Hurricanes have last soft opener for a while
CORAL GABLES — Miami Hurricanes coach Mark Richt has spent a lot of time the week before for the season opener answering questions about whether the game would be used as opportunity to get a look at some of the younger players.
That’s what happens when UM opens against an opponent such as BethuneCookman, which is not expected to give the Hurricanes much of a fight. Expect that to change the next two years when the Hurricanes move up a notch in competition when they open against LSU and Florida, ending their recent run of starting against lesser opponents. UM is also in talks with Alabama about opening the 2021 season at a neutral site.
“It is what it is,” linebacker Shaq Quarterman said. “We have LSU. That’s going to be exciting. I think we’re going to earn a lot of respect this year but we’re definitely going to earn some respect playing them. I’m looking forward to that.”
Challenging early season games are becoming more common around the country. Top-ranked Alabama opens against No. 3 Florida State in a game that could give the winner the inside track toward the national title. The loser will drop in the polls but has plenty of time to recover before December.
“If you win, it’s beneficial,” Richt said. “If you’re that team that is really ready to play on all those levels I spoke of, they can be beneficial. But if you win every game but your first game, [and] somehow you get knocked out of the playoffs, that’s not very beneficial.”
On Saturday, the Hurricanes will open for the fourth time in five seasons against a non-power conference opponent. They have won easily against FAMU (2016), Bethune-Cookman (2015) and Florida Atlantic (2013) while losing at Louisville in 2014.
During the next two years, the Hurricanes will follow the lead of their rivals in Tallahassee. Florida State is playing its second straight opener against a team from a Power Five conference. Last year it started the year with a victory against Ole Miss.
Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher said the value varies each year from playing a tough game so early.
“I think it all matters on your team,” Fisher said. “Certain years it’s really good to do it, others it ain’t. It depends on the personality of your team and what you have back. But the problem is you book those teams so far ahead. It definitely does, but at the same time it can be challenging. Six of one way, half dozen of the other. It’s great for college football. But we’ll be interested to see how these games are rewarded when we look at the national attention and all the things that go with it.”
The Hurricanes will enjoy one more season of opening against an opponent in a game that is more about sharpening skills and working out any bugs. With the exception of the occasional upsets — Appalachian State over Michigan in 2007 and Jacksonville State winning at Ole Miss in 2009 — these games mostly provide coaches opportunity to evaluate freshman talent.
If is is looking like a rout, Richt might be able to grade backup quarterbacks Evan Shirreffs, N’Kosi Perry and Cade Weldon and plenty others.
“I can’t ever remember being a part of a team in 30-something years of football where everybody wasn’t excited to play the first opponent,” Richt said. “It doesn’t matter who it is. It could be in-conference, out-of-conference, it doesn’t matter. It just means a lot, and it’s a chance to finally join forces and get after somebody.”
With this season having yet to even start, Richt will focus on the next two years when the time comes. The positive is the players and coaching staff will be better prepared after five more months in the system.
“You’re going to be tested to the limit in games like that,” Richt said. “If you’re mature and you got guys in the system, your coaching staff stays intact, those kind of games you at least feel better going into them than you would if you change coordinators or you’re changing the quarterback or your offensive line just graduated four starters. That’s the thing about those games that worry you more than anything else.”