Miami football ranked 19th in 2020 power rankings

The Miami football program is ranked 19th in the power ratings released by the College Football News last month.

There is a lot of optimism surrounding the Miami football program entering the 2020 season. Staff changes on offense and additions to the roster via the transfer portal have Miami entering the 2020 season with the goal of playing in the ACC Championship Game. ACC Divisions have been eliminated for the 2020 season.

The first goal for Miami each season is to win the ACC Coastal Division and build on other goals from there. Miami will now be competing with all 14 of their ACC rivals including Notre Dame for two spots in the ACC Championship game. The College Football News is high on the ACC for 2020 with six teams ranked in the top 20.

Miami is 19th with Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Notre Dame ranked 18th through 15th and Clemson second. Being ranked 19th is a good sign where Miami is at nationally. The Hurricanes will have a chance at all of the ACC’s ranked teams by the College Football News except Notre Dame.

Those rankings also show what is usually the perception that the ACC Coastal division is weak is drastically changing. Every ACC team that is ranked except Clemson and obviously Notre Dame plays in the Coastal Division during a normal season. The rankings from the College Football News were examined by 247Sports.

What the experts say

"19. Miami HurricanesCollege Football News: “Miami Quick Take: This is making a few big, BIG assumptions. Assume Houston transfer QB D’Eriq King will take the offense from awful to good, and assume everyone around the program will be able to get things going considering how hard the region has been hammered by the coronavirus.The defense has the talent to be great, and the offense won’t be anywhere near as bad.247Sports: The first of a handful of teams in the ACC behind heavyweights Clemson and Notre Dame with a shot to make noise this season, the Hurricanes return arguably the conference’s most talented group of pass rushers and now have a QB who’s expected to bring stability to a position of extreme importance."

D’Eriq King at quarterback is a huge reason surrounding the optimism for the Miami football team to improve in 2020. King will run the offense with plays being called by new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee. Lashlee is changing the Miami offense to run an up-tempo spread that will better utilize the talent in South Florida.

The defense should be great as mentioned by CFN publisher Pete Fiutak. Greg Rousseau returns after recording 19.5 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks as a redshirt freshman in 2019. Miami adds Quincy Roche who was the best pass rusher available in the transfer portal and the AAC Defensive Player of the Year.

Roche had 19 TFLs and 13 sacks for Temple last season. Rousseau and Roche will be backed up by Jaelan Phillips who Miami added through the transfer portal from UCLA in 2017. Phillips was the top recruit in the nation in 2018. King and the pass rushers were the primary points of focus from 247 Sports.

Having a QB who can lead and create problems for opposing defenses and a pass rush that can dominate an opponent’s offensive line is where every team has to begin in modern football. Being elite for Miami at those positions gives them a huge head start in most games in 2020. The schedule is challenging with Clemson an addition.