CFB Bits: Miami vs Florida State Preview.
#13 Miami (3-0) @ Florida State (1-2)
Saturday; 3:30 / ESPN
Miami -3
Over/Under 46.5
Saturday marks the 62nd meeting between these two rivals. Miami will try to break a seven game Seminole winning streak; tying the longest in the series. Mother Nature is threatening once again with Tropical Storm Nate churning north in the Gulf. This game was already postponed from September 16th due to Hurricane Irma hitting Florida earlier that week.
Miami is 3-0 after beating Bethune Cookman, Toledo and Duke. The Blue Devils were the first tricky test for the Hurricanes, but they passed it easily; 31-6. They have featured a balanced offensive attack; averaging 41 points a game. Quarterback; Malik Rosier, has completed over 65 percent of his passes for 820 yards and eight touchdowns with only two interceptions. Rosier has utilized many weapons. 15 different players have caught at least one pass, with six of them hauling in five or more. His main target is Braxton Berrios with 10 receptions and three touchdowns.
Running back; Mark Walton is one of the ACC's top backs with 44 carries for 403 yards and four touchdowns. The Miami offense is averaging 8.2 yards per play.
Florida State, on the other hand, has had its struggles on offense since they lost Deondre Francois. Freshman quarterback; James Blackman, looked promising in the loss to NC State, but struggled through much of the Wake Forest win. Granted, Florida State has faced above average defenses in two of their games and a great one in Alabama. The offensive line continues to have problems dating back to last year. Wake Forest set a school record 18 tackles for loss and five sacks last week. They must improve drastically against this Miami front seven. The Seminole offense has taken 12 trips to the red zone with only three touchdowns to show for it.
On paper, this looks like the Hurricanes should easily break the Seminole's win streak. But this is a huge rivalry game and anything could happen. You don't have to look further than the special teams play and the kicking game in this series. Florida State did Miami in last year with a blocked extra point to win, 20-19. Miami kicker; Michael Badgley is 4-5 in field goal attempts with a 53 yard attempt against Duke his only miss. Florida State's Rickey Aguayo kicked the game tying field goal against Wake Forest and is 8-10. The Seminole kickoff returns have averaged 31.6 yards with one return for a touchdown; (Keith Garvin). Miami hasn't been as productive, so far.
The big question in this game is how the Seminoles maligned offensive line handle the Miami defense and keep young quarterback, Blackman upright. Florida State will have to get a passing game going to open up the run game. They should give running backs, Cam Ayers and Amir Rasul more carries over Jacques Patrick because of their quickness and burst to attempt to overcome the Miami defense's ability to quickly fill running lanes. Miami has struggled defending the pass, so opportunity could be there if they protect Blackman.
This game will be the strongest test for Miami quarterback Malik Rosier by a considerable margin. The Seminole secondary is strong and improving with Tavarus McFadden and Levonta Taylor. Watch for short passes to Berrios and tight end; Christopher Herndon, to create space. Also watch out for Ahmmon Richards, who returned last week from a hamstring injury.
I'm going with the paper on this one. Miami is way overdue to beat Florida State, and the scenario couldn't be much better for them this year. The Miami defense against this offense is too much to overcome.
Miami 23-16
