On3’s J.D. PicKell on Good Morning CaneSport: I have the Miami Hurricanes winning the ACC, getting bye in playoffs

A special guest joined CaneSport publisher Gary Ferman on Good Morning CaneSport today: On3’s The Hard Count host and college football expert J.D. PicKell. And PicKell didn’t hold back when it came to his take on this year’s Miami Hurricanes team.

He sees Mario Cristobal’s reshaped roster making waves nationally. Miami, of course, added seven transfers that are expected to start – QB Cam Ward, RB Damien Martinez, WR Sam Brown, C Zach Carpenter, DTs CJ Clark and Simeon Barrow and safety Mishael Powell. Plus there are other transfers competing to start as well as solid returning starters in WR Xavier Restrepo, WR Jacolby George, OL Jalen Rivers, Anez Cooper and Francis Mauigoa, LBs Francisco Mauigoa and Wesley Bissainthe and CB Daryl Porter, Jr.

Add that up plus a relatively easy schedule, and you can see why PicKell declared this morning that he thinks Miami will win the ACC and get a playoff bye.

“The roster now in Year 3 – if you’re a Miami fan this is the roster you signed up for when Mario Cristobal first took the job,” PicKell said. “It is a `show me’ year. … By year 3 and getting a quarterback like Cam Ward is kind of like Uncle Ben and Spiderman – with great power comes great responsibility. With a great quarterback, with a great roster and winnable conference comes great expectations. If they don’t reach their potential this upcoming season there will be a tremendous level of regret that you didn’t maximize the one year you had with Cam Ward and it becomes a lot more difficult to pitch the future of Miami.

“If they win at a high level, that pours gasoline on what Miami is going forward, pours gasoline on what they’re doing on the recruiting trail, provides more proof of concept to what they can do through the portal. There’s all these things hanging in the balance of a year 3 team in Miami, and I think they are going to get it done.”

Now, with the above in mind, PicKell also says he thinks Miami won’t come out of Gainesville with a win vs. Florida in the opener Aug. 31.

“I think back to the game where Utah went into The Swamp, and Utah that year won the Pac-12, played in a Rose Bowl game, they were a better outfit than Florida was that season – Florida won six football games,” PicKell said. “That is just like the perfect snapshot for me why I have a harder time getting on board with Miami winning that football game in The Swamp. In Gainesville, that’s a different football team when they play at home. If this game was played in Atlanta, Ga., I probably pick Miami.

“All the negative things (Florida has heard this offseason), I think they’ll come out with something to prove. Also all the new players (at Miami), Cam Ward making his first start in one of the most difficult if not the most difficult environments to play in all of college football, I think they drop that game. But Miami will be better for having played in that environment. Spoiler – I don’t have them losing another game the rest of the way. … The sky is falling for a week, then Miami rolls.”

That includes beating a Florida State team that’s the only one ranked ahead of Miami in terms of opponents on the schedule. Louisville is also a team that could cause the Canes problems, with that one on the road.

Those are probably the other two toughest games on the schedule along with Florida.

“It’s year three, and (winning tough games like playing at Louisville and vs. FSU) are what Cristobal teams are about,” PicKell said. “The persona of your leadership at some point in time over the course of a couple of seasons will eventually be the persona of your team. I think Mario Cristobal, who he is: Toughness, don’t flinch, poise, attack – all those things embody who he is. In this moment that’s going to be the message to this team: `If you want to be who you claim you want to be, be a team that wins the ACC, makes the college football playoff, you handle business in games like this.’

“It reminds me a lot of Texas last year and the conversation revolving around them was `yeah, that big brand gets a lot of buzz, we hear every year what they are supposed to be,’ and then Year 3 they go win the conference and make the college football playoff because of who they had at quarterback, what Sark (Steve Sarkisian) had done behind closed doors to build that culture. I think that’s very similar to what Miami will be in 2024.”

PicKell adds that he thinks Florida State is “real good.”

“They feel like that is the deepest, most talented team Mike Norvell has had there,” PicKell said. “Now, at the same time, a lot of new faces, unproven faces in that room. It’s going to be a dogfight when they play Miami. … As good as Florida State is, I don’t think can score with Miami. If Miami goes up 7, goes up 10, I don’t think you’re catching Cam Ward and that offense.”

The bottom line: After 5-7 and 7-6 records the last two years, PicKell projects an 11-1 record and the playoffs for the Canes. He sees the process paying off for Miami.

“You see a leap from that first year to second year, now in that third year, `Alright, Mario Cristobal, I believe at least, can confidently sign his name off on this roster to being a Mario Cristobal roster,’” PicKell said. “For the most part this is an outfit I would believe he feels is a lot closer to what he expects in Coral Gables.”

With Ward in particular, PicKell stresses how “If you have a quarterback you have a chance, and they have more than a puncher’s chance anytime Cam Ward is under center. Excited to see it. Not a lot of weaknesses on paper – extremely bullish on the Canes.”

Ward was named the ACC Preseason Player of the Year after coming in from Washington State, where he led the nation’s No. 4 passing offense. Ward also has gotten praise for his leadership ability, something Miami has perhaps missed at the quarterback position in recent years.

“There is a lot of merit to the Cam Ward hype and to buy stock in him,” PicKell said. “The things he did at Washington State I wholeheartedly believe will, physically, translate to Miami’s offense. He has more talent around him now at Miami, has a more capable offensive coordinator in a Shannon Dawson. All those things combine to make me excited about Cam Ward.”

A final takeaway from PicKell?

He sees Miami “in that top tier”of college football. So what could cause issues for the Canes once the team does make the playoffs, assuming that transpires as PicKell expects?

“The concern for me if I’m in Miami (when it comes to the playoffs) is those teams with really elite depth like an Ohio State, like a Georgia,” PicKell said. “Because for Miami, as good as Cam Ward is, the question for me is can the trenches go the distance. And that’s not just my question for Miami, it’s for everyone across the board in a 16, 17 game season. You have to have the quantity of big bodies and capable bodies to win when you get into late December, early January.”

The post On3’s J.D. PicKell on Good Morning CaneSport: I have the Miami Hurricanes winning the ACC, getting bye in playoffs appeared first on On3 .