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For those that don't know, the Miami Hurricanes football program has never won an ACC Championship. Since coming over from the Big East in 2004, not only have the Hurricanes never won the conference championship, they've only played in one conference championship game period. That was all the way back in 2017. Coming from the Big East, they were nine-time conference champions.
When Miami entered the ACC, many thought they would dominate the conference. That couldn't be farther from the truth. Miami has lost all sense of relevancy since joining the conference when many thought they would bring relevancy to it. The Hurricanes have only won 10 games once since joining the conference, the same year they played for their only ACC title in which they lost to Clemson 38-3.
This Hurricanes currently reside in a season with more promise and hope than there has been in years. Of course, there's always the initial hope at the beginning of the season, much like there was last season when former alum Mario Cristobal took over the program as head coach. But Miami fans were met with an all too familiar demise, early and often last season. They finished 5-7 and lost to, of all teams, the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders. In a weird way, it was the worst of Miami seasons but it also may have been a necessity. Still, does that mean Hurricanes' football fans can actually trust this team?
It's easy to get caught up and overreact at the Hurricanes recent success, and although expectations should be tempered a bit, there's very good reasons to believe that Miami can win the ACC Championship this season. However, that in an of itself is a very lofty expectation considering Miami's history and being a year removed from 5-7. Here's some reasons — with hesitancy — why it could be possible.
Tyler Van Dyke
This seems like the most obvious but is possibly one of the most crucial components to this year's Miami football team. Tyler Van Dyke finally looks to have regained his superior form from 2021, the one where many were considering him one of the top quarterbacks in the country entering 2022. He's also healthy, which is a huge plus. Van Dyke's lack of production last year can be attributed to few things but his health ended up possibly being the biggest factor. He's already had one career day this season in which he threw for five touchdowns against Texas A&M. He may have more along the way.
Offensive line
There's good reason for Van Dyke's superior play and sustained health so far and that's been the offensive line. Cristobal, a former offensive lineman himself, has always brought an emphasis to that part of the team wherever he's been, and it's finally showing down in Coral Gables. Cristobal not only brought it one of his highest rated recruits yet in OL Francis Mauigoa, he brought in OL Javion Cohen from Alabama and one of the best centers in the country in Matt Lee from Central Florida out of the transfer portal to enhance this year's line. So far, it's paying off. Lack of offensive line production had been a consistent problem for years at Miami.
Defense
There's undoubtedly some question marks still on the defensive side of the ball this season for Miami football, notably at the linebacker position. But under new defensive coordinator Lance Guidry, this side of the ball looks almost completely different than last season. The Miami defense ranked 10th in the ACC last season, allowing an average of 26.8 points per game. In their three games this season, they've allowed 14.3. Now granted, you have to look at their competition in Miami (OH) and Bethune-Cookman, some lesser opponents. But remember, they gave up 45 points to MTSU last season.
Texas A&M is where the majority of their points allowed (33) came from so far this season, although 14 of those points came off Miami mistakes. One from a blocked punt that later resulted in a first quarter one-yard run from quarterback Connor Weigman. Then another in the second quarter off a Miami muffed punt that led to an Amari Daniels nine-yard touchdown run. Again, this side of the ball isn't perfect but it does seem much improved and looking capable enough to make some crucial stops when necessary.
ACC competition
The ACC has been Clemson's conference for the last decade. Even coming into this season most had the Tigers winning the conference once again. There's still lots of games left to play, including when the Tigers come down to Hard Rock Stadium to face the Hurricanes in late October. But the Tigers' loss to Duke in the opener leaves the conference wide open.
The team with the next best odds to win the conference is familiar Miami foe in the Florida State Seminoles. Miami faces both Clemson and Florida State during the regular season but with the way the conference championship contenders is structured to take the two best team's, the Hurricanes could potentially face one of them in a rematch. No team looks unbeatable, the Hurricanes not excluded. This looks to be a massive year of progression for Cristobal and Miami football, where they have a great chance to, if nothing else, get back to the ACC Championship game, if not win it outright.
