No. 6 Miami hosts Central Michigan at 6:30 p.m. EST on Saturday. It will be the Canes first Saturday game of the season and they come into it as whopping 41.5-point favorites.
Here are three predictions for Saturday night.
1. Central Michigan finishes with fewer than 100 passing yards
The Chippewas do not throw the ball at all and this is a great opportunity for the Miami secondary to impose their will on the game. As a team, Central Michigan has completed only 21 passes for 138 yards this season. And the Chippewas have 0 touchdowns through the air, along with three interceptions. This will probably be the worst passing team that Miami faces all season, so the defense should have their way in this matchup.
Starting QB Angel Flores is 14 of 26 passing for 103 yards (0 TD, 2 INTs) on the season, but he is a major threat with his legs, and that deserves respect from the Miami defense. Flores has 60 carries for 312 yards and three rushing touchdowns. On the season, Central Michigan has rushed the ball 133 times for 658 yards (4.9 yards per rush) and six TDs.
2. Miami rushes for more than 200 yards
With CharMar Brown out for the rest of the season, and Mark Fletcher being banged up going into this game, there are more questions about the RB room than Miami fans would like to have.
But the matchup against Central Michigan is still favorable, and OC Shannon Dawson isn't going to just abandon the run game. Central Michigan currently allows 153.3 rushing yards per game, and the RB position has plenty of depth than can take advantage.
Fletcher is projected to play, but if he doesn't get the bulk of the carries, Javian Mallory, Girard Pringle Jr. and Jordan Lyle (who is set to play for the first time this season) should be able to take on the challenge.
3. Cooper Barkate scores two or more touchdowns
Earlier in the week, Darian Mensah singled out Vandrevius Jacobs and Somourian Wingo as wide receivers who could be in line for more work after Joshua Moore was ruled out for the rest of the season. Not to say that his projection is wrong, but Cooper Barkate is the player to look out for on Saturday.
Barkate has 10 catches for 96 yards and two touchdowns this season, which is slightly below the expectations he came into the season with. He scored at Stanford (four catches, 67 yards) and against Florida A&M (two catches, 16 yards), but was quiet against Wake Forest with four catches for 13 yards and no scores.
Malachi Toney should be spectacular again (despite also being banged up from the Wake Forest game), but it's time for Barkate to step up and Dawson will try to get him going early.
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