College Gameday Preview: Miami Hurricanes vs. Duke Blue Devils

While this matchup may seem like a stepping stone for a Duke Blue Devil team that's on the rise (6-1), the woeful Miami Hurricanes (4-3) will look to redeem themselves on the road after losing to Clemson 58-0 at home. Despite this demoralizing shut out, the Hurricanes have proven that they can make up for their defensive shortcomings from time to time thanks to sophomore quarterback Brad Kaaya. Although Kaaya's 10 touchdowns to 2 interceptions ratio may seem indicative of a game manager, Kaaya is at his best when he is able to get the ball down the field (8.06 yards per passing attempt). However, this aggressive downfield mentality is only effective when Kaaya's receiving corps is able to exploit opposing defenses coverages, which has been to be more of a headache than it should be. 

 For the scrappy and tenacious Blue Devils, going up against a pure pocket passer plays right into their defenses hands as their potent pass rush has proven to be relentless since the start of the season. On top of that, Duke has one most opportunistic secondaries in the game (5 INT's, 6 TD's), which makes the prospect of Kaaya being the Hurricanes savior all the more unlikely. 

If the Hurricanes hope to have any chance of being victorious, they'll have to find a way to hold Duke's dynamic passer Thomas Sirk to minimal gains in both of the passing and rushing game. Unfortunately for Hurricanes, Sirk has become a master at utilizing the read option, which caters perfectly to Duke's run and pound mentality (180.4 rushing yards per game, 56th in NCAA). However, Duke isn't solely reliant upon their rushing game to wear down a defense. Although Sirk's 60.1% completion percentage and 6.71 passing yards per pass attempt won't wow anybody, his confidence in his ability to get the ball down field when a opportunity presents itself has been a huge part of how this team deflates an opposing teams confidence. Thanks to a stout and consistent offensive line, Sirk almost always has enough time to make these big passes all over the field, especially to senior wide receiver Max McCaffrey (14.4 yards per reception, 360 yards and 3 TD's). 

In the end, the prospect of the Hurricanes potentially upsetting the Duke Blue Devils seems like a wishful pipe dream at best. While Brad Kaaya certainly has the arm and ability to get his offense going, he has had trouble going up against disciplined defenses that are effective at interrupting his rhythm via a potent pass rush. While Duke's nagging weakness of getting their offense going in the 1st half may open up a small window for the Hurricanes to gain the upper hand initially, they don't have enough playmakers or resilience to outlast a Blue Devil Defense that is ranked 6th in the nation in points allowed per game (14.1).

Final Verdict:

Hurricanes 17 Blue Devils 35