GAME 9 PREVIEW: Manny Diaz’s return to Miami with Duke shouldn’t pose a lot of difficulties for the Hurricanes

CaneSport is taking a deeper dive inside Miami’s games this season, and today we have your breakdown of Game 9 vs. Duke:

MIAMI VS. DUKE, SAT. NOV. 2, MIAMI GARDENS, FLA., 3:30 PM, TIME TBA

GAME PREVIEWS: FLORIDA … FLORIDA A&M … BALL STATE … USF … VIRGINIA TECH … CAL … LOUISVILLE … FLORIDA STATE

OVERVIEW

It’s the Manny Diaz vs. Mario Cristobal grudge match or whatever you want to call it in this game against the Canes’ former coach. Good news for Miami is Duke just doesn’t really have a lot going for it on either side of the ball, and we see this as one of UM’s easiest opponents. Duke has just four returning starters on offense and four on defense, and while there are portal additions to bolster the roster it’s questionable just what kind of difference-makers were added. Certainly this is not a team with nearly the same level of depth and talent on either side of the ball as Miami, and with the Canes at home there’s no reason it should not be an easy victory. The Blue Devils struggled with losing records from 2019-21 before Mike Elko found success the last two years with 9-4 and 8-5 finishes. But now he’s off to Texas A&M and it’s Diaz’s turn. He has his work cut out.

THE PERSONNEL

QB Riley Leonard (injured most of last year, threw for 20 TDs and ran in 13 scores two years ago) has now transferred to Notre Dame, so Texas QB transfer Maalik Murphy is set to lead the Blue Devils’ offense. He played in seven games last year and hit on 40 of 71 passes for 477 yards with 3 TDs and 3 INTs when filling in for Quinn Ewers. The team’s top running back, Jordan Waters (819 yards, 12 TDs), transferred to NC State, but Jaquez Moore returns after rushing for 674 yards and six scores. At WR Jordan Moore is a weapon who had 62 catches for 835 yards and eight TDs, and with Jalon Calhoun (666 yards) gone the team hopes Sahmir Hagans (260 yards) can step up. Duke also added Old Dominion transfer Javon Harvey (7 starts, 29 catches, 391 yards, 4 TDs). Up front the offensive line lost All-ACC LT Graham Barton and only has one starter back – OG Justin Pickett. The team added some transfers to help out including UCLA’s Bruno Fina (started 13 games last year at LT), Northwestern’s Zachary Franks (one career start), Stanford’s James Pogorelc (two starts last year) and Lafayette two-year starter Mike Barr.

On defense the team lost four starting defensive linemen (including sack leaders Aeneas Peebles and RJ Oben, who had five apiece), LB Dorian Mausi (61 tackles, INT) and S Brandon Johnson (56 tackles, 8.5 TFL), so there are a lot of question marks on this side of the ball. The team is relying on some backups from last year to step up on the DL, including DE Wesley Williams (6.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks), DE Vincent Anthony (2 sacks) and DT Aaron Hall (1.5 sacks). Liberty transfer Kendy Charles could also make an impact – he had three sacks in eight games last year and started 13 games in 2022 and had 60 tackles and 5.5 sacks. Linebacker is probably the strength of the defense despite losing Mausi, with Tre Freeman (team high 106 tackles, 5 TFL, INT) and Nick Morris, Jr. (61 tackles 2 TFL) solid playmakers. The secondary’s top returner is safety Jaylen Stinson (88 tackles, INT), joined by returner Terry Moore (43 tackles, 2.5 sacks). CB Chandler Rivers is solid and had 58 tackles and an interception in 2023. The second portal window also added some help on defense. In that window the team added LB Alex Howard, who had 76 tackles, 9.5 tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks, one interception and three pass breakups last year at Youngstown State, and Rice CB Tre’Shon Devones came on board after he had 11 starts, 10 PBU and two interceptions.

QUESTION MARK AREAS MIAMI CAN EXPLOIT

Duke loses pieces on both sides of the ball and was No. 94 in total offense and No. 41 in total defense a year ago. It probably won’t be any better this season as Manny Diaz has quite a rebuilding process to go through after Elko’s departure. The Blue Devils’ offensive line seems an obvious Achilles’ heel at this point, as Diaz ferociously tried to add portal talent but didn’t really seem to get any sure-fired major guys there. So the Blue Devils’ run game and QB protection could be suspect. When Miami has the ball on offense, attacking an all-new defensive line that doesn’t really have proven playmakers seems the obvious way to go. The Blue Devils probably won’t be very good up front on either side of the ball.

GAME DIFFICULTY RATING FOR MIAMI

Duke just isn’t expected to be very good, regardless of its success the last two seasons under Elko. A lot of talent left, and it doesn’t seem there are a lot of pieces on either side of the ball that are going to scare you. Our game difficulty rating, with 10 representing Miami’s most difficult game vs. FSU and a 1 for the easiest opponent FAMU, would be a 3.0. We see that as tied for Miami’s third easiest game with Wake Forest, behind only Ball State and Florida A&M.

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