Of all the results from Week 1 of college football, few resonated more than Miami’s 41-17 thrashing of Florida in Gainesville. The Hurricanes entered as a narrow favorite in what was largely viewed as a toss-up game and left The Swamp as the team to beat in the ACC with a favorable path to the College Football Playoff.
Miami was already expected to be favored in nearly every game of its schedule, but Saturday’s showdown with Florida was one of the matchups where you could imagine the Hurricanes picking up a loss. And while Florida has its own issues to address in the wake of defeat, there was enough to take away from Miami’s win to believe that the margin had as much (or more) to do with the Hurricanes’ strengths rather than the Gators’ weaknesses.
This is a performance that’s repeatable against the rest of Miami’s schedule. If that happens, we will be looking at a Hurricanes team with a chance to reach heights the program has not seen in more than two decades. Making the College Football Playoff in 2024 is putting yourself in national championship contention, and we haven’t seen Miami in real national championship contention since the beginning of the 21st century.
Cam Ward is an X-factor
One of core principles for coaches who rely heavily on talent accumulation is the belief that in the biggest games of the year, nothing is more important than having a greater number of better players than the opponent. College football features teams and coaches that can scheme and game plan their way to eliminate talent gaps, but when two powers square off, the matchup may be boiled down to who has more special players. Miami quarterback Cam Ward proved in Saturday’s win that he is, in fact, one of those special players capable of taking over on this…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/by-routing-florida-in-week-1-miami-has-created-multiple-paths-to-college-football-playoff-selection/
Author : Chip Patterson
Publish date : 2024-09-01 00:38:08
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