DATE: Saturday, October 19, 2024
WHERE: L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium, Louisville, KY
TIME/TV: NOON EST/ABC/ESPN+
LIVE AUDIO: 560 WQAM
MIAMI: Official Site | Schedule | Roster | Stats | Twitter
LOUISVILLE: Official Site | Schedule | Roster | Stats | Twitter
The No. 6 ranked Miami Hurricanes (6-0, 2-0 ACC) will face unranked Louisville (4-2, ACC 2-1) for the 17th time in school history. Miami leads the series (11-4-1).
Louisville won the last matchup between the schools 38-31 last season. The Canes are traveling to play the Cards for the first time since 2020, when it topped host Louisville, 47-34, in a match-up of two top-20 teams.
Storylines and Notables
Miami is looking to start a season 7-0 for the first time since 2017, when it began the season 10-0. Miami has only started 6-0 four times since joining the ACC - 2004 (6-0), 2013 (7-0), 2017 (10-0) and 2024 (6-0).
Following an open date last time out on Oct. 12, Miami held firm to their No. 6 spot in both the Associated Press top 25 and the LBM Coaches Poll released on Oct. 13. UM jumped to No. 6 in the Oct. 7 polls after a win at Cal.
The Hurricanes enter Saturday’s game ranked sixth, their highest ranking against the Cards since 2004 when the No. 3 Hurricanes defeated the Cards 41-38 in the Orange Bowl — the only loss for the Cards that season.
Miami is off to a 6-0 start for the first time under head coach Mario Cristobal’s direction. Trailing 25 points in the second half, the Hurricanes came back to top Cal, 39-38, and moved to 2-0 in ACC play last time out on Oct. 5.
Over the last twenty years, ACC teams have gone 1-401 when facing a 25-point deficit, with the lone exception being a 2011 victory by NC State (down by 27) vs. Maryland.
The Hurricanes and Cardinals will play for the Howard Schnellenberger Trophy for the second time, with Louisville winning it for the first time last season.
Stats
Miami
QB Cam Ward became the first Hurricanes quarterback in Miami history to open his career with six straight performances of 300 passing yards or more; last time out, Ward threw for a season-high 437 yards.
Ward is tied for the national lead with six games of 300 yards, encompassing all of 2024. His six-game streak of at least 300 yards and three TDs is the longest since Tyler Van Dyke had six straight such games to end 2021. He won ACC Quarterback of the Week honors for the third consecutive week following the comeback win over Cal.
No quarterback in FBS has thrown for more touchdowns than Ward, who is tied for the FBS lead with 20 TDs.
WR Xavier Restrepo had 163 yards on seven catches in the win, including a career-long catch of 77 yards. Restrepo's performance moved him into fourth place in UM’s star-studded all-time receiving yards leaderboard.
He moved past Mike Harley (No. 8), Leonard Hankerson (No. 7), Stacy Coley (No. 6), and Lamar Thomas (No. 5) into the top five. Restrepo needs 122 yards to pass No. 3 Michael Irvin (2,423), 209 yards to pass No. 2 Reggie Wayne (2,510), and 246 to pass Miami’s all-time leading receiver, Santana Moss (2,547).
With his ninth career 100-yard performance last time out at Cal, Restrepo moved past Andre Johnson for the most games with 100 receiving yards by a Cane since 2000. Restrepo, who tied Johnson with a 100-yard game earlier in the season, had already moved past Santana Moss and Phillip Dorsett (7 each) this season.
The Hurricanes’ offensive line was one of 22 groups named to the midseason honor roll for the Joe Moore Award, honoring the nation’s top unit. Despite missing two players who started Miami’s season opener at Florida, the Hurricanes made the cut for the second straight year. Cristobal’s OL won the award at Alabama in 2015.
Tyler Baron enrolled at Louisville for the spring but elected to transfer to the Hurricanes, where he has shined through the first six games of the 2024 season.
Baron, who has started all six games, is 10th in career TFLs among active players with 34.5. Baron has 18.0 career sacks - tied for the 17th-highest active career total among all FBS players. The Knoxville, Tenn., native started once again and put together only the 10th three-sack game over the last 20 years by a UM player vs. Florida A&M. He was named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week for his performance vs. the Rattlers.
