DATE: Saturday, September 14, 2024
WHERE: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL
TIME/TV: 3:30 PM EST/ACC Network
LIVE AUDIO: 560 WQAM
MIAMI: Official Site | Schedule | Roster | Stats | Twitter
Ball State: Official Site | Schedule | Roster | Stats | Twitter
The No. 10 ranked Miami Hurricanes (2-0, 0-0 ACC) will face unranked Ball State for the time in school history.
Storylines and Notables
Miami head coach Mario Cristobal and Ball State head coach Mike Neu are coaching at their alma maters.
Members of the 1989 national championship team will be honored at halftime of Saturday’s game for their 35-year reunion; Roland Smith, current Miami recruiting staffer, is honorary captain of the game.
Miami is looking for its second straight 3-0 start to the season. On Sept. 7, 21 Miami freshmen played against Florida A&M, and many made critical plays to help the Hurricanes start 2-0 for the third straight year.
RB Jordan Lyle scored the first touchdown of his career, DL Justin Scott had his first career sack, while LB Bobby Pruitt and LB Adarius Hayes recorded their first interceptions.
Stats
Miami
Last time out, DE Tyler Baron became the eighth Cane to record a three-sack game in the last 20 years. Entering Week 3, Baron is one of only two players in all of FBS with four sacks this season; the other is Jahvaree Ritzie of UNC (5.0). Miami is the only program in the country with two players with 17.5 career sacks each (Akheem Mesidor, 17.5). He was also sixth in the country with 6.0 tackles for loss, behind Fadil Diggs (6.5).
With a four-catch, 104-yard performance last time out vs. Florida A&M, WR Restrepo jumped into the top 10 of Miami’s all-time record book in receiving yards.
The performance - the eighth 100-yard game of his career - moved him past Andre Johnson (1,831) and Allen Hurns (1,891) into 10th place in program history. For his career, Restrepo now has totaled 1,933 yards.
Restrepo needs 200 yards to pass No. 9 Phillip Dorsett (2,132), 214 to pass No. 8 Travis Benjamin (2,146), 226 to pass No. 7 Mike Harley (2,158), and 228 to pass No. 6 Leonard Hankerson (2,160). With 286 more yards, he’d move past Stacy Coley (2,218) into the top 5 in program history.
With his eighth career 100-yard performance, Restrepo tied Johnson for the most games with 100 receiving yards by a Miami player since 2000. He was previously tied with Santana Moss and Dorsett (7 each).
Ball State
Ball State enters the contest following a 42-34 win over Missouri State. The Cardinals dominated time of possession and held a two-touchdown cushion through most of the fourth period. This was the most points by a Ball State team in its season opener since a 42-6 win over Central Connecticut in 2018.
Redshirt freshman QB Kadin Semonza starred in last Saturday’s opener, completing four passes for touchdowns among 262 passing yards. He was 28-of-39 through the air, with just one interception.
His 71.8% completion percentage was the best by a Ball State quarterback with more than 30 throws in a season opener since at least 2000. He threw four touchdown passes and ran for another, accounting for five touchdowns overall - the most by a Ball State QB since Drew Plitt had five against Central Michigan in 2020.
Ball State’s defense limited the Bears to 62 net rushing yards and six first downs through three quarters (1 in the 1st, 1 in the 2nd, 3 in the 3rd). Missouri State possessed the ball for just over six minutes by halftime and only 12 minutes through three periods.
Linebackers Joey Stemler and Keionte Newson paced Cardinals tacklers with seven and six stops, respectively. Stemler added an interception, and Newson had a pair of TFLs.
Transfer running back Braedon Sloan made his Cardinals debut with 149 all-purpose yards (103 rushing, 46 receiving)
If Ball State can pull the upset over Miami, it would be its first win over a top-ten team in school history.
Stats are as of September 11, 2023
Miami Athletics and Ball State Athletics contributed to this report.
Line: Miami - 36.5
Over/Under: 54.5
Weather: 91 Degrees, 75 percent chance of rain
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