North Carolina would like to pull off a stunner against top-ranked Miami at home on Saturday night, but the Hurricanes won’t be caught off guard.
“You’ve got to come in every single time ready to play your best. If not, you’re putting a win at risk,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “We’re expecting a tremendous challenge and opportunity on Saturday.”
The Hurricanes (7-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) will enter the game in Chapel Hill, N.C., knowing that it’s a chance for the Tar Heels to add a signature result.
North Carolina (4-3, 2-2) had its two-game winning streak snapped with a 31-30 overtime home loss to Syracuse on Saturday. Still, the clash with Miami presents an opportunity for a second win against a Top 25 opponent this season. The Tar Heels defeated then-No. 25 Pitt on Oct. 10.
The opportunity to compete on such a huge stage is something that North Carolina administrators hoped for when they hired Bill Belichick as coach.
“The play of his team, they are a couple plays away from either being a one-loss team or undefeated team,” Cristobal said. “The level of personnel in the building has certainly elevated tremendously, their style of play, their physicality.”
Miami won its first game holding the No. 1 ranking since 2002 as it pounded visiting Pitt 52-23 on Saturday. The Hurricanes have scored more than 40 points in all but one of their games this season.
“They’re the No. 1 team in the country and they should be,” Belichick said. “They play pretty good on the road, too. They play good everywhere.”
Miami quarterback Darian Mensah has thrown for 22 touchdowns with only one interception this year while completing 81.4 percent of his throws. He was part of a dramatic 33-25 victory last year in Chapel Hill when he was Duke’s quarterback.
“Mensah is dangerous in the scramble,” Belichick said. “He’s very good at extending plays. He’s got a good group of receivers and they’re all dangerous.”
Miami’s Malachi Toney leads the ACC with 952 receiving yards and 11 touchdown receptions on 66 catches.
North Carolina linebacker Derek McDonald leads the ACC with 10.3 tackles per game after a career-high 16 stops vs. Syracuse. The past two ACC Linebacker of the Week honors have gone to Tar Heels, with Peyton Seelmann receiving the honor two weeks ago.
Miami’s defense “has several good players we have to be conscious of that are game wreckers,” Belichick said.
The Tar Heels’ red-zone production is an area of great focus this week. They’ve settled for field goals after reaching opponents’ 10-yard line too often, Belichick said, and reaching the end zone will be critical against Miami.
“We work on that every week,” Belichick said. “We’ve moved the ball, but we’ve left some points out there on the field. Down there, everything just needs to be a little bit more perfect.”
Miami’s showdown at No. 5 Notre Dame is just one week away, but Cristobal knows that the Tar Heels warrant Miami’s full attention.
“Watching them on tape and the things they’ve done and some of the players in their capabilities, it’s going to take every ounce of preparation and a great effort to make sure we get to 1-0 (for this week),” Cristobal said.