Miami takes a step out of conference but will remain in town to face Florida International from Riccardo Silva Stadium on Saturday night at 7pmET. The Hurricanes have won three straight to become bowl-eligible, while the Golden Panthers are coming off a 37-7 loss at rival FAU. Both teams are coming off byes last week.
Last season, Miami beat FIU, 31-17, but didn't cover the 26.5 points.
Going bowling?
Miami has just one more game after this, but they are bowl-eligible at 6-4 overall and 4-3 in the ACC Coastal Division. They'll finish the season at Duke, a team is 2-4 in the ACC Coastal, ahead of Georgia Tech (1-6). The Hurricanes can't look past anybody this season, because they lost to Georgia Tech, 28-21 in overtime on Oct. 19. That loss could have been devastating but the Canes bounced back to beat Pitt (16-12) and Florida State (27-10) on the road before crushing Louisville (52-27) on Nov. 9.Miami pounced on the Cardinals early in the game, scoring 21 points in the first quarter and cruised to an easy win. Freshman quarterback Jarren Williams was super-efficient with 253 yards passing, no interceptions and a school-record six touchdown passes. Williams has, 1,702 passing yards on the season with 16 TDs and just three picks (67.4%). Miami did give up 496 total yards, but they forced three turnovers, while committing none.
Junior running back Deejay Dallas leads the Canes with 644 yards rushing and 10 combined TDs. Tight end Brevin Jordan, who missed the Louisville game due to an injury, is one of the top targets with 35 catches for 495 yards and two scores. He's expected back for this one as he began practicing on Monday.
Miami's defense has been pretty good this season, they allow 310.9 yards per game (16th), 205.9 passing yards (38th), 105 rushing yards (12th) and just 19.2 points per game (17th). The biggest issue on offense is a running game that averages just 120.8 yards per contest (116th).
Davis faces old team
FIU had won four of their last five games heading into their contest with FAU on Nov. 9. They are 3-4 in Conference USA and one game away from bowl eligibility. To get to that goal, they are going to have to beat Miami at home or Marshall on the road. Beating the Thundering Herd is the most realistic goal, but the Golden Panthers are 0-4 on the road this season.The loss to the Owls was one of the worst in the three-year tenure of Butch Davis, the former Miami head coach. FAU led 13-7 at the half and exploded for 24 points in the second half. It also didn't help the Golden Panthers that running back Anthony Jones (638 rushing yards, 9TDs) and wide receiver Maurice Alexander were out. FIU tallied 304 yards of offense, while allowing a whopping 579 yards.
Senior quarterback James Morgan has 1,852 passing yards on the season with 10 TDs and just two picks (58.7%). He's not really a dual-threat quarterback so they need help from the ground game, which has been pretty good led by Jones and Napolean Maxwell (554 yards, 7 TDs). The Golden Panthers are averaging 170.4 rushing yards per game (48th) and 204.2 passing yards (91st).
Defensively, FIU has been very good against the pass (180.3ypg) and terrible against the run, allowing 209.7 yards per game (116th).
Team Trends
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Miami is:
- 1-5 ATS last 6 after scoring more than 40 points in their previous game.
Trends from Covers.com: FIU is:
- 5-0 ATS last 5 after a bye week.
- 8-3 ATS last 11 vs. a winning record.
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