Miami Hurricanes Rooting Guide: Week 4

We already know that you mainly root for Miami. That’s why you’re here at SOTU, duh. As we move into conference play, rooting for other teams to win could be helpful to the Hurricanes. So, here’s your first weekly guide for who to root for, from a Canes perspective.

Clemson 26 Georgia Tech 7, Thursday night, 7:30pm, ESPN

I know that’s in the past already, but Canes fans should have been rooting for Clemson. This was the conference opener for Clemson, and the loss puts an ACC Coastal foe at 1-1 in the league. In case you forgot (like I did), Georgia Tech beat Boston College in Dublin, Ireland to open week 1.

Clemson is inconsequential to Miami’s season until/unless the Canes face the Tigers in the ACC Championship game. Well kind of, since Clemson finally forced us to fire Al Golden and get a real coach. So, thanks again!

Florida State (2-1) at USF (3-0), Saturday, Noon, ABC/ESPN3

This is an interesting one. FSU has struggled with tempo offenses and mobile quarterbacks, as evidenced by last week’s 63-20 shellacking at the hands of Louisville and the Lamar Jackson Death Machine. For their part, USF and QB Quinton Flowers fit the bill of tempo offense and mobile QB. USF is looking to make a statement with a win, but FSU is looking to stem the tide and right the ship.

Who to root for: I can see both sides, but I’m begrudgingly going to say root for FSU. I want them ranked a highly as possible on October 8th when we beat them. BUT, if you root for USF because you cant and won’t ever root for FSU, I can’t blame you.

Central Michigan (3-0) at Virginia (0-3), Saturday, 12:30pm, ACC Network (regional)

This is a game with teams going in different directions. Central Michigan is undefeated, coming off a controversial win at Oklahoma State on a last second hail mary with lateral, then a solid win over UNLV at home.

Virginia, however, is among the worst teams in America. The Cavaliers have already lost BY TWO TOUCHDOWNS at home to Richmond, got the tar beat out of them by Oregon, then lost to UConn by 3, after rushing on their walk-on kicker for a potential game-tying FG at the gun, his first EVER kick in a football game, which he promptly missed. In short, they’re BAD

Who to root for: Central Michigan. Virginia is among the worst teams in America, if not the singular worst. They’re an ACC Coastal foe, but they’re not going to challenge Miami, or any other team, this season. Go with the Chippewas in this one.

East Carolina (2-1) at Virginia Tech (2-1), Saturday, 12:30pm, ACC Network (Regional)

Another non-conference game, but this one should be much more entertaining than CMU-UVa. Both ECU and VT have solid wins already on their record, and are a good match. ECU always finds a way to play P5 teams tough, and I think that will be the case again on Saturday. VT, however, may have too much skill to fall to an upset bid.

Who to root for: East Carolina. Hey, everybody loves an underdog, right?

Wagner (2-0) at Boston College (1-2), Saturday, 1pm, ACC Network (Regional)

With a “buy game” against a lower tier school, Boston College looks to even their record on the year by beating Wagner on Saturday. The Eagles’ offense can be a comedy of errors at times, but they have the talent advantage, and a stifling defense, that should make a win fairly easy.

Who to root for: Boston College. Maybe they can get some momentum and win an unexpected game against a top ACC Atlantic foe later on in the year.

Syracuse (1-2) at UConn (2-1), Saturday, 1pm, CBS Sports Network

UConn looks to run their ACC winning streak to 2 games after last week’s 13-10 win over Virginia. Syracuse looks to even their record after a couple tough losses, including being the second victim of Louisville’s Lamar Jackson Death Machine.

Who to root for: Syracuse. Having the Orange get Dino Babers’ version of the Baylor sprea offense rolling could be the thing that leads them to an upset over a top ACC Atlantic foe later on in the year.

Duke (1-2) at Notre Dame (1-2), Saturday, 3:30pm, NBC

I hate both of these teams. Duke is decidedly average (at best) and is STILL chirping about Corn Elder’s game winning return last year. Notre Dame i a team I’ve never liked (I’m a native Michigander; GO BLUE), and their coach Brian Kelly is a reprehensible person who sent a student to his certain death in the name of practice video (RIP Declan Sullivan). As far as football is concerned, ND is far and away the better team of these 2.

Who to root for: Notre Dame, I guess. I mean, I really don’t want to root for either team, but rooting for ND to get things rolling could make for October 29th’s revival of the Catholics vs Convicts rivalry rolls around.

Pittsburgh (2-1) at North Carolina (2-1), Saturday, 3:30pm, ESPNU

This is the biggest ACC Coastal game of the week, by far. Both Pitt and UNC fancy themselves as teams that could (should?) win the Coastal Division, and this conference opener for both teams could set the tone. Pitt is powered by the return of James Conner at RB after a knee injury and cancer diagnosis. UNC has a new QB in Mitch Trubisky, and RBs TJ Logan and Elijah Hood are a dangerous Thunder and Lightning tandem.

Who to root for: Honestly, pick a team. Doesn’t matter. Both Pitt and UNC have to come to Hard Rock Stadium this year to face Miami, and they have similar foes from the ACC Atlantic. Pitt has Clemson and Syracuse; UNC has Florida State and NC State. No matter how you look at it, this is an even matchup from a Miami perspective, so pick a team and go with it.

Wake Forest (3-0) at Indiana (2-0), Saturday, 3:30pm, Big Ten Network

Yeah, you read that right: Wake Forest — WAKE FOREST — is undefeated after 3 weeks. If you predicted that, either you’re a relative of a Wake Forest coach or player, or independently wealthy based on your sports betting prowess. Wake beat Duke 34-24 in the 2nd game of the year, one of the most unexpected results in recent memory

Indiana, also undefeated, has defeated FIU and Ball State so far. They enter off of a bye week, and should be ready for this sneakily intriguing game.

Who to root for: Wake Forest. Because nobody thought they’d be any good, and this is an underdog that could be fun to pull for until they meet up with the heavyweights in the ACC Atlantic later on this year.

Louisville (3-0) at Marshall (1-1), Saturday, 8:00pm, CBS Sports Network

The Lamar Jackson Death Machine has been unstoppable this year. Don’t believe me? Ask Florida State. I think he JUST scored another touchdown against them. Marshall got blown out by Akron last week. So yeah, things are fine.

Who to root for: Louisville, in a big way. I, personally, am rooting for them just so that ESPN’s David Hale has his score prediction come true.

LOLOLOL rude!!!!!........but can they do it? We’ll see.

That’s it for this week’s rooting guide. If none of those games tickle your fancy, or if you want some ideas of how to keep yourself busy during this Canes bye week, be sure you check out Blain Bradley’s guide to avoiding boredom.

Go Canes!