Miami Football: 5 takeaways from Hurricanes’ 2017 regular season

The Miami football program took a big step in the right direction in 2017. Here are my five takeaways from the ‘Canes 2017 regular season.

Miami was a preseason 18th-ranked team per Bill C’s S&P+ rankings. The Hurricanes finished 2017 ranked 19th in the S&P+ after finishing 10-2. ACC pundits and Miami fans expected the Hurricanes to lose two or three games but I don’t think the Pittsburgh Panthers were the expected opponent to get one of the wins.

Miami was a fun squad in 2017 winning close games against their in-state rivals the Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Syracuse Orange and UNC Tar Heels. Miami convincingly beat the Duke Blue Devils, Virginia Tech Hokies and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. It was that kind of year for Miami with a turnover happy defense and an offense that did just enough after many slow starts.

Mark Richt, the Miami head football coach, has the Hurricanes ahead of schedule. Thanks to great recruiting, the hiring of defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, the guts of quarterback Malik Rosier, and the golden idea of the turnover chain — the Hurricanes started 10-0 and played in their first ever ACC Championship Game. Miami had a good, but not great, 2017 regular season and here are my five takeaways from the season.