Miami's matchup in Week 6 just might be its biggest matchup of the season as the Hurricanes Tallahassee to face No. 18 Florida State in their first ACC game of the season. This was expected to be a matchup against two undefeated teams, but the Seminoles ended up losing against Virginia in Week 5 while Miami was on bye.
If Florida State had not lost to Virginia, ESPN College Gameday almost certainly would have been in Tallahassee. Instead, these two teams will just be battling it out on the field to potentially decide very early on in the season who the team in the ACC will be to beat.
Even with Florida State losing last week, the Seminoles are still going to be a tough team to deal with, especially quarterback Thomas Castellanos. The Boston College transfer has been pretty solid for the Seminoles so far this season and is a big reason for the offensive success, so if Miami wants to walk away with a win, they will have to find a way to shut him down.
While Castellanos certainly has talent and a great ability to run the Florida State offense, Miami's pass rush just might be too much for Castellanos, and the key to winning the game.
Miami's pass rush among the elite in the country
According to NCAA stats, Miami has the No. 13 total defense in the country, which is the highest-ranked defense among ACC teams. The Hurricanes also have the No. 8 defense when it comes to EPA (expected points added)/rush, giving Miami an elite pass rush. Finally, Miami has a 29.3% success rate on the pass rush, making it No. 9 in the country in that stat.
This pass rush is going to be the key to stopping Castellanos and forcing the Seminoles to find another way to win besides their star quarterback. Castellanos will either have to throw short passes to evade the pass rush and trust his receivers to make plays or give up the ball to his running backs and hope they make a play.
Ultimately, the Hurricanes can not let Castellanos beat them, and the stats of this defensive pass rush show they probably won't.