The Miami Hurricanes are back? It’s going to be hard to prove that when there are not any players ranked in the top 50 in the nation.
That’s all we’ve heard all off-season. The Miami Hurricanes are back, we’re going to beat FSU and win the ACC Coastal division.
Well, the Canes haven’t beaten FSU in seven year and have never won the ACC Coastal division since joining the ACC over a decade ago.
Neither will likely change with a true freshman starting at quarterback and ZERO players listed among the top 50 in the nation according to ESPN.
FSU had five players listed among ESPN’s top 50 players, including the No. 1 overall player in Derwin James.
Deondre Francois checked in at No. 11, Josh Sweat at No. 24, Tarvarus McFadden at No. 25 and Derrick Nnadi at No. 50.
Most of Miami’s hype is due to their defense that finished No. 13 in S&P rankings in 2016. However, we’ve already pointed out their defense played against inferior offenses for the most part.
Must Read: The Miami Defense Played Against Mediocre Offenses in 2016
The average ranking for offenses faced by Miami’s defense last season was No. 45 when you take out the FCS game against FAMU.
On the flip side, FSU has four of the top 50 players in the nation on defense and a redshirt sophomore quarterback who won ACC Rookie of the Year honors.
Did I mention the game is in Tallahassee?
It’s another illustration of the recruiting gap between Florida State and the Miami Hurricanes over the last eight or nine years.
One key thing to watch is Miami’s recruiting in 2018. They had the No. 1 recruiting class for much off the cycle, but seem to have stalled recently.
Next: Top 5 Reasons FSU Fans Should Hate Miami More Than Florida
The question is will they be able to hang onto the players they’ve gotten committed for 2018? How will it affect that recruiting class
if
when they lose to FSU in the third game of the season and proceed to lose the next two or three like they normally do because of the loss to FSU?
Last season their recruiting class fell to No. 13 overall. Could we seem the same happen in 2018?