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Five Reasons the Hurricanes Will Beat the Seminoles

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The Miami Hurricanes look to continue their early season momentum as they host the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday.

Early season rivalry games have a way of setting the tone for a season.

Miami and Florida State enter their matchup Saturday on opposite plains.

The Hurricanes (2-0, 1-0) host Florida State (0-1, 0-1) in a game that looms large for both programs.

For Miami, expectations are high as they have improved each week.

While for Florida State the uncertainty lingers as the Seminoles try to rebound off a disappointing 16-13 loss to Georgia Tech.

Miami has beat Florida State three years running and oddsmakers have the Hurricanes as early double-digit favorites.

That being said, anything can happen in a rivalry game.

Especially this one.

With all things considered, the Hurricanes appear to be the superior team.

Here are five reasons that superiority should translate to an easy victory Saturday.

 

Quarterback

So far in his first season under center at the University of Miami, quarterback D’Eriq King has been as advertised.

 

Through two games King has completed 34-of-54 attempts for 469 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He has also added 92 yards and another score on the ground, his running ability within Rhett Lashlee’s spread offense has opened up the entire playbook. King has taken care of the football so far and is taking what the defense gives him.

Florida State allowed Georgia Tech quarterback Jeff Sims to throw for 277 yards, and King has far more weapons at his disposal. King will have to look out for Asante Samuel Jr. in the Florida State secondary however, he picked off two passes against Georgia Tech.

Meanwhile for the Seminoles, quarterback James Blackman had a game to forget in their opening day loss. For the game Blackman went 23-of-43 for just 198 yards with one touchdown and an interception. More damning is that he lost two fumbles, against a nasty Miami front four he could be in for another mistake prone game.

 

South Florida Video

Miami Ground Game Should Feast Again

Cam Harris has come out of the gate on a mission with 263 yards in two games on a ridiculous 10.3 YPC, with touchdown runs of 66 and 75 yards already. Freshman phenoms Jaylen Knighton and Don Chaney, Jr. have been the perfect compliment to Harris, each have been solid contributors already. With King as another threat to pull it down and improved play on the offensive line, the Hurricanes ground game has been a huge factor.

Florida State did a decent job holding Georgia Tech to 161 rushing yards on 40 attempts, but they will be in for a bigger challenge on Saturday.

For the Seminoles to have any success on offense they will need to be able to run the football against a Miami run defense that struggled to contain Louisville running back Javian Hawkins. Miami had trouble with the Cocoa Beach product as he gashed the Hurricanes for 164 yards rushing.

It could be a little easier for the Hurricanes this week as the Seminoles run game did little against Georgia Tech in a close game, finishing with just 109 yards on 31 carries (3.1 YPC). If Miami can shut down the run early and get a lead, Florida State will be in trouble as the game wears on.

Phillips and Roche vs the FSU Offensive Line

Speaking of feasting, the Miami pass rush could be in for another dynamic performance against an underwhelming FSU offensive line.

Jaelen Phillips and Quincy Roche combined for 3.5 TFL against Louisville and Miami had 10 for the game.

 

Florida State did a decent job of protecting Blackman despite allowing three sacks, Blackman had ample time to throw on plenty of occasions but could not capitalize. Miami will try to take away the Florida State running game and make them one dimensional, while controlling down and distance. The Florida State offense will be in trouble if they are continually in third-and-long situations where the Miami defensive line can pin their ears back and come downhill.

Florida State allowed six tackle-for-loss against Georgia Tech and Blackman barely completed 50% of his passes for the night.

We could see a lot of the Turnover Chain Saturday night.

Miami Makes Less Mistakes

As mentioned turnovers could play a huge role in the outcome and so far with D’Eriq King at the helm the offense is taking care of the football. Blackman on the other hand doesn’t have the same accuracy and has been prone to the turnover lately having thrown five interceptions in his last two games.

Granted four of those came at the end of last season in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.

Not grrrreat.

Both teams have had lapses in terms of penalties as each hit double figures last time out.

The difference was that Miami came out to play otherwise while Florida State could not get out of their own way.

Manny Diaz had the team prepared and it will be crucial to avoid a letdown in terms of emotion and intensity.

It Means a lot More to the Hurricanes.

The Miami seniors have never lost to Florida State and if the Hurricanes can take care of business it sets them up for a huge game to follow at No. 1 Clemson.

After dropping seven in a row in the rivalry the Hurricanes want to send the seniors out with a fourth straight win.

Miami is in a great position with Clemson looming on the horizon to make a statement once again under the lights.

 


It is certain to be an exciting game, you can always throw out the records when these two square off.

However Miami is trending up while Florida State is in purgatory, and overall appear to be the better team.

If Diaz can once again have them ready from the opening kickoff and they wear out the Seminoles with the up tempo offense, it should be game over.

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Follow us on Twitter @5ReasonsCanes and @DavidWEversole

Photo credit miamihurricanes.com.

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