The No. 7 Miami Hurricanes will open the football season Friday night against Stanford in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup in California, more than seven months after reaching the College Football Playoff championship game.
Miami has spent the offseason preparing through conditioning workouts, spring drills, practices and film study. The Hurricanes also traveled across the country, managed jet lag and acclimated to a three-hour time difference before the night game.
Linebacker Mohamed Toure said Miami has maintained its preparation every day since the previous season ended. “We’re more than ready,” Toure said. “We’ve been preparing since [that day] … it’s been seven and a half months. We’ve been preparing every single day and we’re going to continue to prepare until Friday, continue to prepare for the moment and just be ready when the time comes.”
Running back Mark Fletcher Jr. offered a brief assessment of the wait ahead of the opener. “It’s about time. We’re just ready,” Fletcher said.
Miami prepares for cross-country opener
Miami head coach Mario Cristobal credited the sports science, nutrition, strength and conditioning, and academic support staffs with helping prepare the Hurricanes for the physical and mental demands of the trip. The program also studied how professional teams and other organizations manage travel from east to west.
“Well, we have a process. You want to get your body, your mind acclimated. So, your travel plans are very different,” Cristobal said. “It resembles what we did in the postseason last year. You want to be able to practice out there. It’s a night game. That [was] the biggest challenge out there a couple of years ago. I mean, let’s call it like [it is]. Nine o’clock there is 12 o’clock as to what we’re accustomed to. …”
Cristobal said Miami put that preparation into action before the opener. “But we feel that our sports science department, along with strength and conditioning, nutrition and just experience in studying NFL teams, some other organizations, their records and their processes over the years traveling east to west, we’ve implemented that stuff. We feel strongly about it, and we put it into action. … The bottom line is let’s go play football and we’ll find out a lot about ourselves.”
Stanford enters after opening win
Stanford has already played one game this season, defeating Hawaii 37-27 after withstanding a 20-point fourth-quarter rally. The result gives the Cardinal an early test before facing Miami in the ACC matchup Friday night.
Running back Micah Ford rushed for 99 yards and three touchdowns against Hawaii, while quarterback Davis Warren threw for 312 yards and one touchdown in his Stanford debut. Toure described Ford as a physical runner who continues driving his feet through contact while also possessing speed, quickness and elusiveness.
“Hard runner. Gets downhill. He’s very tenacious,” Toure said of Ford. “He runs the ball with tenacity. He runs hard. After you pile on him, he’s still trying to chop … drive his feet. So, just being ready for that, being ready for him to do a lot of different things. He’s elusive. He’s fast. He’s quick. We’ve played backs like that, but he’s a great back and I’m just ready to compete against him.”
Miami’s offense features proven production
Miami will counter with an offense that includes several players who produced significant numbers the previous season. Fletcher totaled 1,129 rushing yards and scored 12 touchdowns, while setting a College Football Playoff single-season record with 512 postseason rushing yards.
Wide receiver Malachi Toney earned ACC Rookie of the Year honors after recording 1,622 all-purpose yards, 1,211 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. Miami’s returning group also includes running backs CharMar Brown and Girard Pringle Jr., tight end Elija Lofton, and wide receivers Joshua Moore and Daylyn Upshaw.
The Hurricanes added quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Cooper Barkate, who previously played at Duke. Mensah was named ACC Preseason Player of the Year after leading the ACC with 3,973 passing yards and 34 touchdowns, while Barkate recorded 1,106 receiving yards and seven touchdowns at Duke the previous season.
Mensah said the talent around him should allow him to make decisions based on coverage rather than force the ball to a particular receiver. “It makes me happy because it just makes it that much easier as a quarterback,” Mensah said. “I go to people based off coverage, not based off of who they are. I’m not trying to find Coop on a certain play. I’m going to go where the defense is telling me to go. And when you have guys that can just separate and you know they’re going to have separation, it just adds to that level of comfortability and trust.”
Miami focused on a fresh start
Miami’s College Football Playoff run remains part of the program’s recent context, but the Hurricanes are emphasizing the season opener instead of dwelling on the previous postseason. The immediate goal is to defeat Stanford and begin the season 1-0.
Fletcher said Miami is taking its mindset and culture on the road while preparing to face Stanford. “At the end of the day, the message that Cristobal gives us is just taking that mindset, taking our Miami culture with us, packing it on the airplane with us, going to that trip to be able to face great opponents like Stanford,” Fletcher said. “So, now we’re going to be mentally and physically ready to go.”
Cristobal said Miami views the opener as an opportunity to test its preparation. “We’ve taken this as an opportunity to really challenge ourselves to do our very best,” Cristobal said.
FSB Take
Miami’s opener combines a cross-country travel challenge with a Stanford team that already has a win this season. The Hurricanes bring established production from Fletcher and Toney, conference recognition for Mensah and an offseason centered on preparation. Friday night will provide Miami’s first opportunity to apply that work in an ACC matchup.
Source: Original report