Capricious 'Canes? Cardiac 'Canes? Call them what you will, but when you look in the standings of the ACC Coastal division you will see them in first place.
Miami is a team with an offense that can play anybody, but a defense that doesn't want to. NCSt is a decent offensive team that is much more competent on defense. So which one will prevail today?
Miami managed just 13 points against the one good defense it has faced this season. If the Hurricanes post a similar number Saturday, the Pack should win their third straight in the series. But if it turns into a track meet, the Pack may have trouble keeping up.
After wowing us, then aggravating and ultimately thrilling us in Atlanta, the Canes finally play an actual home game against a conference opponent. At 3-1 each, this game has a lot of meaning early for both teams in their respective divisions. The Seventh Floor looks at the matchup...
We don't usually do predictions or prediction threads, but I thought it might be an interesting exercise this week. Miami is at an interesting point in its season -- a win on Saturday would put the team in good position to win seven games, a number which many thought was unreachable before the season. (A win, in fact, on Saturday would give Miami as many wins in five games as Sports Illustrated predicted they'd win in the entire season.) The team has given plenty of reasons why it could win seven games, but it's also given plenty of reasons why it might not win another game for the rest of the season.
North Carolina State is also an intriguing matchup for Miami at this juncture in the season. The Canes can certainly win the game -- in fact, they're favored by 2.5 points in Vegas. But the Wolfpack could also beat UM by two touchdowns. This is a good measuring stick game for Miami -- how they play on Saturday could give a good indication of their chances of beating teams like Virginia and North Carolina, which are crucial games if Miami wants to break the six-win threshold this year.
The Wolfpack have been pretty unimpressive this year, but they were projected as an eight-win team before the season. They're in the same sort of unknown zone as the Hurricanes -- this is not Miami vs. FSU, for instance. So I'm curious about everyone's feelings on Saturday's game. Optimistic? Pessimistic? Unsure?
It looks like the NCSt offensive line will be without a few cogs this weekend against Miami. This could prove to be a big time obstacle for them with the apparent emergence of an outside pass rush from the Canes' defensive ends.
While the NC State basketball team is all rainbows and roses right now, the football team is here to keep us all grounded. This week it's the injury report getting the job done, as neither Rob Crisp nor Andrew Wallace will play against the Miami Hurricanes this weekend. Wallace was listed as the starter at right tackle on the initial depth chart released this week.
OUT FOR GAME Rob Crisp, OT - lower back Andrew Wallace, OT - foot James Washington, HB - ankle
OUT FOR SEASON Jacob Kahut, DT - knee Michael Peek, LB - knee
How much of an impact will this have? Let's just say I hope that the back of Glennon's jersey comes away with a lot of Sun Life grass stains.
According to tweets by Jorge Milian (@CanesWatch), the coaches sent out their injury report for this Saturdays game against North Carolina State.
As expected, Denzel Perryman is out, however Raphael Kirby is listed as probable. Whether or not he sees any actual playing time is anyone's guess.
Dalton Botts was not listed on the report, meaning he should be good to go. However, Milian reminds everyone that Vaughn Telemaque wasn't listed on the report last week and didn't play at all.
Andrew Swasey was not listed either, which would be big for the special teams unit.
The Tweets in question:
Andrew Swasey - valuable on special teams - not listed on injury report either. Missed last week's game.
The boys over at Backing The Pack have revealed that Shadrach Thornton, off the heels of his coming out party against The Citadel, will ride the pine to begin the game against Miami. Anthony Creecy will start. I highly doubt that this second string "demotion" will stick throughout the game, or that we won't see any of him.
For any of you (and that should be ALL of you) that will be going to this weekend's game against the Wolfpack, youre going to need to know where to park, where to get tickets, where to tailgate, etc. Here is the skinny on all of that stuff, courtesy of Hurricanesports:
STUDENT BUS SCHEDULE Buses will leave the University of Miami campus from Stanford Circle and will begin departing 3 hours prior to kickoff and will return at halftime.
PARKING INFORMATION All parking lots will be open four hours prior to kickoff at 8 a.m. Preferred tailgate lots (3, 5A) will open five hours prior to kick (7 a.m.). Green, Orange and cash lots will open four hours prior (8 a.m.), while RV lots will open six hours prior at 6 a.m. Click HERE for Sun Life Stadium parking map.
TICKET INFORMATION | SUN LIFE STADIUM MAP | 3D STADIUM VIEW Great seats are still available for the NC State game. Call 1-800-GO-CANES, visit HurricaneSports.com or stop by the BankUnited Center on campus Friday to get your tickets. The ticket office will be open until 5 p.m. On gameday, ticket offices at Sun Life Stadium will open at 8 a.m. at Gates B, D, F and H. Ticket/Media Will Call will open at 8 a.m. at Gate H.
The people over at Hurricanesports do a fantastic job of keeping everyone updated with whatever they may need to know about the Canes. Their game previews are no different. Here's all the technical info about this weekends game that you could possibly need:
GAME INFORMATION Date / Time: Sat., Sept. 29, 2012 / 12:01 p.m. EDT Site: Miami Gardens, Fla. / Sun Life Stadium (74,916) TV: ESPNU Play-by-Play: Tom Hart; Analyst: John Congemi Local Radio: 560 WQAM Play-by-Play: Joe Zagacki; Analyst: Don Bailey Jr.; Sideline: Josh Darrow Spanish Radio: Caracol 1260 AM Play-by-Play: Roly Martin; Analysts: Pepe Campos and Joe Martinez Student Radio: 90.5 FM WVUM Talent: Alex Schwartz, Corey Fujikawa, Chip Brierre Satellite Radio: Sirius 136, XM 191 (UM broadcast) Live Stats: HurricaneSports.com Twitter Updates: @HurricaneSports Series: Miami leads, 7-5-1 Miami:Miami leads, 5-4-1 Raleigh: Miami leads, 2-1 First Meeting: 1939 - W, 27-7 Last Meeting: 2008 - L, 28-38 Streak: NC State, 2 wins Game Notes:Miami | NC State | ACC
Of course, as always, The 7th Floor will have a live Game Thread for you to drop in and enjoy the game with us. You might even get featured in the Game Thread Highlights!
If you want to get to know NC State a bit better, head on over and visit the dudes at Backing The Pack.
