The Miami football team ran 250 yards versus Miami (Ohio) in the season opener in its best performance against an FBS opponent since rushing for 293 yards versus Pittsburgh in a 24-3 win in 2018. Miami had 36 carries for three touchdowns versus Miami (Ohio). Four different Miami running backs had at least 38 yards.
Henry Parrish led Miami with nine carries for 90 yards and a TD. True freshman Mark Fletcher had nine carries for 76 yards and a TD in his collegiate debut. Ajay Allen had nine carries for 47 yards in his Miami debut after transferring from Nebraska during the offseason. Don Chaney ran eight times for 38 yards and a TD.
Friday night was the first time Miami ran for over 200 yards since rushing for 217 in a 35-14 win at Georgia Tech in 2022. Prior to Georgia Tech in 2022, Miami last ran for over 200 yards when they posted 220 on the ground at Duke in 2021. Miami faces a huge step up next week versus Texas A&M.
Miami had nine runs of 10 or more yards versus Miami (Ohio). The Hurricanes finished 87th nationally in 2022 with 51 runs of 10 or more yards. Parrish led Miami with four carries of 10 yards or more. Fletcher had three runs of 10 or more yards and Allen and Chaney had one each.
Creating explosive plays is critical for Miami in 2023. The nine runs of at least 10 yards on Friday night produced 161 yards rushing. That was 64.4 percent of the rushing total. Texas A&M is a big step up in talent, but the Aggies struggled to stop the run in 2022 and too frequently allowed big rushing plays.
Miami ran 36 times for 178 yards in 2022 at Texas A&M. Parrish had 16 carries for 85 yards versus the Aggies. Jaylen Knighton had 14 carries for 77 yards. Parrish had a long run of 20 yards versus Texas A&M in 2022. Texas A&M at the Miami Football team will kickoff at 3:30 PM ET on ABC on September 9.