Miami Hurricanes upset by Appalachian State too far from CBS Sports

When the Miami Hurricanes played in Boone, North Carolina in 2016 there was talk about an upset by Appalachian State. Miami scored touchdowns on their first three drives on their way to a 45-10 victory. The Hurricanes will host the Mountaineers in September and upset talks have already started.

Miami defeated Appalachian State in 2016 when the Mountaineers were led by Scott Satterfield who is now at Louisville. The Mountaineers are two head coaches removed from Satterfield. Shawn Clark who was the co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in 2016 is now the Appalachian State head coach.

Miami stifled the Appalachian State offense in 2016. Manny Diaz was his third game as Miami defensive coordinator on that sunny fall day in Boone. The Hurricanes held the Mountaineers to 276 yards of total offense, had 12 tackles for loss and three sacks. App State had to use a short field for their only touchdown.

Miami is not expected to take Appalachian State likely with the Mountaineers coming off of a 9-3 season. With the Hurricanes hosting the Mountaineers a week after they play Alabama, Ben Kercheval of CBS Sports believes that Miami could have a trap game against Appalachian State in week two.

"Ben Kercheval: Appalachian State over Miami (FL) (Sept. 11)“I fully believe Miami knows what it’s getting into when it hosts the Mountaineers in Week 2 — but it comes at an advantageous time. The Hurricanes will be down off of a Week 1 adrenaline rush against Alabama.App State is perfectly sandwiched between that game and a Sept. 18 home matchup against Michigan State for the ‘Canes. That’s a prime spot for a letdown. But make no mistake: Appalachian State returns a quality team, perhaps one of the best in a pretty deep Sun Belt East division.Camerun Peoples, fresh off a record-breaking bowl performance, leads one of the conference’s best running back groups. Head coach Shawn Clark, a longtime OL coach, is ready and willing to slow things down, lean on the big uglies and make life hard for the Hurricanes.That should take the pressure off of App State’s new quarterback, perhaps veteran ACC guy Chase Brice, to make all the plays. Miami should be a fun team with QB D’Eriq King — assuming he’s fully recovered from his ACL injury — but App State is in a good position to pull the upset.”"

Peoples ran for 1,124 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. Miami returns nine starters on defense. Early in the season, Miami is more likely to struggle to generate a pass rush with Jaelan Phillips and Quincy Roche now in the NFL. Miami is familiar with Brice. Brice transferred from Duke following the 2020 season,

Brice previously backed up Trevor Lawrence at Clemson. Brice was 20-25 for just 90 yards and had nine carries for zero yards. The Miami Hurricanes dominated Duke to earn their first-ever ACC road shutout 45-0. The Hurricanes know what to expect from Brice. Diaz will devise a defensive game plan to make Brice beat them.

September 11 is likely to be the first game Miami plays in front of a full crowd in nearly two years. Diaz has already proven that he can successfully game plan for a Clark-run offense and Miami has a veteran team that should be ready for every game. Led by D’Eriq King the Miami Hurricanes should cruise to victory.