State of the U

In ‘25, the Miami Hurricanes dominated Pitt 38-7 to make the CFB Playoff over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In 2025, the Miami Hurricanes dominated the Pitt Panthers 38-7 with a trip to the College Football Playoff on the line for the ‘Canes. Miami hit the road in November to a chilly girlfriend of an afternoon at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA. The ‘Canes led the first half 17-7 before scoring 21 unanswered points in the 2nd half to dominate Pat Narduzzi’s Panthers.

There is no team on Miami’s schedule undergoing a bigger reconstruction project than North Carolina, but Bill Belichick’s Year 2 Tar Heels bring a retooled offense and a legitimate defensive centerpiece to Chapel Hill when the Canes come calling on Halloween weekend Miami’s trip to Kenan Memorial Stadium on Saturday, October 31 arrives at arguably the most treacherous point of the schedule.

The Pitt Panthers hired Pat Narduzzi after disappointing runs from both Paul Chryst and Todd Graham. The Pitt brass forced Dave Wannstedt to step down after a 7-5 season. Had they known it would be their best season over the next four years they might’ve changed their minds. Since his hiring in 2015, Narduzzi has coached only two losing seasons over the past 10 seasons. The Panthers even won 11 games in 2021, their first double-digit win season since 2009 under Wannstedt (10 wins).

Happy Monday, everybody. Hope your weeks have gotten off to a great start. We are still in the college sports dead period, so let’s dig around and find some Miami Hurricanes’ related nuggets to discuss. 1) Who wants to talk more about Keionte Scott’s pick six against Ohio State? Everyone? Ok, cool, let’s do it. Scott running past Jeremiah Smith and snaring Julian Sayin’s pass heading for Brandon Innis is undoubtedly the play of the year for the Hurricanes.

Samson Okunlola and Matthew McCoy are often the subject of comparisons amongst Miami Hurricanes fans. The two players shared time in 2025 at the left guard position and are both vying for starting time in ‘26. With all five spots up for grabs on the ‘Canes OL these two massive men could find themselves starting at guard or tackle this season. Okunlola, a former five-star OT prospect out of high school, has played in 32 games over three seasons in Coral Gables.

Mike Norvell’s last chance is in the hands of transfer QB Ashton Daniels Ashton Daniels has been tapped as the savior of Mike Norvell’s run as the Florida State Seminoles head football coach. Daniels, a transfer from Auburn via Stanford, will be the ‘Noles starting QB in 2026. A six-foot-two, 220 pound three-star out of Buford, GA, Daniels played in 33 games for the Cardinal before his move to Auburn under Hugh Freeze.

This is a game that used to feature two of nation’s best, and they ended up putting on one of the best games in the nation year in and year out. Lately, this rivalry has devolved into one program being vastly superior than the other coming in, and we haven’t seen a classic in this game in quite a while. And 2026 should be another brick in that wall, or at least that’s what Miami fans are hoping. The Hurricanes are undeniably the best program in the state of Florida as we sit here today.

One of the biggest reasons Miami enters the season with championship aspirations is because of what it has in the backfield. This running back room combines power, explosiveness, experience, and youth, giving Miami one of the deepest running back groups in all of college football. Whether the Hurricanes are looking to control games late, create explosive plays, or keep fresh legs throughout a long season, Mario Cristobal and new running backs coach Favian Upshaw have no shortage of options.

After a stellar run at Memphis Mike Norvell has had a rollercoaster run in Tallahassee as the Florida State Seminoles head football coach. Norvell finished his four year stint at Memphis with a 38-15 record. At FSU Norvell started off slow winning only eight games in two years. Then the ‘Noles had an awakening and won 23 games from 2022-2023. And now that reality has come crashing back down with seven wins the past two seasons. FSU will have 17 transfers in the 2-deep once again in 2026.

The Miami Hurricanes head to Death Valley Lite to take on the Clemson Tigers on October 3rd, 2026, kickoff time TBD. I was actually planning on attending this game. I even booked a hotel room a few months ago. Then last week, I went to Clemson’s website to look at single-game tickets. The site is run by Ticketmaster. Um, what?! Why?! Ticketmaster is the worst. Just as I expected, tickets are crazy expensive. Hotel reservation cancelled. At least I still have my Wake Forest trip to look forward to.