Notable Team Stats
Miami is ranked No. 1 in FBS in plays of 20 or more yards (53) and No. 2 in plays of 10 or more yards (128). Of the 53 plays of 20 or more yards, 43 are passing - most in FBS. Of the 128 plays of 10 or more yards, 97 are passing. The Canes had only 48 passing plays of 20 or more yards and 129 of 10 or more pass yards in 2023.
Miami is ranked No. 1 in FBS in scoring differential in second halves; Miami’s +20.0 average point differential is ahead of No. 2 Ohio State (+18.17). UM’s best stanza is the fourth quarter (+11.00), leading all of FBS.
Entering Week 8, the Hurricanes rank No. 1 in the nation in “defensive mayhem” - plays on defense featuring a tackle for loss, an interception, or a gained fumble. Despite no fumbles gained, Miami has a 16.33% mayhem rate on defense; the Hurricanes have a 9.66% sack rate, a 13.47% tackle-for-loss rate, and a 5.35% interception rate. UM ranks No. 7 in FBS in team sacks (3.33), No. 12 in team tackles for loss (7.8), and No. 5 in interceptions (10).
A season after the entire group finished with 154 receiving yards and one touchdown in 2023, Miami’s tight ends have emerged as go-to options for Ward in 2024. In the season opener vs. Florida, Elijah Arroyo had a career-best 89 yards on four catches, Cam McCormick opened the game’s scoring with his first touchdown as a Hurricane, and freshman Elija Lofton had two catches for 38 yards vs. the host Gators in a lopsided win. • Through six games, Miami’s tight ends have totaled 529 yards on 31 catches with seven touchdown receptions
Miami is one of just six teams to rank in the top 15 of both total offense (#1) and total defense (#14) entering Week 8, joining Texas (#7/#1), Indiana (#4/#6), Ohio State (#7/#4), Tennessee (#9/#2) and Penn State (#14/#8).
While Miami’s offense has been among the most prolific in the country through the first half of the season, the Hurricanes have also methodically controlled the clock this year. Miami is one of just five teams whose average time of possession is more than 34 minutes per game - 34:08, the fourth-highest mark in all of FBS.
UM is the only program in the country with two players with at least 18.0 career sacks each (Akheem Mesidor, 19.0). The Hurricanes have four players in the top 50 in FBS in career sacks entering Week 8 - DL Simeon Barrow (14.0) is tied for 38th, and LB Francisco Mauigoa (13.0) is tied for 49th.
Miami ranks No. 40 nationally in passing yards allowed (192.8), No. 14 nationally in passing yards per completion (14.55), No. 5 nationally in passes intercepted (10), and No. 10 in FBS in team passing efficiency defense (106.25).
In the “middle eight” rankings—which track the scoring in the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half, widely considered the most critical juncture of the game—Miami was No. 16 in FBS in the first two years under Cristobal.
The Hurricanes have remained steady this year; Miami is ranked No. 16 in FBS in the middle eight this year (+5.0). From 2014 to 2019, teams that won the “middle eight” minutes of the game at the FBS level won 74% of the time.
Kicker Andy Borregales, in a win over Virginia Tech, kicked a career-long 56-yard field goal just before halftime - it was tied for the fourth-longest field in Miami Hurricanes history. It was his 62nd career field goal - the fourth-most in UM history.
His 63 career field goals are the fourth-most in Miami history, trailing only Michael Badgley (77), Carlos Huerta (73) and Jon Peattie (64). Among active FBS kickers, Borregales is one of just six in the country who have more than 60 career field goals, joining Jonah Dalmas (Boise State - 87), Alex Raynor (Kentucky - 66), John Hoyland (Wyoming - 63), Tyler Hoop (Arizona - 63) and Graham Nicholson (Alabama - 61).
Louisville
Miami will be the first top-six program to visit L&N Stadium since third-ranked Clemson played in Louisville in 2019. The Tigers beat the Cardinals 45-10. The Cards snapped their two-game losing streak with a 24-20 come-from-behind win at Virginia last Saturday.
