Savannah State at Miami Hurricanes: Game Information

The Miami Hurricanes will heal against FCS Savannah State in the home opener on Saturday. The Tigers lost their season opener 52-0 at UAB last week.

Coming off an extremely disappointing loss to LSU in the season opener the Miami Hurricanes will get momentarily better in Saturday’s game against a much more inferior Tigers team than the Tigers they played last week.

The Miami Hurricanes will be without wide receiver Ahmmon Richards and defensive end Demetrius Jackson. Richards will likely be replaced in the starting lineup as the X-receiver by Senior Darrell Langham. Richards missed significant portions of the loss to LSU with the injury.

Starting Sophomore slot receiver Jeff Thomas stepped up last week and had five receptions for 132 yards. That was more than a third the number of yards he had all of 2017. Another player to watch in the passing game is Freshman Brian Hightower. He had a spectacular 32-yard touchdown reception.

Jackson has been listed as a backup. His snaps are likely to be split by Freshman Gregory Rousseau and Junior Scott Patchan. Neither Patchan or Rousseau got on the scoresheet against LSU.

Savannah State was pummeled in their season opener at Alabama-Birmingham. The Blazers dominated in virtually every aspect of the game. The Tigers gave up 548 total yards and managed only 178.

When Savannah State is on offense any success they are likely to have will come on the ground. They were an astonishingly bad one for 17 passing for 23 yards with two interceptions. Their running game did mildly well. Savannah State gained 155 yards on 38 carries.

Four Tigers shared the load on the ground. They were led by Rashad Sexton with seven carries for 46 yards, Jaylen McCloud’s 12 attempts were the most. He finished with 43 yards. Two other Tigers had at least 37 yards rushing.

UAB ran 83 plays last week. That gave many Savannah State Tigers a chance to make plays on defense. Isaiah Bennett led them with nine total tackles and one and a half tackles for loss.

Miami and Savannah State have only played one other time. The Hurricanes set a school record for points in a 77-7 victory. The Hurricanes amassed 637 yards of total offense in the victory.

Game Information (courtesy HurricaneSports.Com):

"#22/#21 MIAMI HURRICANES (0-1, 0-0 ACC)HEAD COACH: Mark Richt (Miami, 1982) | CAREER: 164-59 (18th season) | AT MIAMI: 19-8 (third)SAVANNAH STATE TIGERS (0-1, 0-0 MEAC)HEAD COACH: Erik Raeburn (Mount Union, 1994) | CAREER: 6-16 (third season) | At Savannah State: 6-16 (third)"

After appearing on ABC in primetime last Sunday night, Miami’s game against Savannah State will be on ACC Network extra. The only other Miami games that have received TV assignments for this season are next week against Toledo, North Carolina on September 27 and at Boston College October 26.

The game against the Tar Heels is on a Thursday night. The game at Boston College is on a Friday night. Those two will be on ESPN. The game against the Rockets will be on one of the ESPN family of networks.

On the Air

"Television (ACC Network Extra)• Drew Fellios (play-by-play)• Forrest Conoly (color)Another great way to watch college football is on FUBOTV.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)Student Radio (WVUM 90.5 FM)• Michael McCoy• Evan Siegel• Max Trink"

The weather should not be a factor on Saturday night. Tropical Storm Florence appears to be heading North of South Florida according to the Sun Sentinel.

Accu Weather Forecast for Saturday at 6 pm ET in Miami Gardens

"82°/78°RealFeel® 89°/85°Mainly clearWinds from the SW 5 mphPrecipitation: 25%Rain: 0 inHumidity: 84%Cloud Cover: 25%Dew Point: 74° FVisibility: 10 mi"

The weather is going to be perfect for a big turnout for the home opener. It’s tough to get excited about Savannah State, but the Hurricanes could use a boost from an animated home crowd. Miami then goes on the road to the Glass bowl next week.

The Hurricanes return home for their final regular season non-conference game of 2018 against FIU on September 23. Miami has a quick turnaround for the ACC opener four days later against North Carolina at Hard Rock Stadium.