Canes Set to Open ACC Play Against Familiar Foe

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – They’ve lined up against four non-conference opponents. Twice they’ve traveled to face in-state foes – including a longtime rival – in hostile environments.

And in each of their first four games, the seventh-ranked Hurricanes have been a force, outscoring their opponents 209-41 in that span and rising in the national rankings.

Now, they face their biggest test of the young season so far: a Friday night ACC matchup at Hard Rock Stadium against a Virginia Tech team with whom Miami shares a long history.

It’s a challenge, of course, the Hurricanes are embracing; another chance to continue improving and showing the work they’ve put in over the course of the last nine months.

“We have an opportunity to open conference play against one of our storied rivals,” head coach Mario Cristobal said. “Can’t say enough about them. I think we’ve seen on tape these guys are as talented as anybody we’ve faced and then some. … This is a team that returns 20, I believe, of 22 starters from last year’s team, one of the favorites to not only win the conference, but to be in the College Football Playoff. They’re loaded. They’re a loaded football team and the quarterback is an extremely explosive, dangerous, accurate player, a great leader. They’re big, massive up front. Great running game, explosive receivers. Looking forward to a great matchup.”

Added defensive back Meesh Powell, “It’s big. Coach Cristobal talks about it all the time: this is the biggest game because it’s the next game. I think going against a type of team like Virginia Tech, it’s going to be really physical, so we’ve got to bring our style of play to the table. And I think just overall, just setting the tone really for all the ACC teams to know the type of team we’re going to be, so that the next team that has to watch film and [sees] how we play Virginia Tech will know they’re going to have to look out for us.”

Through non-conference play during the first month of the season, the Hurricanes (4-0) have shown they’re among the nation’s best.

With ACC Preseason Player of the Year Cam Ward under center, Miami is averaging 605.0 yards per game, a number that ranks second nationally behind only Mississippi.

Ward has completed 72 percent of his passes and has thrown for an average of 359.8 yards per game, which ranks second among FBS quarterbacks. He is the first signal caller in Miami history to start his Hurricanes career with four straight 300-plus yard performances and his 14 touchdown passes lead the nation.

As a whole offensively, Miami leads the nation in third-down conversion percentage (64.3) and its average of 52.3 points per game is third nationally among FBS programs.

Its defense has been impressive, too, with Miami holding two of its opponents – FAMU and Ball State – out of the end zone and limiting opponents to just 232.8 total yards per game and 64.8 rushing yards per game, which rank 10th and sixth, respectively, among FBS programs.

But Miami’s players and coaches know the stakes will start to get higher now that conference play is here.

Virginia Tech (2-2), for example, enters Friday night’s matchup looking to rebound after a hard-fought 26-23 loss to Rutgers last week.

In that game, the Hokies rallied from 16 points down to tie it before the Scarlet Knights converted a late field goal to secure the win.

Virginia Tech defensive lineman Antwaun Powell-Ryland enters Friday’s matchup as the nation’s leader with six sacks and running back Bhayshul Tuten is coming off a three-touchdown performance.

But it’s quarterback Kyron Drones who brings an especially interesting storyline to Friday’s matchup, given that he’ll be matching up against his cousin: Ward.

Ward shared this week that the two learned of their family connection while in high school and have trained together in the years since.

But there hasn’t exactly been much time for friendly family chats in the days leading up to Friday’s conference opener.

“It’s a good opportunity. Kyron and I, we found out we were cousins, I would say, my junior year of high school, so not too long ago, about four or five years ago,” said Ward, who last week became just the 13th player in any level of college football to throw for at least 15,000 yards in their career. “It’s been good. We’ve been building ever since. We worked with the same quarterback coach and I’m just ready to play the game.”

Ward’s business-like mentality – both to facing his cousin and the Hokies as a whole – has been a constant for him and his Miami teammates throughout the first part of the season.

Now, with their ACC opener on tap, the Hurricanes say they’re determined to hold on to that mindset and the edge that has pushed them through their first four games as they seek to earn another win and work toward their ultimate goal, one game at a time.

“I think the guys have adopted that mantra. It kind of goes back to what they decided a while back. They felt like they’ve had enough, they’ve had enough of all the stuff here for a couple of decades. And even though some of them weren’t from here or didn’t know much about it, they learned it,” Cristobal said. “And I think they’ve also realized that positive anger is that energy that burns clean. It just keeps going…it’s an endless supply of juice. It’s real. There’s no gimmicks to it. There’s watching that film, knowing there’s a standard and we haven’t achieved it yet and that there’s room to grow, but we feel like we can achieve it, so, full throttle, foot on the gas.”

Said linebacker Francisco Mauigoa, “I think for us, we always have the goal and mindset to dominate every single play. … If we see ourselves not doing what our standard is, we have to check ourselves and we hold each other accountable on that. … Just being able to keep our mindset at the right pace and just … having the mindset to dominate. I think coaches have done a pretty good job of emphasizing that throughout the whole week.”