Is Miami football getting ready to flip the Florida State rivalry?

Oregon’s offense barely improved with Taggart from Mark Helfrich in 2016. The Ducks averaged 35.4 points per game in 2016, 36 in 2017. They moved up from 27th in the country in scoring to 18th. The Ducks finished 81st last season in scoring defense.

Taggart’s teams have never finished higher than 40th in the country in scoring defense. Only twice in his eight seasons as a Head Coach have Taggart’s teams finished in the top 20 in scoring. Both of those came in the last two years.

The Hurricanes are on the verge of a breakthrough. The Miami football program’s detractors will point to their three-game losing streak to end the season. They had to play those games without their top three offensive players entering the season.

Mark Richt did a remarkable job keeping them competitive against Wisconsin. The loss to Pittsburgh came in Rosier’s worst game of the season. The Hurricanes were simply overmatched against Clemson.

Having the game at home against Florida State in 2018 will be a big boost. The Florida State fan base ignorantly points to the fact they haven’t lost in Miami since 2004. Their record in Miami Gardens against Richt is 1-0.

Next: Miami football has great homefield edge under Mark Richt

If the game is at night it will magnify the electricity at Hard Rock Stadium. Under Richt, Miami is beginning to build a home-field advantage similar to what they had at the Orange Bowl. That should begin to show more often, especially in the rivalry games.