“They’re as meaningful as you can imagine, right? Anytime you play in-state [opponents], those things, they’re rivalry games, naturally, and they last for an entire year, right? So, fan bases, alumni, they’re all juiced up,” Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal said. “The energy brought to the stadium is awesome. The intensity on the field is felt. … And rivalry games, you know how those go. You’re never all the way in it, never all the way out of it, right? You’ve got to play all the way, four quarters, 60 minutes until that clock says zero, and overtime if necessary. So, certainly, a lot of energy behind our program, momentum behind it. We’re looking forward to a great opportunity on Saturday.”
For No. 18 USF, the opportunity at hand is historic. No team has opened its season with wins over three ranked opponents since the Hurricanes did it in 1987. Miami went on to win the national title that year.
And for Miami, Saturday’s game is another opportunity to continue moving the program forward and another opportunity to get better.
“We’ve had the same mentality since January, right? Get in here and work hard. It’s all about work and that’s all that really matters at the end of the day, preparing, getting ready obviously for our – like I keep saying, 12 guaranteed games, now we have 10 more at this point,” Beck said. “Got done with the first two weeks in which I feel like we prepared really well, executed really well and that’s going to be the game plan going into this week as well, just prepare, prepare, prepare and when it’s our opportunity to go out there on [Saturday], go execute and take care of business.”
Through two games, Beck and Brown, his USF counterpart, have been effective leaders for their respective teams.
Beck has completed 42 of 54 passes and thrown for 472 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. Brown, meanwhile, has completed 39 of 60 pass attempts for 473 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Additionally, he has rushed for another 109 yards and two touchdowns.
The two teams’ defenses have played well, too, with Miami holding both of its opponents to a combined 27 points, while forcing four turnovers. USF enters Saturday’s game having allowed just 23 points in its first two games, with their opponents turning the ball over four times, too.
And for Miami’s coaches and players, every expectation is that Saturday will be a challenge – even if the Hurricanes…
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