The Miami football team plays their 2021 home opener against an Appalachian State defense that has not allowed a team to score 30 points in its last 14 games. A 45-37 victory by Appalachian State over Louisiana in the 2019 Sun Belt Championship game was the last time the Mountaineer defense allowed 30 points.
Incredibly, Appalachian State held opponents 36 percent under their scoring average during the 14 game streak. Appalachian State defeated East Carolina 33-19 in their season opener last week. The Pirates averaged 30.2 points per game last season. East Carolina was held to 381 yards of total offense after averaging 402.7 in 2020.
After going three and out on their first drive of the game, East Carolina went 80 yards in six plays on its second drive to take a 6-0 lead after the missed extra point. The Pirates had only two drives of more than 35 yards the remainder of the game. The Miami football team has to get back to making explosive plays as they did in 2020.
The first East Carolina TD last week was a 63-yard pass play. Miami’s longest play against Alabama was a 29-yard touchdown pass from D’Eriq King to Xavier Restrepo that cut the Crimson Tide lead to 41-10 after the extra point. Miami had 32 plays of 30 yards or more in 2020 which was 14th nationally.
Appalachian State allowed opponents 21 plays of 30 yards or more in 2020. Four different East Carolina players had plays that went for 29 yards or more last week. Miami has to put pressure on the Appalachian State defense with the potential to break a few big plays. Expect to see more passing attempts downfield.
Charleston Rambo was added as a transfer from Oklahoma to create more consistency in the deep passing game. Rambo had nine receptions of 15 or more yards and three of 25 or more in 2020. In 2019, those numbers were 16 and 12. If Rambo can return to his 2019 form, the Miami offense can still become dangerous.
Expect the Miami offense to play more aggressively than it did against Alabama. When the Hurricanes and Mountaineers played in 2016, an 80-yard TD run by Mark Walton on Miami’s first play from scrimmage set the tone early. If Miami can get a big play early to get the crowd into it quickly the offense can feed off of that.