Hurricanes Travel to North Carolina State for ACC Showdown
Oct. 18, 2004
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This week’s game:
The Miami Hurricanes travel to Raleigh, N.C., this weekend to face the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Saturday. Kickoff for the nationally televised game on ESPN is set for 7:45 p.m. EDT. The Hurricanes are coming off a wild come-from-behind 41-38 victory over 18th-ranked Louisville and are now 5-0 for the season and ranked No. 4 in the AP poll and No. 3 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. The Hurricanes trail Southern California, Oklahoma in both polls, and Auburn jumped ahead of Miami in the AP poll. However, the initial BCS rankings that came out on Monday had the Hurricanes in second place behind Southern Cal and ahead of Oklahoma and Auburn.
In their first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference and in search of their sixth national championship, the Hurricanes have continued their presence as one of the top collegiate teams in the country. Against Louisville, the Hurricanes fell behind 24-7 at the half and 31-14 in the third quarter but rallied for a 17-point come-from-behind win at the Orange Bowl. Brock Berlin answered his critics with an excellent day throwing the football, going 25 for 37 for 308 yards and tying his career high with three touchdown passes. Berlin led his fourth comeback win in his two years at Miami, while Frank Gore rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown. Eight Hurricanes’ receivers caught passes against the Cardinals, with Roscoe Parrish, Greg Olsen and Akieem Jolla hauling in touchdown passes.
Although the Miami defense struggled against Louisville’s wide-open passing attack, the Hurricanes are still ranked in the top 10 in three defensive categories, including fourth in pass efficiency defense, six in pass defense and seventh in scoring defense.
The Hurricanes are looking for their 10th consecutive victory. They have not lost since last November 8, a 10-6 loss to Tennessee. After the North Carolina State game, the Hurricanes will return to North Carolina to take on the Tar Heels on October 30 in Chapel Hill. UM’s final six games will be against ACC foes.
THE OPPONENT:
North Carolina State enters the contest with one of the nation’s top-ranked defenses. The Wolfpack boast the best total defense in the country, allowing only 203.8 yards per game, and the top pass defense at 97.5 ypg. N.C. State enters the game with a 4-2 overall record and 3-1 mark in ACC play. The Wolfpack’s 3-1 ACC record is tied for second place in the conference with Florida State behind Miami (2-0). T.A. McLendon leads the North Carolina State rushing attack with 452 yards on 89 carries. He is averaging 90.4 yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry. Jay Davis quarterbacks the Wolfpack and has thrown for 1,056 yards and four touchdowns this season, while completing 61.6 percent of his passes.
THE SERIES:
The game will be 11th in the series, with Miami holding a 6-3-1 all-time advantage. The two teams last met in the 1998 Micron PC Bowl at Pro Player Stadium, a 46-23 Miami win. Miami won its only trip to Raleigh to play N.C. State on Nov. 21, 1981, a 14-6 victory. However, Miami did lose to East Carolina 27-23 in 1999 in Carter-Finley Stadium, a game moved because of Hurricane Floyd. The Wolfpack’s last win over Miami was 13-7 on Nov. 5, 1971 at the Orange Bowl.
A HURRICANES VICTORY OVER THE WOLFPACK WOULD:
Give them a 6-0 record for the season and mark the fourth straight year the Hurricanes have won their first six games. It would also give the Hurricanes a 7-3-1 mark in the all-time series with North Carolina State. It would also give Miami a 3-0 record in ACC play.
