Miami football record expectation when Hurricanes play Clemson

The Miami football team will play at Clemson October 10 in what is undoubtedly going to be the Hurricanes toughest game on the 2020 schedule. What will Miami’s record be entering the game against the Tigers?

The Miami football team begins the season September 10 when they host UAB. The Hurricanes follow that up nine days later at Louisville and host Florida State September 26 before a week off preceding their game at Clemson October 10. What can we expect the record for Miami to be heading to Clemson?

ESPN gives Miami a 66.1 percent chance of winning the season-opening game against the Blazers. UAB is in its fifth season under Bill Clark who his 34-19 after the program had a two-year hiatus. The Blazers were 9-5 in 2019 led by their defense. UAB allowed 21.6 points per game to rank 28th nationally in 2019.

Some analysts will see the game at Louisville a week later as a trap game. The Miami football team crushed the Cardinals 52-27 at Hard Rock Stadium in 2019. Louisville is one of the up and coming programs under Scott Satterfield. Louisville was 31st in 2019 averaging 33.1 points per game.

The Cardinals defense was 109th allowing 33.4 points per game. Playing on the road the game should be much more difficult for Miami in 2020. Louisville is in their second year under Satterfield and returns their top three players. ESPN projects the Cardinals as having an 83 percent chance to defeat the Hurricanes.

"First loss: Hurricanes fans aren’t going to like this one bit, but that second game of the season at Louisville doesn’t set up well for Miami. The Hurricanes have lost consecutive trips to Cardinal Stadium and this year’s matchup comes before Miami hosts Florida State.Not saying Miami will lose focus, but in a game pitting evenly-matched teams, this one favors Louisville and oddsmakers will likely agree."

The above summary came from 247Sports who agree with ESPN about the first loss of the season for Miami occurring at Louisville week two. If Miami can stay focused and the offense has another game similar they had against Louisville last season the Hurricanes have an excellent chance to defeat the Cardinals on the road.

Miami will host Florida State week three attempting to win their fourth in a row against the Seminoles. ESPN uses its Football Power Index to measure the chance a team has to win a game. Miami is penalized this season for not having their starting quarterback returning even though they have upgraded with D’Eriq King.

Florida State is projected to have a 68.2 percent chance to defeat Miami at Hard Rock Stadium in 2020. The additions of King at QB, Quincy Roche at DE, Jarrid Williams at right tackle and Jose Borregales at kicker through the transfer portal are all key additions that should help Miami late in games in 2020.

Miami should winner the opener against UAB and defeat Louisville and Florida State or split the two games at worst to enter the Clemson game 2-1. If Miami begins 2-2 in 2020 there will be a lot of upset Miami fans. At home against Pittsburgh, at Virginia Tech and home against North Carolina are the toughest remaining games.