Louisville Quarterback Tyler Shough connected with Jamari Johnson on a five-yard touchdown pass with 1:55 remaining in the game — the first touchdown reception of Johnson’s career. Shough completed 18-of-31 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown — his sixth-straight game of throwing at least one touchdown throw.
Shough, who will reach his career high with his seventh start, has surpassed his career-best totals for passing yards (1,674) and touchdowns (14). The graduate senior has thrown a touchdown pass in all six games and is completing 63.4 percent of his passes.
With a pair of completions of over 40 yards, Shough ranks third in the ACC and 14h nationally with an average of 14.4 yards per completion.
Shough stands third in the country with nine completions of over 40 yards and five of over 50 yards. The native of Chandler, Ariz., also has two completions of over 60 yards after he connected with Ja’Corey Brooks for a 61-yard reception.
Shough is on pace to pass for 3,348 yards, which would be the most since Pompano Beach, FL native Lamar Jackson threw for 3,660 yards in 2017.
Homestead, FL native Isaac Brown led all rushers with 20 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Brown has 508 yards rushing this season, the third-highest total by a true freshman in program history. Brown is the second true freshman in Louisville history to have three 100-yard rushing games, joining Jackson, who had five 100-yard rushing games as a quarterback in 2015.
Brown ranks seventh in the country with an 8.6 per-carry average. He owns 16 rushes for ten or more yards and five of 20 or more yards. Brown is also second on the team in receiving with 14 catches for 92 yards.
Miami native Brooks led Louisville receivers with five receptions for 83 yards. Brooks caught a 61-yard pass for his fourth reception of at least 40 yards this season and second of at least 60 yards.
Brooks leads the ACC with six receiving touchdowns and is second with 572 receiving yards. Brooks ranks fourth in the conference in yards per reception at 19.1 yards a catch, which ranks 31st in the country. Brooks’ 19.1 yards per catch is tops in the nation for receivers with 30 or more receptions.
Boca Raton, FL native Ashton Gillotte had three tackles, one solo tackle, a sack, one tackle for loss, and two quarterback hurries in the win. Gillotte moves into a tie with Marcus Smith for 7th on the Louisville career sack list with 24. and into a tie with Smith for 8th on the Louisville career tackle-for-loss list with 33.
Notable Team Stats
Jeff Brohm’s teams are 9-2 at home in two seasons as the head coach. Louisville is just 2-5 at home against Miami.
Last season, the Cardinals defeated two AP-ranked opponents in the same season for only the second time in school history when they knocked off No. 10 Notre Dame 33-20 and No. 20 Duke 23-0.
Louisville is 122-47 (72.1) at L&N Cardinal Stadium since the start of the 1998 season.
The Cardinals are 28-15 at home in ACC games since joining the league in 2014.
Since taking over the program, Brohm's teams have averaged 40 points per game, scoring over 50 on three different occasions. Louisville has scored at least 30 points nine times in 11 home games under Brohm.
The Cardinals are looking to avoid their first two-game home losing streak since the 2018-19 season when they lost six games. Louisville fell to SMU 34-27 on Oct. 5.
After going 20 straight games without allowing a touchdown on the opening drive, Louisville has allowed the opposition to score a touchdown on the first drive for the third consecutive contest.
Louisville maintained its streak of allowing no third-quarter touchdowns this season. The Cardinals have outscored its opponents 59-12 in the third quarter this year.
After being held without a sack for the second time in the last three games versus SMU, Louisville responded with three sacks — the second-most sacks this year.
The Cardinals rank 22nd nationally in total offense, averaging 461.8 yards per game and totaling over 400 yards in four of six games.
The Cardinals are 13th nationally in yards per play at 7.2 and stand tied for second in the country with 14 plays of 40+ yards and eight of 50+ yards this season.
Stats are as of October 18, 2024
Miami Athletics and Louisville Athletics contributed to this report.
Line: Miami - 5
Over/Under: 60.5
Weather: 64 Degrees, 10 percent chance of rain
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