Virginia over Miami Hurricanes in ACC Coastal by The Athletic

In another round of predictions for the ACC Coastal Division in 2019, The consensus from the national college football writers for The Athletic project the Miami Hurricanes to finish second in the division.

Virginia is the consensus choice by The Athletic to win the ACC Coastal Division in 2019. The Cavaliers would be the seventh different program to win the Coastal Division in the last seven years. Pittsburgh was the ACC Coastal Champion last year. The Miami Hurricanes advanced to their only ACC Championship game in 2017.

Miami alum Bruce Feldman is the only of the three national college football writers for The Athletic to project the Hurricanes to return to the ACC Championship Game in 2019. Feldman projects Miami to finish 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the ACC. He has Virginia and Virginia Tech one game behind the Hurricanes at 8-4, 5-3.

Miami will host Virginia Tech and Virginia to begin October and the home portion of the ACC schedule. The Hurricanes won at Virginia Tech in 2018 and lost at Virginia. Virginia is the trendy pick in the ACC Coastal this season. Virginia Tech lost a ton in the transfer portal and is coming off their losing season since 1992.

The discussion about the Miami Hurricanes came before Jarren Williams was named as the starting QB on Monday. Mandel began by asking Feldman to discuss what to expect from Diaz in his first season as head coach and how offensive coordinator Dan Enos can turn Williams into a legitimate starting QB.

"“I think we’d be remiss if we didn’t ask our resident Miami expert what ‘Canes fans can reasonably expect in Manny Diaz Year 1. I’m cautiously optimistic, but a lot’s riding on Dan Enos to turn one of those QBs into a legit starter.BF: I do like the hire of Manny Diaz — he’s really smart and he understands what made that place special but they are a ways away from being a legit threat to Clemson or being a real Top 10-caliber team, especially offensively. I’m not sure they have a Qb they can count on and the O-line needs a lot of work.They have some talent at wideout and in the front seven but I’m not expecting them too much from them for the next two years. That said, their schedule is really suspect. Florida’s good but UF is trotting out a very green O-line.I don’t expect UM has enough offensively to win that but I think 9-3 and maybe 10-2 is possible but that says almost as much about the state of their division as it does about UM’s talent.”"

Having Williams at QB and giving the Hurricanes an extreme upgrade in the passing game will allow them to match Virginia and have a huge advantage at QB over Virginia Tech. The Cavaliers might have the best QB in the ACC Coastal in 2019 in Bryce Perkins. Improving the passing game is critical for Miami in 2019.

Williams was named the starter largely because of his accuracy and ability to get through his progressions quickly. How fast he develops and the level of his play will go a long way towards determining the success of the Miami Hurricanes in 2019.