The Miami Hurricanes face their third consecutive tough defense when Georgia Tech travels to Hard Rock Stadium Saturday. Georgia Tech leads the ACC in total defense and is seventh nationally.
The Miami Hurricanes will be able to match Georgia Tech’s defense with what has thus far been a very productive offense. Miami ranks fifth in the ACC and 27th in the nation in total offense.
The Yellow Jackets defense is stingy against both the pass and the run. Their 158.3 passing yards allowed per game ranks first in the ACC and 11th in the nation. Georgia Tech allows 101.8 yards per game on the ground. That’s fourth in the ACC and 15th in the country.
Malik Rosier has carried the Miami Offense at times this season. He very likely to have to do that again versus Georgia Tech. The Hurricanes cannot afford for the running game to become stagnant again.
Miami’s running game struggled during their four-game losing streak in 2016. The Miami run game has struggled offensively the last two weeks. The Hurricanes needed a 40 yard run by Travis Homer late in the victory over Duke to make their stats look respectful.
Taking out Homer’s run against the Blue Devils lowers the Miami average below three yards per carry. They had 34 carries for 99 yards other than the touchdown run by Homer. Florida State limited the Hurricanes to 83 yards on 29 carries.
If Homer and his backups are unable to generate a running game it will allow the Yellow Jackets pash rush to pin their ears back and get after Malik Rosier. Miami will be missing right guard Navuaghn Donaldson who is out with an unspecified injury.
In addition to Donaldson, the Hurricanes offense will be missing running back Mark Walton who is out for the season after ankle surgery and wide receiver Ahmmon Richards. Richards suffered a recurrence of a strained hamstring he suffered during training camp in August.
Aside from an extremely poor first half against Florida State, Malik Rosier has been outstanding succeeding Miami’s All-time leading passer Brad Kaaya. Rosier has thrown for 1,074 yards with 11 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Rosier has done it by using a deep wide receiver core. Fourteen different receivers have caught passes this season for Miami. Rosier has developed a good rapport with seniors wide receiver Braxton Berrios and tight end Christopher Herndon.
Berrios has been the Hurricanes most consistent receiver this season. He has at least 30 yards and a touchdown this season. On the season he has 18 receptions for 282 yards and five touchdowns. Herndon has had an up and down season. He thrived against Toledo and Florida State but struggled against Bethune-Cookman and Duke.
They are going to likely have to try and use the pass to set up the run. If they are able to run against Georgia Tech the majority of the carries will likely fall to Homer. The rest of the running backs are largely inexperienced.
Next: Georgia Tech Miami Hurricanes FB Live Streaming and Game Info
Georgia Tech’s focus will likely be stopping the Miami passing game. The Miami Hurricanes crowd should come out fired up. The win over Florida State has the fan base hopefull for big things this season. The offense should be able to feed off the energy of Hard Rock Stadium.