Miami Football: Canes face Duke in must-win ACC Coastal matchup
Miami football returns home after back-to-back road conference losses. They’ll take on Daniel Jones and the Duke Blue Devils at Hardrock Stadium in Week 10.
The U was back last season and it looked like 2018 would be their year again with roster turnover left and right at other ACC Coastal institutions. An embarrassing loss to LSU put a damper on the Hurricanes’ hype train but a change in quarterback appeared to have done the trick in turning things back in favor of the Hurricanes. But after an awful beginning to the Virginia game from N’Kosi Perry, Mark Richt decided to go back to Malik Rosier for the time being.
Last week, Rosier took the field against Boston College and didn’t do anything to give anybody hope for the rest of the season. Rosier completed 19 of 36 passes for an astounding 150 yards with one score and two interceptions. On top of Rosier not doing much on offense, the defense that ranks 24th nationally in stopping the run gave up 149 yards and a touchdown to a returning AJ Dillon. Miami has to win this week if they expect to have a shot at getting to the ACC Championship game for the second time since joining the ACC in 2005.
Duke has been up and down for most of the season. They started with commanding wins over Army and Northwestern before losing at home to a questionable Virginia Tech team. They followed up that loss with a win on the road against a solid Georgia Tech team and they capitalized on that momentum with losses to Virginia and Pittsburgh who are battling for the top of the ACC Coastal division on Friday. Duke still has an outside chance of making the ACC Championship but if they lose this one they are eliminated from contention due to the tiebreaker with Virginia.
Can the Canes stay alive in the race for the ACC Coastal against Duke? Or is it the day for the Devil to take what’s due?
Date: Saturday, November 3, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: Miami, FL
Venue: Hard Rock Stadium
TV: ESPN2
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Keys to Victory
Duke’s key to victory comes on defense. It would help if Deon Jackson played similar to last week and if Daniel Jones can play efficiently, but defense must travel this week. Miami’s offense has faltered more and more as the season has gone on and Rosier has drawn the start for another game. Make Rosier turn to ball over and let his career 53 percent completion percentage kill the other offensive drives.
Miami has to turn things around on both sides of the ball. If Malik Rosier is going to play quarterback then he has to play efficiently and not turn the ball over. Rosier has thrown three picks over the last two games and Duke isn’t going to give Miami the kind of time to mount a late comeback. Defensively, they can’t give up 223 yards on the ground to Duke. Get the turnover chain moving and get the home crowd in the game or you’re watching the ACC Championship game in Miami again this year.
Betting Odds
Points Spread: Miami -9.5
Over/Under: 50.5
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Prediction
Nothing about this game is going to be pretty. Rosier and Jones are both likely to have one or two interceptions apiece and the game will be relatively low scoring. Miami has a lot of talent on both sides of the ball and will do what they have to do to win whether that be through a big run or on a huge late defensive stop.
Final Score: Miami 27, Duke 20