DATE: Saturday, November 30, 2024
WHERE: JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse, NY
TIME/TV: 3:30 PM EST/ESPN
LIVE AUDIO: 560 WQAM
MIAMI: Official Site | Schedule | Roster | Stats | Twitter
SYRACUSE: Official Site | Schedule | Roster | Stats | Twitter
The No. 8 ranked Miami Hurricanes (10-1, 6-1 ACC) will travel to Syracuse to face the Orange (8-3, ACC 4-3) for the 24th time in school history. Miami leads the series 16-7.
The Hurricanes are on a six-game winning streak against the Orange, with Miami emerging victorious in the last matchup in 2017, 27-19.
Storylines and Notables
Miami is off to a 10-1 start for the first time under Mario Cristobal. The Hurricanes are coming off a 42-14 win over Wake Forest on Nov. 23, finishing off a perfect regular season at home for the first time since 2017.
Miami is looking to post 11 wins in a season for the first time since 2002 when the Hurricanes finished 12-1.
With a win Saturday over Syracuse, Miami would clinch a spot in Charlotte's 2024 ACC Championship Game - only its second-ever appearance (2017).
Cam Ward was named a finalist Tuesday for the Davey O’Brien Award, honoring the nation’s top quarterback and the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award. He is a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award, which honors the nation’s top player.
Stats
Miami
Last time out, QB Ward moved into first place in single-season passing yards at Miami - he now has 3,774, surpassing Bernie Kosar’s 1984 record.
No quarterback in FBS has thrown for more touchdowns than Ward, who ranks first in the nation with 34 TDs.
WR Xavier Restrepo was named one of 11 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award last week; he leads Miami with 979 receiving yards and ten touchdowns.
Restrepo was named one of 11 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award on Nov. 19; he is 21 yards away from becoming the first Hurricane player in program history to post 1,000 yards or more in a season twice (979). Restrepo burst onto the scene with a 1,092-yard season in 2023, finishing with a single-season record of 85 catches.
Borregales had 10 points vs. Wake Forest (two field goals, four extra points), moving him to 386 career points. Borregales currently trails only Carlos Huerta (397) & Michael Badgley (403) in career points, ranking third at UM.
Notable Team Stats
Miami is the nation’s third down conversion rate leader, capitalizing on 56.6% as an offense.
The Hurricanes rank No. 1 in all of FBS in total offense, averaging 541.5 yards per game.
Miami is ranked No. 1 in FBS in scoring differential in second halves entering the final week; UM’s +16.27 scoring difference is ahead of Ohio State (+14.36), Notre Dame (+12.00), Indiana (+11.91) and Penn State (+11.0).
Against FBS competition, Miami’s offense has gone three-and-out on just 5.17% of drives this season, ranking as the country's best mark. Only two other teams in the nation have a three-and-out percentage of less than 10% on offense - No. 1 Miami (4.76%) and No. 2 LSU (7.84%). The Hurricanes average 3.16 points per possession - the best in FBS - and average 1.59 plays per point, the second-most efficient FBS mark (Indiana, 1.58).
Entering Week 14, the Hurricanes rank No. 14 in the nation in “defensive mayhem” - plays on defense featuring a tackle for loss, an interception, or a gained fumble. Miami has a 13.43% mayhem rate on defense; the Hurricanes have racked up an 8.51% sack rate, a 10.90% tackle-for-loss rate, and a 4.07% interception rate in their 10-1 start.
Through 11 games, Miami’s tight ends have totaled 758 yards on 45 catches with nine touchdown catches.
Miami ranks in the top 15 in total offense (#1) and total defense (#14), entering Week 14 of college football. Tennessee was the only other school to make the list. Miami ranks No. 1 in the ACC in both stat categories.
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, considered a critical juncture—UM was No. 16 under Mario Cristobal in 2022-2023.
Miami has remained strong this year; UM is No. 30 in FBS and No. 3 in ACC in the middle eight this year (+2.4). From 2014 to 2019, teams that won the “middle eight” minutes of the game at the FBS level won 74% of the time.
UM is the only program in the country with two players with at least 18.0 career sacks each (Akheem Mesidor, 22.0). The Hurricanes have three players in the top 40 in FBS in career sacks entering Week 11 - DL Simeon Barrow with 16.0 sacks—his streak of three straight games with at least one sack ended in Miami’s win over Duke.
