The Miami Hurricanes will travel to Wallace Wade Stadium to take on the Duke Blue Devils this Saturday afternoon in College Football action.
The Miami Hurricanes improved to 6-5 on the season after defeating the Virginia Tech Hokies, 38-26, this past Saturday. Miami was solid offensively against the Virginia Tech defense and was able to put the game away late after a 55-yard TD reception by Mike Harley gave the Hurricanes a two-possession lead with 10:39 left in the 4th quarter. Miami outgained Virginia Tech by a 411-375 margin and won the turnover battle by a 1-0 margin in the victory. Leading the way for the Hurricanes was QB Tyler Van Dyke who completed 19 of 33 passes for 357 yards & 3 TD.
On the season, Miami is averaging 32.9 ppg on 441.5 total yards per game (314.9 passing yds/g; 126.5 rushing yds/g). Offensively, Miami lost QB D’Eriq King for the season early in the year, however, Tyler Van Dyke has done an outstanding job filling in for the Hurricanes as he has completed 61.1% of his passes for 2550 yards, 22 TD, & 6 INT. The top receiving threats for the Hurricanes have been Charleston Rambo (71 rec, 1071 yards, 5 TD), Mike Harley (44 rec, 447 yards, 5 TD), Key’Shawn Smith (32 rec, 399 yards, 3 TD), & Will Mallory (27 rec, 313 yards, 4 TD). Leading the way for the Miami backfield has been the duo of Jaylan Knighton (132 att, 510 yards, 7 TD) & Cam’Ron Harris (71 att, 409 yards, 5 TD).
Defensively, Miami is allowing their opponents to average 30.1 ppg on 405.1 total yards per game (259.1 passing yds/g; 146.0 rushing yds/g).
The Duke Blue Devils lost their 7th straight game and dropped to 3-8 on the season after being defeated by the Louisville Cardinals, 62-22, on November 18th. Duke had no answers for the Louisville offense in this one and could not fight back after going into halftime trailing by a 35-9 margin. Duke was outgained by Louisville by a 687-458 margin and lost the turnover battle by a 2-0 margin in the loss. Leading the way for the Blue Devils was WR Jake Bobo who had 9 receptions for 102 yards.
On the season, Duke is averaging 24.0 ppg on 436.3 total yards per game (245.3 passing yds/g; 191.0 rushing yds/g). Offensively, Duke has been led by RB Mataeo Durant who has 1176 rushing yards & 9 TD on 233 carries while also hauling in 25 receptions for 244 yards 7 2 TD. QB Gunner Holmberg has completed 67.7% of his passes for 2210 yards, 7 TD, & 7 INT. The top receiving threats for the Blue Devils have been Jake Bobo (71 rec, 742 yards, TD), Jalon Calhoun (52 rec, 685 yards, 3 TD), & Eli Pancol (15 rec, 218 yards, TD).
Defensively, Duke is allowing their opponents to average 39.1 ppg on 516.9 total yards per game (304.6 passing yds/g; 212.3 rushing yds/g).
The Hurricanes are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games after allowing more than 200 yards rushing in their previous game and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games. The Blue Devils are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 0-6 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.
Duke has looked like on of the worst football teams in all of College Football over the past month and it’s largely due to a defense that hasn’t been able to slow down any offense as over the past five games, the Blue Devils have been allowing an average of 51.4 ppg. Miami has play well over the 2nd half of the season, winning 4 of their last 5 games, which includes impressive wins over both NC State & Pittsburgh. Miami’s offense has put up an average of 35.0 ppg over their last six games and as I expect Duke to once again have no answers on the defensive end, I’m taking Miami to cover this large road spread. Good Luck!
AUTHOR: Brett Nault
