Miami Football: 3 bold predictions for Hurricanes vs. LSU

Miami football opens the 2018 season with a challenging neutral site test against the LSU Tigers. Can the Hurricanes prevail in Texas?

The Miami Hurricanes and LSU Tigers face off in a neutral site week one clash. The Hurricanes, led by Malik Rosier, are ranked 13th overall by the S&P+ analytics system while the LSU Tigers are 16th overall. Miami has the further trip as the game is being played on Sep. 2 in Arlington, TX.

The Hurricanes are coming off a 10-3 season as they progress in Mark Richt‘s third year as the head football coach. Coach Richt enjoys having his starting quarterback return from an ACC Coastal Championship season in 2017. The ‘Canes have a loaded backfield on offense with Travis Homer, Deejay Dallas and Lorenzo Lingard splitting duty. The wide receivers are almost as talented as the running backs- led by Ahmmon Richards.

On defense, Miami is led by the trio of linebackers that are led by Shaq Quarterman. The other stars are defensive tackle Gerald Willis III, cornerback Michael Jackson and safety Jaquan Johnson. Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz will have plenty of talent even after losing a handful of defensive linemen to the NFL.

The LSU Tigers have to replace Derrius Guice and Darrel Williams who combined for over 2,000 yards rushing and 20 touchdowns on the ground. Without Guice or Williams, the Tigers will rely on graduate transfer quarterback Joe Burrow. Burrow has a strong arm, great vision, and has shown pocket presence against the Ohio State defense back in the Buckeyes spring game. However, Burrow has never played important minutes as a college football player.

The LSU defense is led by Dave Aranda and Coach O will never allow that side of the ball to see the struggles of the offense. Here are my three bold predictions for the Sunday night primetime game between the ‘Canes and the Tigers.