The Miami Hurricanes had heard all about South Florida's impressive upset against the Florida Gators the previous week.
The Hurricanes didn't care. They were going use Saturday's matchup as a chance to make a statement. And that's exactly what they did.
The `Canes rolled to a dominating 49-12 victory at Hard Rock Stadium, improving to 3-0. The Bulls dropped to 2-1 after starting the season with wins against Boise State and the Gators.
“Really just fired up, impressed with our players, our team, our entire organization, in handling the week in preparation for a team that had been playing really, really good football and handling what they do best, which is tempo,” UM coach Mario Cristobal said. “First goes out to our scout team. They simulated them as well as you possibly can all week long, and because that is a challenge, but the physicality, the level of energy that we played with tonight, although a couple of critical mistakes, was progress for our football team.”
Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck continued his strong start to the season. He completed 23 of 28 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Mark Fletch Jr., had 120 rushing yards and two scores.
“The young man's lost three games in his college career,” USF coach Alex Golesh said of Beck, who transferred from Georgia. “He's tough. He's gritty. I thought he was super accurate. ... I think that young man's really, really good.”
South Florida was denied a chance to start the season with three straight wins against ranked opponents. The Bulls only mustered 40 rushing yards against the dominant UM defensive line. Ethan O'Connor and Jakobe Thomas each had three tackles. Booker Pickett also had one sack.
"It's not OK to lose by any means,” Golesh said. “But we'll be in a situation like this again and come out on the other side. We'll regroup. You saw a team that will fight, but the margins against another really, really good football team are really tight. We didn't win in the margins."
The Hurricanes now their attention to the Gators, who lost to LSU on Saturday. No. 5 Miami is expected to move up in the rankings. The `Canes are now being projected as a serious contender in the College Football Playoff under Cristobal, who continues to make progress.
Shandel Richardson is the publisher of MiamiRoundtable. He can be reacedh at shandelrich@gmail.co