Next Saturday, the Miami Hurricanes will face another worthy opponent, the South Florida Bulls, at Hard Rock Stadium. The Bulls are coming into Canes territory riding on an emotional high, by upsetting the number thirteen team in the land, the Florida Gators, 18-16, on a dramatic field goal, which ended the contest in favor of the upset-minded Bulls. Both teams will enter next week's matchup unblemished.
For the Miami Hurricanes, the South Florida Bulls are definitely an opponent that the Canes must respect. If the Hurricanes are to be taken seriously regarding program relevance and national recognition, the game against South Florida must result in a Canes victory. Entering into this crucial competition, both teams are desiring to come up on top of this game for varying reasons.
The Hurricanes would love to secure a victory to 1) Silence critics, who doubt the program's consistency in winning the crucial games they should win. 2) Recapture the program's identity. 3) Continue the program's quest to sustain its top five ranking.
On the other hand, South Florida would like to "make a statement" to the nation that their win against the mighty Florida Gators was "no fluke". A win against the fifth-ranked Miami Hurricanes could propel the South Florida Bulls into national notoriety and spotlight the program has not experienced since the days of former head coach, Willie Taggart, who helped coach the program to its best and highest ranking in the polls, when Taggart led the Bulls to an eleven-win season, along with a bowl victory and nineteenth-ranking in the polls, at the end of the 2016 season.
The Miami Hurricanes will become battle-tested by game's end, next Saturday. There is not any doubt the Hurricanes are capable of winning this early season matchup. Thus far, in this new season, the Canes have answered the critics with a tremendous victory once before, but can the Hurricanes continue "answering the bell" once again?