2010 College Football: Eight Reasons Miami Will Beat Ohio State

When Miami takes on Ohio State on Sept. 11, it will be the first time the teams have met since the infamous 2002 National Championship Game.  Instead of boasting six National Championships by winning that game, the Hurricanes have been left with nothing but questions for the last eight years.

When the Hurricanes fly into Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in a few weeks, they will do so as the underdogs this time, and have hardly any expectations from many of the experts that they will win this game.  There are many who are taking Miami as the "sexy" pick because it is the first big game of the college football season, but most are sticking with the Buckeyes.

Much like the college football polls nothing is ever perfect, and the Ohio State Buckeyes are not a giant that can't be beaten.  The Hurricanes come in talented and confident, so here are eight reasons the Miami Hurricanes will beat the Ohio State Buckeyes on September 11th.

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1. Jacory Harris Is a Better Quarterback Than Terrelle Pryor

Battle of the QB's Terrelle Pryor vs. Jacory Harris

When you compare the numbers it is clear, Jacory Harris is a better quarterback than Terrelle Pryor in all major passing categories.  Now the gap between both of them is probably not as big as some might think, but overall the Hurricanes have a more explosive offense than the Buckeyes.  To add more context to this, Pryor did lead the Buckeyes in rushing last season with 779 yards on 162 carries, but that has more to do with his physical abilities than his skills as a quarterback. 

Pryor is not a “bad” quarterback, he suffers from the same thing people claim that Michael Vick suffers from: the best running back is playing quarterback position.  The question remains can Terrelle Pryor beat Miami throwing the football?  From history we can only say that the answer to that question cannot be answered, it does not seem like he should be able to.  If you mix in his scrambling ability that really can’t be counted as beating them with his arm, if it comes down to pure passing Harris wins hands down.

                        Cmp/ATT           Cmp%     Yds.      TD      INT      Rating

Jacory Harris -   242/406             59.6        3,352     24       17       140.1

Terrelle Pryor -  167/295              56.6        2,094     18       11       128.9

2. Miami Typically Shows Up Highly Motivated When Cast As The Underdog

This is the rallying cry of Miami Hurricanes' football, the program was built on going into the opponent’s house and beating them.  The team always seems to play better when it is a big game against a big time opponent and everyone in the country doubts them.  The Hurricanes have had all offseason to read articles and listen to all the pundits talk about how they have no chance to beat Ohio State.  People saying that they are unable to go into Columbus and get a victory against the number two-ranked team in the country.

The Hurricanes are not afraid to go into Columbus; these moments are not too big for them.  They surely have players from the 2002 team telling them this game is a must win, telling them it is their responsibility to win this game and show that Miami is back.  Others will play the disrespect card and talk about how Ohio State is quietly confident that this game won’t be close by the fourth quarter.  This is the opportunity for this set of players to make their mark, if they win this game people will get on board with Miami being a serious player on the college football landscape again.

3. The Hurricanes Offensive Line Depth and Talent Have Improved

In all the preseason discussions about Miami the offensive line has been criticized as well it should have been last season.  This is a new season; Orlando Franklin and Joel Figueroa were not really the problem last year and they are relishing the opportunity to prove this is a good offensive line.  You add in all of the young talent Miami has added to the offensive line over the past two recruiting classes, and this line will be better.

Miami also is bigger on the offensive line this year averaging about 320 pounds, and that is not including a few 330+ pound linemen like Seantrel Henderson, Jermaine Johnson, and Malcolm Bunche.  The team focused on the offensive line throughout the offseason, and even with an injury to senior starter Joel Figueroa the coaches have not blinked an eye at starting one of the young linemen in his place.

4. Avoid Putting Too Much Stock In The Bowl Game Against Wisconsin

Everyone lost their mind after the Wisconsin game last year and acted like the Hurricanes had just been beaten by Albany State or something.  Wisconsin was much better than people gave them credit for, and they had something to prove in that bowl game considering they were embarrassed in it the previous season by another ACC team.  Couple that with a meaningless bowl game, exiting senior players on Miami’s side of the ball, and it equals up to a mildly surprising bowl game loss.

There are upsets every year during bowl season as teams have several weeks off before coming back and playing in a game that does not mean anything to them; except extra practice and a chance to hopefully visit somewhere interesting.  A few years ago Mississippi State played a bowl game in ankle deep snow at a stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana.  Do you really think they were pumped up for that game? 

