’Canes look to get offense going vs. MSU
Through two games, the Miami Hurricanes have yet to play at the level expected of them coming into the season.
There was the blowout loss to top-ranked Alabama in which the Crimson Tide had at least a three-possession lead for 75%of the game.
A week after the sobering defeat came the closer-than-you’d-like 25-23 home victory over Appalachian State — a Group of Five program that plays in the Sun Belt Conference — in which UM needed an Andy Borregales game-winning field goal to secure its fist win.
So for No. 24 Miami (1-1), Saturday’s matchup against Michigan State (2-0) is an opportunity to get the convincing win that’ll help show it’s better than its current ranking in the AP Poll, and that it’s ready to contend for the ACC Coastal Division.
But for the Hurricanes to take that step, they’ll need to get their offense out of its early-season funk.
Miami entered Appalachian State’s red zone five times last Saturday, with the chance to score 35 combined points in those situations, but only scored 20 points — two touchdowns and two field goals — after having a drive that involved a play inside the Mountaineers’ 20.
Against Alabama, the Hurricanes only came away with six combined points — two field goals — out of three trips into the Crimson Tide’s red zone.
“We’re not producing any results at the end,” offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said. “It’s a resultdriven sport. It’s probably a combination of untimely [penalties] and then not executing enough to finish the drives.
“We’re not getting explosive touchdowns, so we’re having to sustain long drives but we’re not finishing those drives. It can get frustrating because you’re not getting the results you need.”
Miami’s struggles in the red zone, with UM ranking No. 97 in red zone offense, have hurt a unit that hasn’t produced like last year. The Hurricanes enter Saturday No. 96 in passing offense (189.5 yards per game), No. 94 in rushing offense (131 yards average) and No. 111 in scoring offense (19 points per game).
“Honestly, we’re just one play away,” receiver Mike Harley said. “We’ve had some drive-killers, penalties, pre-snap things … dropped balls, missed reads — just one down away.
“It’s up to one person making the play. Then we’ll get rolling. We just got too many driver-killers right now.”
In addition to jump-starting their own offense, the Hurricanes will be focused on slowing down the engine of Michigan State’s offense: running back Kenneth Walker III.
Walker has been one of the country’s top tailbacks, rushing for 321 yards (No. 4 nationally) on 30 attempts for 10.7 yards per carry (No. 3 among FBS schools) in two games.
He’s also added five rushing touchdowns.
Walker, who played at Wake Forest from 20192020 before transferring to Michigan State during the offseason, had 1,158 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns on 247 attempts (5.3 yards per carry) in his two seasons with the Demon Deacons.
“This is a different challenge because of the explosiveness of Walker,” UM coach Manny Diaz said.
“They have a bunch of backs they could run in there. It’s really hard to play great defense without being good versus the run and these guys will challenge you throughout the day with really good schemes.”