Canes Set to Kick Off November Slate Against Duke

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Their annual rivalry matchup with Florida State is behind them.

So, too, are games against in-state foes Florida, Florida A&M and USF. They’ve navigated a pair of conference road trips, including one that took them 3,000 miles from home to face California, one of the newest members of the ACC, on the West Coast.

They’ve put up big offensive numbers and routed their opponents in some games and had to fight to come back in others. But through the first two months of the season, the fifth-ranked Hurricanes have weathered every test they’ve had to face.

Now, they find themselves starting the month of November with an unblemished record and championship aspirations. Now, they know, things will get turned up a notch.

“At this time of year, you know, you’ve got to really put on your big-boy pants to play football,” said Miami quarterback Cam Ward. “We just [have] to try to go out there and execute plays.”

Added center Zach Carpenter, “As you go through the season, the reps kind of go down just because our bodies have to stay healthy. But the mental intensity and the focus has to increase. This time of the season, it’s playoff football. We’re in conference. We have to win. We have to take care of our business to do what we want to do, so there’s just a sense of urgency that everybody needs to have.”

The Hurricanes (8-0, 4-0) will open the final month of the regular season – and kick off their ACC November slate – on Saturday at noon when they host a Duke team that boasts one of the bests defenses in the ACC and has won six of its first eight games.

The Blue Devils (6-2, 2-2) are coming off a hard-fought overtime 28-27 loss to SMU, another one of the ACC’s new members, but in that win, Duke showed its ability to make high-powered offenses stumble.

Duke, led by former Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz, forced SMU into six turnovers, including three in the fourth quarter. That came a week after the Blue Devils forced Florida State into three turnovers on three straight offensive plays – and turned those Seminoles miscues into 17 points in a game Duke eventually won, 23-16.

That potent defense has the Hurricanes’ attention and Miami’s players and coaches know it must be contained if they are to complete their goal of going 1-0 for the week.

“Impressive. Really impressive. I mean, they force a lot of turnovers and besides the turnover margin, [on] third down, they’re excellent,” Miami head coach Mario Cristobal said. “[In the] red zone, they’re excellent. Tackles for loss, I believe they’re second or third in the country. … Very disruptive. They play really hard. I think the fact that thy have had that type of production is part of it. They have really good players, but they scheme it up really well and the guys play really, really hard.”

That defense, however, will face a significant test in Miami.

The Hurricanes enter the month of November with one of the nation’s most effective defenses and with one of the nation’s top quarterbacks under center.

Through its first eight games, Miami is averaging 560.8 yards per game, which leads all FBS programs. The Hurricanes also lead the nation in yards per play (7.76) and scoring offense (46.8 points per game).

And Ward, a transfer from Washington State, has been a force all season.

The senior has completed 68 percent of his passes and thrown for 2,746 yards and 24 touchdowns, both of which rank second nationally. His receiving corps has stepped up with one receiver – fifth-year senior Xavier Restrepo – on the verge of making history.

Restrepo enters Saturday’s game third on Miami’s all-time receiving list with 2,427 yards. That stands just behind just Santana Moss (2,546 yards) and Reggie Wayne (2,510).

Helping make the Hurricanes’ offense even more productive in recent weeks is a surging rushing attack that totaled 230 yards last week against Florida State and 219 yards the previous week against Louisville.

Keeping both that passing and running game going against Duke will be a challenge, but it’s one the Hurricanes are embracing, knowing playing well Saturday will only move them closer to their ultimate goal.

“Coming off the bye week, we kind of all had that conversation [that] we need to pick it up and [we] still need to pick it up,” said Damien Martinez, who was named the ACC Running Back of the Week after rushing for a season-high 148 yards and two touchdowns against Florida State last week. “[We] haven’t played our best ball, so we’re just trying to get better every game, every day at practice. Glad it’s showing up. [We] just have to keep working hard.”

Continuing to work hard and finding ways to improve has been a constant for the Hurricanes all season. It’s one of the reasons they find themselves where they are now, with their best start since 2017 when Miami opened the year with 10 straight wins.

Keeping that attitude, against Duke and every other opponent they face this month, will be a crucial part of helping them not only start the season strong, but finish it that way, too.

“Internally driven. They’re just self-motivated [and have an] appetite for betterment. They’re just restless, man,” said Cristobal of teams who are successful in November. “They don’t care about anything. They don’t take any time to waste on social media. They don’t really spend any moment they can invest in watching film on talking about rankings or ratings or any of that stuff … They’re just restless. … They’re upset. They just want to get better. They stay mad and again, that positive anger, that stuff burns clean, and I think we’re trying to acquire that type of DNA, and we’ve got to keep working on it and get better and better.”