Miami Football: 3 reasons Hurricanes will bounce back and beat App State

2. Miami’s run defense seems to be improved

To me, this is where this game is going to be won or lost for Miami. In 2020, Miami struggled to stop the run and it led to getting gashed in games against Clemson and North Carolina. App State is a team that relies on the ground game to move the ball and they are going to try to run it as much as they can.

App State has one of the best running backs in the country in Camerun Peoples. Peoples is a physical back and is hard to bring down.

The Mountaineers run a lot of stretch plays and wide zone plays that are intended to make the defense overpursue and that has been a problem for Miami in the past.

Miami held Alabama to 147 yards on 38 carries last week. The Hurricanes limited the Tide to only 3.9 yards per carry and that is an encouraging stat considering last season.

If Miami can stop the run and get App State behind the chains, I like their chances of winning this game and winning comfortably. If App State controls the tempo and can run the ball at will, there might be an upset in the making.