The 2-0 Miami Hurricanes travel to the 4-0 Duke Blue Devils for Miami’s ACC opener on Friday night. The game is the first Miami will play in Durham since their miraculous victory there two years ago.
The Miami Hurricanes visit to Durham, North Carolina on Friday night is Miami’s first game in Durham since the miracle eight lateral victory there in 2015. That was ironically the only start of Malik Rosier’s career before this season.
Rosier will make just the fourth start of his collegiate career on Friday night. That’s half of his career starts in Durham when the Hurricanes take the field Friday night.
Miami dominated Toledo in the second half last week. Trailing 16-10 at halftime, the Hurricanes outscored the Rockets 42-14 after halftime to earn the 52-30 victory. Mark Walton ran for 204 yards on 11 carries and Rosier threw for 333 yards and three touchdowns.
Duke has gotten off to their 4-0 start behind starting quarterback Daniel Jones. He has thrown for 904 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions through four games. Jones has run for another 182 yards and three touchdowns.
The Duke offense in more than just Jones. Running backs Shaun Wilson and Brittian Brown each have over 300 yards and have combined for seven rushing touchdowns. T.J. Rahming leads the Duke receivers with 24 receptions for 248 yards. He is seventh in the ACC in receiving.
The Matchup per HurricaneSports.Com:
#14/#13 MIAMI HURRICANES (2-0, 0-0 ACC)
HEAD COACH: Mark Richt (Miami, 1982) | CAREER: 156-55 (17th season) | AT MIAMI: 11-4 (second)
DUKE BLUE DEVILS (4-0, 1-0 ACC)
HEAD COACH: David Cutcliffe (Alabama, 1976) | CAREER: 100-90 (16th season) | AT DUKE: 56-61 (10th)
On the Airwaves (per Hurricanesports)
Television (ESPN)
• Dave LaMont (play-by-play)
• Mack Brown (color)
• Julie Stewart-Binks (sidelines)
Flagship Radio (560 WQAM)
• Joe Zagacki (play-by-play)
• Don Bailey, Jr. (color)
• Josh Darrow (sidelines)
Injuries According to College Football Reference:
Miami:
| Evidence Njoku | Questionable | Knee | Njoku missed the last two games with a hyperextended knee and his status for Friday against Duke is unclear. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Burns | Questionable | Shoulder | Burns missed the last two games with a shoulder injury and his status for Friday’s game against Duke is unclear. |
| Demetrius Jackson | Probable | Upper Body | Jackson has an upper-body injury but it is not expected to prevent him from suiting up against Duke on Friday. |
| Ahmmon Richards | Probable | Hamstring | Richards missed the last two games with a severely pulled hamstring but is likely to be available Friday against Duke. |
| Mark Walton | Probable | Ankle | Walton sprained his ankle in the last game but is expected to play Friday against Duke. |
Duke:
| Will Taylor | Out | Ankle | Taylor has an ankle injury and is without a timetable for return. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quaven Ferguson | Questionable | Foot | Ferguson missed the previous three games with a foot injury and his status against Miami on Friday has yet to be determined. |
The weather will be much milder in Durham than it was for last week’s home game at Hard Rock Stadium. Weather courtesy of Google.
Durham, NC
Friday 5:00 PM
Partly Cloudy
74
°F | °C
Precipitation: 0%
Humidity: 48%
Wind: 3 mph
Precipitation 0%
Wind 3MPH
The Miami Hurricanes should be in better shape on Friday night than they were against Toledo. The coaching staff thought their team was winded against the Rockets in the second quarter. Toledo had four scoring drives, but they yielded only 16 points.
Next: How did Miami Hurricanes Handle Time Off in Orlando?
The game is another step up for Miami. Duke brings in a very good defense. Miami was supposed to have a conference game under it’s belt before playing Duke. Their game against Florida State that was supposed to occur September 16 has been moved to October 7 at 3:30 PM ET.