These are not excuses for the Wisconsin loss they were beaten by the Badgers no doubt about it, but if you play that game during the regular season the game atmosphere would be much different.  Many players that played in that game are not on the team anymore, so it’s really a different team this year.  That is why you can’t take much from that bowl game.  The Hurricane have spent all offseason focused on improving the offensive line play, so that is one positive that came out of it if any.

5. The Oregon Game Did Not Prove Terrelle Pryor Has Arrived As A Passer

Ohio State fans have pointed to the Terrelle Pryor’s “coming out party” against Oregon in the 2010 Rose Bowl.  All we heard from this game was that Jim Tressel opened up the offense and this game proved that Pryor could beat a team throwing the football.  As indicated in the previous slide I do not put much stock in bowl games unless they are for a national title, we all know Ohio State had to prove they could win a BCS game.

Look at the stats, Pryor was 23/37 for 266 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.  That was hardly lighting up the stat book, he only averaged 7.2 yards per attempt and he was still the team’s leading rusher for the game with 72 yards on 20 attempts.  The Oregon defense was not exactly world beaters last season.  This team gave up 314 yards passing and four touchdowns to Nick Foles of Arizona last season.  Even Sean Canfield of Oregon State threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns against this defense, so somehow this game was a breakthrough for Pryor? 

It would be fair to say that Oregon does not have the same athletes on defense that the Miami Hurricanes do, and it is going to be a much tougher game passing for Pryor.

6. Buckeyes Losses on Defense Will Help Miami

The Buckeyes are a program that pride themselves on defense, they lost a few good players off of that defense from last year.  Kurt Coleman, Anderson Russell and Thaddeus Gibson were all good players, and to the Buckeyes credit they have capable players filling into those positions this season.  But the key to this is they have to play Miami the second game of the season, and are warming up with Marshall the first game.  They will make quick work of Marshall, and getting Miami the second game will not give those new starters enough time to have developed chemistry and communication with everyone else on the defense.

In a game like this with two good teams, an advantage like that can lead to an extra touchdown or key play.  It only takes on mistake, or one blown coverage to give up a big touchdown as we know Mark Whipple and Jacory Harris are going to look for opportunities for big plays.

7. The Revenge Factor From The 2002 BCS Championship Game

This series with Ohio State was scheduled partly because of the outcome of the 2002 National Championship Game.  Miami fans say Ohio State stole a national championship from the Hurricanes, and Ohio State fans will tell anyone that is not true.  OSU fans point to several plays during the game that “kept Miami in the game,” so what happened on the last play was a moot point.   No matter what side of the argument and debate you fall on the fact remains that game left a bad taste in Miami players' and fans' mouths. 

To have the clock read zeros in the National Title game, and your team is ahead on the scoreboard only to find out it isn’t real would crush any fan.  Some will even point to that game being the start of the downfall for Hurricanes' football.  The Hurricanes feel a championship was stolen from them, and although beating Ohio State won’t win them a national title it will ruin a chance for Ohio State to win one. 

8. Lessons Learned From The 2009 Ohio State Vs. USC Game

 This game is significant because the Trojans are one of the teams on Ohio State's schedule last year that had equal or better talent at every position.  In this game, Terrelle Pryor threw for less than 200 yards, and completed under 50 percent of his passes with one interception. 

The Trojans also held Pryor to 44 yards rushing on 18 carries, and they shut down Ohio State’s offense the entire game.  If it were not for an equally heroic effort from Ohio State defense that game might have been a blowout.  The way that Trojan team finished the 2009 season it makes it even more palatable that Miami can go into Columbus and win the game.

The reason this game tells you a little bit about OSU is there are a few tendencies that come to light.  Tressel tends to get a bit conservative in tight games, and will play it safe more times than not.  Also, it seems when Pryor plays a team where there is tight coverage on his receivers he does not have the skill to throw it into small passing windows for completions. 

This offense is heavily reliant on their receivers winning the individual battles on the outside, and if that fails then Pryor takes off.  Although it is predictable at times, it can be a hard formula to stop because of the amount of talent Pryor has running with the ball.    Miami has enough talent on defense to get off the field, and Pryor will probably break loose for a few plays, but in the end I think the Hurricanes' speed on defense will help keep him in check.