There is a tropical storm warning here.
The Miami Hurricanes have a running game, and they are moving up the rankings.
For the second straight week, the Hurricanes ran the ball well against an opponent, and D’Eriq King improved as a quarterback who scouts know is already very talented.
King threw three touchdown passes, and No. 17 Miami beat No. 18 Louisville 47-34 on Saturday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.
Cam’Ron Harris ran for 75 yards for a touchdown on the way to finishing with 134 yards on nine carries.
The ‘Canes had ten-run plays of at least 18 yards, including seven passing.
“We talked about creating more explosive plays through the passing game, which we were able to do able to do but, we also had some big one in the running game as well,” Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz stated. “We can still be so much better.”
Hurricanes came off a game where they ran over a UAB defense for 337 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-14 win.
King also connected with tight end Brevin Jordan all night (seven catches, 120 yards) with a 47-yard TD pass in the fourth to finish with 325 yards on 18-of-30 passing.
Jordan had a short catch with open space down the sideline leading him to hurdle a defender and nearly score. Jordan is arguably King’s best weapon on the field.
What coach Rhett Lashlee has done for us is give us that sense of confidence, he told us from day one, we are going to score points,” Jordan said. “It is just how are you guys going to react. He gave us that sense of identity. We are going to score a lot of points. It is starting to feel natural. When we score touchdowns, we say okay, let’s do it again.”
Louisville’s Micale Cunningham was in midseason form, throwing for 343 yards and three touchdowns to go along with 24 rushing yards and a score against WKU.
However, Cunningham faced the Hurricanes defense this week. Despite the offense outgaining them 516-485, the Cardinals committed three turnovers.
The Cardinals let another early lead slip away fast. The defense allowed big plays and appeared completely puzzled at times.
There are important issues outside the game of football at the moment around the country.
Approximately 40 protesters seeking the arrest of Louisville police in the death of Breonna Taylor during a March narcotics raid demonstrated briefly and peacefully outside Cardinal Stadium before the game. A Louisville athletic spokesman said they left after kickoff, and there were no arrests.
The beat goes on.
Louisville visits Pittsburgh on Saturday.
It is FSU week, Miami hosts in-state rival Florida State on Saturday.
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