The Miami Hurricanes are one win away from their first perfect regular season since 2002. Defeat Pittsburgh and that will be a reality.
Maintaining focus a week away from the ACC Championship Game against Clemson will be a difficult task for Mark Richt and his staff to relay to the Miami Hurricanes. Miami has won the last two games in the series.
Pittsburgh has only one win in the 11 meetings with Miami. The Panthers won 35-23 in 2014 at Hard Rock Stadium. Their previous win over the Hurricanes was in 1997 when the two were Big East Rivals.
Pittsburgh has had a down season. After playing in the Pinstripe Bowl last season, winning at Clemson and defeating Penn State, the Panthers have slid to 4-7 in 2017. Pittsburgh finished October with back-to-back wins against Duke and Virginia, They have since dropped their last two games.
After having the nation’s tenth best scoring offense in 2016, Pittsburgh has fallen significantly in 2017. The Panthers averaged 40.9 points per game last season, just 23.9 points per game this year. Their defense has improved from 35.2 points per game allowed last season to 27.7 this year.
It’s a dangerous game for the Hurricanes. It’s the second week in a row that Miami will be facing a team on national television that doesn’t get many chances to do that.
This is Pittsburgh’s last game of the season, Senior Day and a chance for them to make their season. Miami needs to come out with a sense of purpose from the opening kickoff.
For the second straight week, the Hurricanes will face one of the ACC’s worst rushing offenses. The Panthers average 148.2 yards per game on the ground. That’s 12th in the ACC.
The Panthers have a lot of playmakers in the passing game and on special teams. Quadree Henderson is Pittsburgh’s Swiss Army Knife. He is an outstanding all-purpose player.
Henderson has 1,102 all-purpose yards this season. He ranks ninth in the country with an average of 12.9 yards per punt return with two touchdowns. He also averages 20.6 yards per kickoff return.
The Panthers quarterback play this season has been erratic. USC transfer Max Browne is out for the season with a knee injury. That leaves Ben DiNucci or Kenny Pickett as the starter.
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Whoever is under center has some playmakers to throw to. Rafael Araujo-Lopes leads Pittsburgh with 41 receptions and averages 12.9 yards per catch.
Jester Weah is one of the nation’s most explosive receivers. He is 31st nationally averaging 17.7 yards per reception. He leads the Panthers with 618 yards and four touchdowns.
Defensively the player to watch for Pittsburgh is linebacker/defensive back Oluwaseun Idowu. He is tied for ninth in the ACC with 11.5 tackles for loss and has added five sacks.
Game Info (Courtesy of Hurricanesports.com)
Friday, November 24, 2017
12 p.m. ET | ABC
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Heinz Field (68,400)
#2/#2 MIAMI HURRICANES (10-0, 7-0 ACC)
HEAD COACH: Mark Richt (Miami, 1982) | CAREER: 164-55 (17th season) | AT MIAMI: 19-4 (second)
PITTSBURGH PANTHERS (4-7, 2-5 ACC)
HEAD COACH: Pat Narduzzi (Rhode Island, 1990) | CAREER: 20-17 (third season) | AT PITTSBURGH: 20-17 (third)
On the Air:
Television (ABC)
• Bob Wischusen (play-by-play)
• Brock Huard (color)
• Allison Williams (sidelines)
Flagship Radio (560 WQAM)
• Joe Zagacki (play-by-play)
• Don Bailey, Jr. (color)
• Josh Darrow (sidelines)
Spanish Radio (990 ESPN Deportes)
• “Chamby” Campos (play-by-play)
• Jose Martinez (color)
Injuries:
Pittsburgh (Courtesy of Sports Reference)
| Max Browne | Out | Shoulder | Browne suffered a shoulder injury and underwent surgery to repair it. He is expected to miss the rest of the season. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Ford | Out | Undisclosed | Ford has been sidelined by an undisclosed issue and there is currently no timetable for his return to the field. |
| Anthony McKee | Questionable | Upper Body | McKee Jr. has been out of action with an upper-body injury and it is unclear if he will return Friday against Miami. |
| Malik Henderson | Questionable | Undisclosed | Henderson missed the last two games due to an undisclosed injury and it is unclear if he will play Friday against Miami. |
| Damar Hamlin | Questionable | Undisclosed | Hamlin missed the last game for undisclosed reasons and his status for Friday’s game against Miami has yet to be determined. |
| Matt Flanagan | Questionable | Leg | Flanagan sat out the previous two games due to a leg injury and it is unknown if he will play Friday against Miami. |
Miami (Courtesy USA Today):
| 2017-11-12 | Charles Perry | LB | Perry sustained a left lower-body injury and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. | out for the season |
Weather (Courtesy of Google)
Pittsburgh, PA
Friday
Sunny
51
°F | °C
Precipitation: 0%
Humidity: 45%
Wind: 8 mph
The weather will be very mild in Pittsburgh for late November. It’s going to be a lot colder than the majority of the Miami Hurricanes are accustomed to, but it could be a lot colder. The irony is that Miami is built better for the cold weather than Pittsburgh. The Panthers struggle to run the ball and allow 154.8 yards on the ground per game.
Next: Miami Hurricanes need to eliminate slow starts
Miami is going to have to do a better job of establishing the run early than they did last week against Pittsburgh. Travis Homer ran for 96 yards on 17 carries last week against Virginia. All be six of those yards came after halftime. If they can establish the run, they should be able to be in control throughout.