GAME 2 PREVIEW: Overmatched Florida A&M will be a breather for Miami coming off opener vs. Florida

CaneSport is taking a deeper dive inside Miami’s games this season, and today we have your breakdown of Game 2 vs. Florida A&M:

FLORIDA A&M AT MIAMI, SAT. SEPT. 7, MIAMI GARDENS, FLA., 6 PM, ACCNX

2024 GAME PREVIEWS: FLORIDA

OVERVIEW

An FCS Mid-Eastern Conference team, Florida A&M is coming off a 12-1 Black College Football National Championship season that included a Celebration Bowl win against Howard, 30-26. The lone loss was to USF, 38-24. But, of course, this is a team that’s playing at a much different level than Miami. Jackson Sate, Alabama State, Southern, Mississippi Valley State, etc. are the typical opponents, and last year USF was the only FBS team the Rattlers faced. In 2022 the team also had success, going 9-2, but was beaten by 32 points against its only FBS opponent, North Carolina, 56-24. This game won’t pose much of a challenge for a Miami team that has a size/athleticism advantage at every position on the field.

THE PERSONNEL

A familiar name for Miami fans is on the offensive side of the ball: Former Cane RB Thaddius Franklin, Jr. (he transferred in from La.-Monroe this year). The RB room returns Kelvin Dean (376 yards, 3 TDs) and Jaquez Yant (338 yards, 7 TDs), but loses top back Terrell Jennings (673 yards, 10 TDs). At quarterback there’s a battle that will go into fall camp, with starter Jeremy Moussa (22 TD passes, 10 INTs, 2 rush TDs) gone. FAU transfer Daniel Richardson is one of the guys pushing, and last year he completed 208 of 322 passes for 2,001 yards last year with 13 TDs and 10 INTs. Junior Muratovic was the backup last year, and he returns after hitting on 12 of 24 passes for 138 yards. Top receiving targets Marcus Riley (584 yards, 5 TDs) and Jah’Marae Sheread (497 yards, 3 TDs) are gone, and the team hopes Jamari Gassett can be a go-to threat (the former Buffalo transfer had 320 yards and 3 TDs last season). TE Kamari Young (444 yards) also needs to be replaced. On the other side of the ball DL/LB Allen Smith, Jr. (a former Louisville transfer) is a top returner – he went in the portal but then returned, and he had 30 tackles and 3.5 sacks last season. The team will miss Anthony Dunn Jr. (46 tackles, 8 sacks), who transferred to Toledo, and Johnny Chaney, Jr. (73 tackles, 3 sacks), who transferred to Colorado. The team has a playmaking returner in DB Deco Wilson, a former Jacksonville State transfer who had 39 tackles and three interceptions. But there are significant personnel losses in the secondary – Lovie Jenkins (33 tackles, INT), Kym’Mani King (30 tackles, INT), Javan Morgan (36 tackles, 3 INTs) and Eric Smith (37 tackles, 3 INTs). So there are question marks on this defense with the departin personnel.

QUESTION MARK AREAS MIAMI CAN EXPLOIT

This is a team that last year did very well on defense, ranking No. 2 in FCS allowing just 260.8 yards per game, and it was No.1 in team passing efficiency defense (again, against a much different level of opponent). There were a lot of losses here, though, as you can see in the above section. Two of the top guys up front are gone, as are several pieces in the back end. And we didn’t even mention the loss of top LB / tackle leader Isaiah Major, who had 106 tackles, 12.5 for losses with two sacks and two interceptions. So it remains a question mark if the defense can come close to replicating the success it had a year ago. On the other side of the ball it’s unclear if the QB situation can be as good as it was last year under Moussa, and with the top RB and two top WRs gone this could remain a weak area (Florida A&M was No. 72 in FCS in rushing last year with 138.1 yards per game and No. 33 in passing offense with 236.5 yards). There’s also a change at the top. The Rattlers are now led by first-year head coach/former FSU CB James Colzie III, who was the team’s DB coach the last two years. Former head coach Willie Simmons took the job as Manny Diaz’s RB coach at Duke. While things might come together once again for Florida A&M in FCS play, this is a team that won’t give Miami much trouble.

GAME DIFFICULTY RATING FOR MIAMI

In short, there are numerous question marks on both sides of the ball for this Rattlers team, and regardless of if it can reload as a top FCS team it’s hard to imagine Florida A&M staying remotely close in a game vs. the Canes. Miami simply out-talents them all over the field. Our game difficulty rating, with 10 representing Miami’s most difficult game vs. FSU, would be a 1. This should be Miami’s easiest opponent.

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