leary.
In the backfield, the trio of Dontae Smith, Louisville transfer Trey Cooley, and sophomore Jamie Felix should make things interesting for a team that rushed for 132.7 yards per game last season, which ranked 90th in the country.
Along the offensive line, Georgia Tech returns five linemen who started at least five games last season, which could potentially be a difference-maker for Key’s offense heading into the 2023 campaign.
On the opposite side of the ball, it will be a heavy task to replace their top two leading tacklers (Charlie Thomas and Ayinde Eley) from 2022 along with NFL second-round draft pick Keion White, but the Yellow Jackets have a host of athletes looking to step up.
With transfer linebackers Andrew White (Texas A&M) and Braelen Oliver (Minnesota) joining the program in the spring, the Yellow Jackets hope to get similar levels of production from the two Power Five linebackers who come in with plenty of experience.
Behind the linebackers, the Yellow Jackets lost CB Zamari Walton (36 tackles and an INT) to Ole Miss in the transfer portal but return All-ACC Safety LaMiles Brooks, who had 52 tackles, 2.5 TFL, and 3 INTs, as well as DBs Myles Sims (43 tackles), K.J. Wallace (46 tackles, 3 TFL), and Clayton Powell-Lee (48 tackles, INT).
Although Miami is presumably the favorite heading into this matchup against Georgia Tech, don’t be surprised if this game is closer than some expect. The key to this contest should be focusing on not overlooking Georgia Tech with the Canes’ contest against North Carolina scheduled for the week after but instead on the task at hand.
This matchup against the Yellow Jackets should be a good gauge of where things stand with the Miami squad as they head to Chapel Hill for a battle with the Tar Heels.
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