Inside The Statistics: How Dominant Was Miami’s Win Over Florida?

Miami went to Gainesville and took away any doubts it was better than Florida.

After one period of play, the Canes led the Gators 7-3. The second quarter was the time Miami started to hammer Florida on its own field. UM’s offensive production, just for the second stanza, dwarfed UF’s.

Miami totaled 190 yards, including quarterback Cam Ward completing 11 of 13 passing attempts for 139 yards and a touchdown. By halftime, the Gators were in big trouble. The stat line was not kind to the Gators but neither was Miami’s defense.

The third quarter represented the nail in the coffin for Florida. Miami outscored the opposition 14-0. The U also out-gained UF 162 to 47. Once again, Ward was a prime reason why. His third quarter numbers ended by connecting on 7 of 10 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown.

Indeed, when all the scoring was complete, the Hurricanes walked out of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with a resounding win over the Gators. It was an impressive performance that sets the standard for the rest of the 2024 college football season.

Here are some of the other prime stats, and players, to note from yesterday’s 41-17 win.

MIAMI'S STATISTICAL DOMINANCE

**UM outgained UF 529 to 261.

**Ward's final passing stat line was 26 of 35, 385 yards, 74.3%, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception.

**UF’s passing defense was awful at stopping the big plays last season and continued versus Miami. Ward connected on 10 different passing plays of at least 20 yards. The total number of explosive passing plays led to Miami gaining 281 yards.

**The Gators were the opposite of Miami with big passing plays. They literally did not complete a single pass of 20 yards or more.

**The Canes' passing game finished with 385 yards compared to the Gators’ 122.

**The Hurricanes receivers ended with 7 receptions from passes of 15 or more yards compared to the Gators with 1 reception from 8 passes in the same category.

**Miami junior tight end Elijah Arroyo showed he's healthy, and talented, with 4 receptions for 89 yards.

**Targeted 8 times, UM receiver Xavier Restrepo finished with 7 receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown.

**The sack-adjusted yards per passing attempt average for UM ended at 10.3 compared to 3.6 for UF.

**Miami converted 5 of 10 third downs compared to 1 of 9 for Florida.

**Ward provided evidence that he can get red hot by hitting six consecutive passes on two separate occasions.

**Miami finished with 25 first downs compared to Florida’s 17.

**Coming off the Lisfranc injury, Miami running back Mark Fletcher, Jr . proved he’s also healthy with 7 carries, 23 yards, and 2 rushing touchdowns.

**Despite many Gators fans believing their defense was ready for a turnaround, it gave up 41 points and only accumulated 1 sack and 2 tackles for loss. UF linebacker Shemar James did intercept Ward once.

**Miami’s defense showcased playmaking ability with 3 sacks and 8 tackles for loss; 2 interceptions from Jaden Harris and Mishael Powell also helped the Miami cause.

**Overall, Harris played arguably the best game for UM’s defense, recording 7 tackles, a half of a sack, 1 tackle for loss, an interception, and a pass breakup.

**The addition of former Tennessee defensive end Tyler Baron paid dividends with him garnering 3 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and a sack.

**Before UF quarterback Graham Mertz left the game with an injury, he was 11 of 20 for 91 yards and an interception. Mertz’s quarterback rating came to 83.2%. Keep in mind, he completed 72.9% of his passes last season and only threw 3 interceptions.