MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Miami’s offense is rolling. Georgia Tech’s defense is not.
In simplest terms, that’ll be the story when the 17th-ranked Hurricanes (4-0, 0-0) open Atlantic Coast Conference play on Saturday night against the Yellow Jackets (2-3, 1-1). Georgia Tech is coming off a 38-27 loss to Bowling Green last week, one that led to Kevin Sherrer being elevated to defensive coordinator.
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And that almost certainly means Miami will see looks from Georgia Tech that haven’t appeared on film yet this season. But the Hurricanes think they’re ready for any surprises.
“We’re systematic on offense,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “Yeah, we like certain things against certain things, but should we be in a situation where we do get some kind of surprise look schematically, rules take over. We’re built on rules. If something shows up that we haven’t seen, trust your rules and go execute.”
The rules are working. Miami enters the week with the ninth-best rushing offense in the nation at 222.5 yards per game — Georgia Tech ranks third-worst nationally in that department, giving up 224.2 yards per game — and the Hurricanes also have a quarterback in Tyler Van Dyke who is completing three of every four passes he throws.
Miami is coming off a bye, which gave the Hurricanes time to rest and heal. The Yellow Jackets went through a week of tumult after the Bowling Green loss; Sherrer was co-coordinator with Andrew Thacker, who now coaches the safeties.
“The thing about that game is it will affect the rest of our season,” Georgia Tech coach Brent Key said. “It’s our choice if it’s going to be good or bad. Is it going to affect us the right way or the wrong way?”
3 WITH 38
Miami has scored at least 38 points in all four of its games this season — after having just one such game last season. The Hurricanes are one of three teams nationally to score that many in every game to this point, joining USC and Oregon. The last season in which the Hurricanes had such a streak of scoring at least 38 was over the first five games of the 2002 campaign. Georgia Tech has allowed at least 38 points in all three of its losses this season.
KINCHENS RETURNS
Saturday marks the return of Miami All-American safety Kam Kinchens to the lineup. He was injured on a scary hit late in the Hurricanes’ Week 2 win over Texas A&M and was briefly hospitalized. “It’s a lot of excitement to be back out there with my family,” Kinchens said.
SERIES BREAK
Miami and Georgia Tech are playing for the 19th time in the last 20 seasons; the exception was the COVID-affected season of 2020. But the former Coastal Division rivals won’t face off in 2024, as part of the ACC’s new scheduling model. The series resumes at Atlanta in 2025, likely followed by a 2027 game in Miami Gardens.
MIDWAY THROUGH
This season is the sixth straight where Georgia Tech won’t have a winning record after six games. The Yellow Jackets will be 3-3 or 2-4 after Saturday; they were 3-3 in 2022 and 2021, 2-4 in 2020, 1-5 in 2019 and 3-3 in 2018. The last time they were over .500 after six games was 2017, when they were 4-2.
ALUMNI WEEKEND
The coaching matchup is one of graduates: Key is the fifth Georgia Tech alum (joining William Alexander, Bill Fulcher, Pepper Rodgers and Bill Curry) to coach the Yellow Jackets, and Cristobal is the sixth alum (joining Mark Richt, Randy Shannon, Fran Curci, Walt Kichefski and Eddie Dunn) to coach the Hurricanes.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll