CBS Sports College football writer Chip Patterson projects the Miami football team to finish 9-3 overall, 5-3 and in third place in the ACC Coastal Divison in 2020.
The Miami football team has had a lot of buzz in the offseason with the drastic changes made on offense. Those changes have led CBS Sports College Football writer Chip Patterson to project the Hurricanes to have three more wins in 2020 than they had in 2019 and finish 9-3 overall and 5-3 in the ACC Coastal Division.
Patterson has Miami’s ACC Coastal Divison rivals North Carolina and Virginia Tech tying for the division title at 7-1 in the conference. Patterson has the Tar Heels defeating the Hokies in Chapel Hill to give them their first ACC Coastal Divison title since 2015 when UNC lost to Clemson in the title game.
Miami will host North Carolina on October 24 and play at Virginia Tech on November 14. The Hurricanes lost to both teams last season. Patterson projects Miami losses to the Tar Heels, Hokies and Florida State. After getting off to a 6-0 start to begin the season, Patterson has those three losses in Miami’s last six games.
Patterson acknowledges the impact that graduate transfer D’Eriq King will have at QB but question marks on the offensive line and in his estimation at the other skill positions bring the Miami football team down. It was surprising that the addition of new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee was not discussed.
"Miami (9-3, 5-3)Wins: Temple, Wagner, UAB, at Michigan State, Pitt, at Wake Forest, at Virginia, at Georgia Tech, DukeLosses: North Carolina, Florida State, at Virginia TechAnalysis: The hype around former Houston starting quarterback D’Eriq King makes Miami one of the most fun teams in the country to discuss and follow, but there are still plenty of questions and concerns even a few layers beneath the surface.King is an electric playmaker, but the skill positions lack consistency and experience while the offensive line brings back experience but from a group that underperformed in 2019.Defensively, they’ll have one of the best pass rush tandems in the nation but the back-end of the defense needs to step up its play so Gregory Rousseau and Jaelen Phillips can have time to get to the quarterback.I’ve got the hype peaking after a 6-0 start to the season, with division rivals and Florida State getting the best of the Canes late in the year."
Miami will be mostly inexperienced at wide receiver in 2020 other than senior Mike Harley. Juniors Dee Wiggins and Mark Pope are stepping into bigger roles in 2020 after being complementary players in 2018 and 2019. Wiggins showed explosiveness with three TDs in back to back weeks versus Florida State and Louisville.
Brevin Jordan at tight end and Cam’Ron Harris at running back give Miami experience. Jordan is entering his third season as a starter. Harris started two games last season and was the primary ball carrier in three games when Dee Jay Dallas was out with injuries. Harris showed he can handle being the primary ball carrier.