Three games into the season.
Three wins.
And somehow, not one of them played on a Saturday.
That changes tonight.
No. 6 Miami return to Hard Rock Stadium to face Central Michigan at 6:30pm ET, with the Hurricanes looking to improve to 4-0 before the schedule turns back towards ACC play.
Mario Cristobal pointed out this week that Miami are the only team in the country yet to play on a Saturday.
Friday at Stanford.
Thursday against FAMU.
Friday at Wake Forest.
It has been a strange opening month.
Darian Mensah admitted this week that the constantly changing routine has been difficult, particularly for a quarterback who likes his game-week structure.
You wouldn’t know it from his numbers.
Mensah enters tonight completing 89.9 per cent of his passes, the best mark in the FBS. He has thrown for 873 yards, 11 touchdowns and no interceptions through three games.
Miami as a whole are averaging an FBS-leading 594.3 yards per game.
The Hurricanes have handled the unusual schedule.
Now they finally get something resembling a normal college football Saturday.
Miami’s run defence meets Central Michigan’s biggest weapon
If Central Michigan are going to make tonight interesting, the route is fairly obvious.
Run the football.
The Chippewas arrive at 2-1 after rushing for 339 yards in last week’s 24-10 victory over Wyoming.
Quarterback Angel Flores was responsible for 163 of them.
He carried the ball 28 times.
Miami know exactly what is coming.
The interesting bit is that Central Michigan’s biggest strength runs directly into one of Miami’s.
The Hurricanes are allowing just 45.7 rushing yards per game, tied for third nationally.
That is the matchup to watch early.
If Miami shut down Flores and force Central Michigan to throw the football, the game should begin tilting heavily towards the Hurricanes.
Flores attempted only seven passes against Wyoming.
Justin Scott summed up Miami’s defensive job neatly this week: stop the run, make the Chippewas one-dimensional and then attack.
Simple in theory.
Tonight we find out whether it is simple in practice.
The reshaped offence gets its first proper test
This is where tonight becomes more interesting than the point spread suggests.
Marty Brown and Joshua Moore are gone for the season.
That is established news from earlier this week, but tonight is the first time Miami actually have to build an offence without them.
Cristobal spoke this week about players being tested and others having to rise to the occasion.
Now we see who does.
At running back, Javian Mallory and Girard Pringle Jr. have an opportunity for additional work, while Jordan Lyle is available again and could make his first appearance of the season.
At receiver, somebody has to absorb Moore’s snaps.
Miami have recruited heavily enough that there are options.
Tonight is when those options start becoming answers.
Ideally, the game also gives Miami an opportunity to manage the workload of anyone still carrying knocks from Wake Forest.
With the conference schedule about to take over, there is little value in unnecessarily grinding down important starters.
Finally, a Saturday night
Now this is more like it.
11:30pm UK kick-off.
No alarm clock required.
No waking up at an hour when even the dog thinks you’ve lost the plot.
Just a Saturday night watching the Canes.
The game is on The CW in the United States and is also available on Disney+ in the UK, which makes tonight’s 11:30pm kick-off comfortably the most accessible Miami game of the season so far for UK viewers.
Hard Rock Stadium should have a bit of extra magic tonight too.
Miami are celebrating the 35th anniversary of the undefeated 1991 National Championship team.
For newer and overseas Canes, these occasions are a brilliant reminder that the history we constantly hear about isn’t some vague bit of college football mythology.
Those teams are the reason the U means what it does.
Tonight’s team are trying to add something of their own.
One result worth noting before Miami kick off: Clemson beat California 24-10 overnight, moving the Tigers to 3-1 ahead of next week’s meeting with the Hurricanes in Death Valley. Miami still have Central Michigan to deal with first, but Clemson week is already waiting in the background.
The Last Word from Across the Pond
Miami’s first three games have already given us plenty.
Mensah has broken records, the offence has piled up yards, the defence has dominated the run and Wake Forest finally made the Hurricanes deal with some adversity.
Tonight should be different.
Central Michigan want to run the football and shorten the game, while Miami have the talent to make that plan very difficult very quickly.
The result is expected.
What matters is how Miami get there.
A complete performance, useful snaps for the new faces and a clean injury report would make for an excellent Saturday night.
Get to 4-0 and then turn the page.