The Hurricanes score points on 58.62% of their offensive possessions, the best mark in the nation. Miami scores touchdowns on 46.55% of possessions, and it is also the best mark in FBS.
Miami’s 5.17% three-and-out percentage on offense is by far the best mark in the nation.
The nation's lowest mark is the Hurricanes’ 18.10% punt percentage on all offensive drives.
The Hurricanes’ 3.16 points-per-possession average is the best mark in the country.
Syracuse
QB Kyle McCord is Syracuse's single-season leader in passing yards with 3,946 in 2024.
He broke the previous record of 3,749 yards set by Ryan Nassib in 2012 in Syracuse's win against UConn.
He completed 37-of-47 passes for a career-high 470 yards against the Huskies. The 470 yards rank second on Syracuse's single-game record list and are the third-highest single-game total by an FBS quarterback this season.
McCord's two touchdown passes in the win against UConn increased his season total to 26, which Ɵ es the single-season school record Nassib set in 2012.
McCord already owns the single-season school record for complete ons (341) and total offense (3,902).
The senior is also on pace to set the single-season record for most passing yards per game. He is averaging 358.7, which would surpass the current record of 297.7 set by Eric Dungey in 2016. That total would rank second on the ACC single-season record list behind Virginia's Brennan Armstrong's 404.5 in 2021.
McCord has thrown for 300 yards in 10 games this season, a single-season school record.
McCord is just the second 'Cuse quarterback to record eight or more 300-yard passing performances in his career. Dungey holds the school career record for 300-yard passing games (12).
After just 11 games donning the orange, McCord ranks ninth on Syracuse's all-Ɵ touchdown passes list and ninth in career yards.
RB LeQuint Allen Jr. is Syracuse's career and single-season record holder for recepƟ on by a running back. Both records fell in the Orange's win against Virginia Tech.
He has caught 55 passes this season, which has increased his career total to 110.
Allen has caught at least one pass in 23 straight games, the longest current streak for the Orange. That total ranks seventh on Syracuse's record list.
Allen also holds the school record for receiving yards by a running back. He had five catches for 22 yards against UConn, increasing his career yardage total to 742. That total surpasses Antwon Bailey's 706 yards from 2008-11.
He ranks second nationally in reception by a running back, trailing Rice's Dean Connors by three catches.
Allen is one of 11 FBS running backs who had three or more receiving touchdowns in 2024.
He ranks sixth in the ACC, averaging 112.9 allpurpose yards per game. Of that group, he is one of only three players who does not have a kickoff or punt return.
Tight end Oronde Gadsden II leads the way with 73.6 ypg. WR Jackson Meeks is right behind with 72.8 ypg, and WR Trebor Pena is averaging 67.5 ypg.
Gadsden, Meeks, and WR Darrell Gill Jr. surpassed 100 yards receiving against UConn. Gill posted career highs in catches (9) and receiving yards (185). Gadsden made 11 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown, while Meeks had seven receptions for 110 yards.
Notable Team Stats
Syracuse is the only FBS school with three players averaging 67.0 yards receiving or more per game this season.
The Orange rank No. 3 in the nation in time of possession, averaging 34:08 per game.
Syracuse's eight one-score games are tied for the most in the nation, and its six wins in those games are tied for the first nationally.
WR Gill Jr. posted 185 receiving yards against UConn, the second-highest total in the ACC in 2024.
Syracuse-Miami Connections
Cuse has six players from Florida – K Brady Denaburg (Merriit Island), TE Oronde Gadsden II (Fort Lauderdale), RB Tyler Chandler (Plantation), DB Greg Delaine (Fort Myers), DL Braylen Ingraham (Fort Lauderdale), and LS Jacob Zuhr (Oviedo).
Miami has two players from New York – WR Andrew Cohen (Mahopac) and DL Iheukwumere Marcus (Yonkers).
Syracuse co-offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Michael Johnson was part of Miami head coach Mario Cristobal's staff at Oregon in 2017 and 2018. He coached alongside Miami assistant head coach/offensive line coach Alex Mirabal, associate head coach/defensive line coach Joe Salave’a, and tight ends coach Cody Woodiel.
Syracuse co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Robert Wright coached at Miami in 2015 along with Hurricanes wide receivers coach Kevin Beard.
Stats are as of November 29, 2024
Miami Athletics and Syracuse Athletics contributed to this report.
Line: Miami - 11
Over/Under: 67.5
Weather: 34 Degrees
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