2011 Miami Hurricanes Football: Miami @ South Florida

The South Florida Bulls defeated the Miami Hurricanes in 2010, but where did it get them? Two teams going nowhere quickly will meet again, and this time, South Florida hopes to get a little mileage from an in-state triumph... if, that is, it can do the deed once more.

Last season, South Florida did its best to earn a spot among the state of Florida’s “Big Three” by going to Miami and beating Miami, despite not having starting quarterback BJ Daniels. The upset win gave the young Bulls’ program road wins against Florida State and Miami in a short period of time, and ultimately cost Miami head coach Randy Shannon his job. This year, neither Al Golden nor Skip Holtz should hear losing their jobs, but, there is still plenty to play for in terms of postseason eligibility and in-state respect. This is the first time South Florida has been able to get one of the state’s “Big Three” to play them in Tampa, and it would go a long way toward establishing itself as one of the state’s powers to beat Miami in consecutive seasons.

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While Miami has battled trouble both on and off the field for all of the 2011 season, Al Golden has done a remarkable job maximizing the abilities of the players he’d had left to work with. Multiple players have left the team in spring, or been forced to sit numerous games due to NCAA violations, still, the Hurricanes are 5-5 and have been competitive with every team on their schedule. Senior quarterback Jacory Harris has flourished under new offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch. Harris is currently completing 65% of his passes and has 19 touchdown passes with just 5 interceptions. To give the ‘Canes offense balance, Lamar Miller has been one of the nation’s most dependable running backs, averaging 116 yards per game rushing. When Miller is successful, Harris has been lights out throwing the ball deep on play-action.

For South Florida, what started out as a dream season turned in to a nightmare once Big East conference play started. The Bulls opened with a win over Notre Dame and were 4-0 and ranked in the top 20 before dropping their next four games. They finally stopped the bleeding last week against an equally struggling Syracuse team in the Carrier Dome. While the offensive stats are impressive, the Bulls passing game has disappeared in stretches, and they’ve once again become dependent on the running of BJ Daniels to move the ball. Daniels currently ranks 12th nationally in total offense, averaging 315 yards per game running and throwing. The Bulls will need every bit of that production and should have some success against a Miami defense that has struggled to stop mobile quarterbacks in previous weeks.

Miami Hurricanes @ South Florida Bulls Football Preview