Miami football gets a big jump in both AP and Coaches polls

The Miami football team continued its march to get back into the top ten after a 31-17 win over FIU on Saturday. The Hurricanes climbed five spots in the AP Media Poll and four spots in the USA Today Coaches Poll to 16th in the country.

The Miami football team’s steep rise in the polls this week probably had a lot to do with the performance of Redshirt Freshman quarterback N’Kosi Perry. Perry came on in relief of Redshirt Senior Malik Rosier and led the Hurricanes to all 31 of their points.

The voters in both polls probably have more confidence going forward with Perry leading the Hurricanes offense instead of Rosier. Canes Warning summarized Perry’s blazing start in Miami”s third victory.

"“Perry came in and was on fire from the beginning. He completed his first ten passes and finished 17 of 25 for 225 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. His hot start was incredible as he was accurate and zipping in passes with his big, strong arm. The seven of 15 finish is a bit concerning.”"

Miami is one of three ACC teams in the AP Top 25 and four in the Coaches Poll, They are the top-ranked team in the ACC Coastal and the second highest ranked team in the ACC overall. Clemson is the only ACC team ahead of the Hurricanes in the polls. The Tigers are second in the Coaches Poll and third in the AP Poll.

Virginia Tech plummeted in the rankings after an inexplicable loss at Old Dominion on Saturday. The Hokies fell out of the AP Poll and are 24th in the Coaches Poll. VaTech was 13th in the AP Poll and 10th in the Coaches poll last week.

Duke entered the polls for the first time since 2015. The Blue Devis are 22nd in the AP and 23rd in the Coaches Poll. The last time Duke was ranked they were knocked out of the polls after losing to the Miami football team in what was dubbed the Miracle in Durham. The Blue Devils were also 22nd and 23rd at that time as well.

The games against Duke and Virginia Tech could be Miami’s two biggest games remaining on their schedule. The Hurricanes host Duke on November 3 and travel to Blacksburg November 17 to play Virginia Tech. If the Hurricanes can defeat the Hokies they are a virtual lock repeat in the ACC Coastal.

It’s hard to see Duke winning the Coastal. Miami has improved immeasurably since the season-opening loss to LSU. The Hurricanes detractors will point out that their wins came over Savannah State who is headed to Divison II next season, Toledo and FIU.

The fact is that Toledo won a very tough MAC Conference in 2017 and FIU is improving quickly under Butch Davis. Miami went out and did what was expected of them after a lackluster game against LSU.

Now the conference season begins. The Hurricanes host North Carolina in their first ACC game of 2018 on Thursday night. Miami then gets ten days off before Florida State invades Hard Rock Stadium on October 6. They have two huge statement games to keep the momentum going from the past three weeks.