2011 Miami Hurricanes Football: Miami @ North Carolina

The North Carolina Tar Heels endured a horrible offseason. The Miami Hurricanes suffered through a far worse offseason. Two teams standing before the NCAA judgment seat will face their days of reckoning when this football season is done. They might as well make the most of the present moment and squeeze as much meaning as they can out of the next several weeks.

Miami is coming off one of the most thrilling games of the year, a 38-35 loss to Virginia Tech that saw the Hurricanes fall to 2-3, though perhaps the strongest 2-3 in the nation. UM’s loss to Maryland in the 2011 opener looks more bizarre as the season goes on. The Canes’ other losses were last-minute stomach-punch setbacks to Virginia Tech and Kansas State.

Quarterback Jacory Harris has been a pleasant surprise for Miami, completing two thirds of his passes (62 of 92) for 837 yards despite not playing the opener due to his suspension. He’s got a 9 to 3 touchdown-interception ratio, which is excellent compared to his prior seasons, when he was known for throwing mind-numbing picks into double-coverage. He has a host of excellent receivers to throw to, with Travis Benjamin, Tommy Streeter, and Allen Hurns all within 8 yards of each other (247, 243, and 239 yards, respectively), one of the more fascinating stats you’ll find in all of college football this season.

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Miami running back Lamar Miller has established himself as the top running back in the ACC, partly due to Montel Harris of Boston College being injured for much of the season. Miller has already run for 677 yards on 94 carries and five touchdowns. Miami operates a balanced offense, and would love to establish Miller early against a strong Tar Heel defense. Senior linebacker Zach Brown is making a strong case to join Luke Keuchly on the all-ACC team with a monster year that currently features 24 solo tackles, 42 total, two and a half sacks, and an INT, in addition to five tackles for a loss. Kevin Reddick, along with Brown, gives UNC one of the strongest linebacker corps in the conference. Reddick has 33 tackles, 20 solo, with 4.5 TFL and a sack. Safety Matt Merletti leads a strong secondary, and defensive tackle Tydreke Powell anchors an excellent defensive line. UNC is holding teams to only 3.3 yards per carry on the season and only 715 yards rushing in six games, a statistic that is skewed by having faced Georgia Tech, which gained 312 rushing yards. Therefore, Miller against the UNC rushing defense will be the matchup to watch when Miami has the ball.

As for UNC, the Heels are coming off their worst game of the season, a lackluster 14-7 win over Louisville. The defense was fine, giving up only 273 yards, 100 on the ground, but the offense was putrid. Yet, the Tar Heels are 5-1, 1-1 in conference, with the loss to Georgia Tech the lone blemish on the ledger. Quarterback Bryn Renner has had a decent season taking over for T.J. Yates, though his production has fallen off slightly over the last couple games after an unreal start. He’s now completing just under 75 percent of his passes (99 of 133) for 1,305 yards with 12 TDs and 6 interceptions. He’s joined in the backfield by an outstanding freshman in Giovani Bernard, who has 657 yards on 103 carries, for an average of 6.4 yards per carry and eight scores. Bernard would almost certainly be the runaway offensive freshman of the year in the ACC if not for Clemson’s electric Sammy Watkins. Renner’s favorite target is big-play receiver Dwight Jones, who already has 37 catches for 605 yards and seven touchdowns.

Miami’s defense has taken blow after blow, between suspensions and injuries, with the latest being the pair of injuries to Marcus Forston and Ramon Buchanan. The Hurricanes defense has been pretty average, with linebacker Sean Spence and safety Ray-Ray Armstrong being the only true stars on the defense. Armstrong is recently back from suspension, while Spence has had an outstanding season, with 41 tackles and 7 tackles for loss with 2 sacks. Otherwise, this is not a vintage Miami defense, which Renner and Bernard will seek to exploit.

Miami Hurricanes @ North Carolina Tar Heels Football Preview