Miami vs UNC Preview & Pick: Did Miami Lose All Of It’s Momentum After Last Week’s Embarrassing Loss?
The Hurricanes Dropped to No. 25 In The AP Poll After Blown Game Against Georgia Tech
The Miami Hurricanes were a kneel away from earning their fifth straight win to begin the season. Instead of kneeling against Georgia Tech for the win, Miami fumbled the ball, lost possession, and gave up a game-winning touchdown to the Yellow Jackets with two seconds to go.
The Hurricanes went from potentially 5-0 to 4-1 in a blink of an eye for no reason.
Now they’ll take on the North Carolina Tar Heels, who earned a 40-7 win against Syracuse last weekend. The Tar Heels looked the best they’ve looked all year.
The Tar Heels are now sitting at 5-0. That’s right where the Hurricanes should be.
Can North Carolina escape Miami at home for their sixth consecutive win?
Take a look at the Miami vs UNC preview for this exciting ACC bout.
Miami Hurricanes vs North Carolina Tar Heels 
Date & Time:
Location: Kenan Stadium
Streaming: ABC
Miami vs UNC Preview
The North Carolina Tar Heels are sitting at -4 against the spread, with the total at 55.5 against Miami for this Miami vs UNC preview.
The Tar Heels have covered four of their first five games this season. They’ve also been favorites in every game. However, North Carolina has only been favored by more than ten points in one game this season. In that game, North Carolina lost.
As a 4-point favorite, North Carolina likely has nothing to fear with that stat.
Meanwhile, the total has hit the Under in three of five games this season for the Tar Heels.
On the other hand, Miami is 3-2 against the spread. The Hurricanes didn’t cover their last game, as a 19-point favorite against Georgia Tech. Instead, the Hurricanes lost outright. Even if the Hurricanes kneeled the ball and won the game, Miami still wouldn’t have covered the spread.
Like North Carolina, the Hurricanes have also watched their total go Under in three of five games.
The Tar Heels have won each of the last four games while covering three of those four NCAAF games against the Hurricanes.
Mario Cristobal Takes Blame For Wrong Call
As acknowledged above, the Miami Hurricanes had their game against Georgia Tech won. However, instead of kneeling like most teams, Miami chose to run the football.
With an opportunity to earn a takeaway, Georgia Tech went after the ball and earned a fumble. A couple of plays later, the Yellow Jackets found the back of the endzone, and Miami lost its undefeated season in a blink of an eye.
The Hurricanes played their worst game of the season. But that mistake at the end of the game made it way worse.
The Hurricanes are now No. 25 in the AP Poll NCAAF rankings when they could’ve been in the Top 15.
Head coach Mario Cristobal and his offensive coordinator have taken the blame. That result should’ve never happened. They’ll have to live with it for the rest of the season and then some. But the best way to overcome it is by earning a victory against North Carolina on Saturday.
Tez Walker’s North Carolina Debut
Tez Walker was the center of controversy throughout the first month of college football. It wasn’t because he did anything wrong.
Instead, it was because he transferred to North Carolina and didn’t get a waiver to play this season.
Finally, with new documents in place, the NCAA gave Walker his eligibility to play for North Carolina this season. He missed the first four games but was excited to be back on the field with his team in live action.
Walker is a two-time transfer, which was the ultimate reason why the NCAA originally had him sit out for a year. But again, other documents were received that finally got the NCAA to allow Walker to play.
In Walker’s first game with North Carolina, he added six catches for 43 yards. He didn’t go crazy in his first game, but his production will only grow from here.
North Carolina’s offense didn’t perform well throughout the first four weeks. But last weekend’s game against Syracuse was North Carolina’s best game. It’s no coincidence that it happened when Walker was on the field.
Miami For The Upset?
The North Carolina Tar Heels have had an easy NCAA football schedule to begin the year. They haven’t had to face one team ranked in the Top 25.
Until now.
The Hurricanes are led by Tyler Van Dyke, who has helped Miami earn 505.8 yards per game. This offense exploded for 48 points against Texas A&M a few weeks ago. The offense is loaded with talent, especially in the run game, with Henry Parrish Jr. He’s rushed for 6.4 yards per carry on 59 attempts this season.
He should be able to find some open holes against North Carolina’s run defense, which has allowed 118.4 yards per game this season.
The Tar Heels are fantastic in the secondary but don’t stand out in any other area defensively.
Meanwhile, Miami’s defense has held teams to 268.4 yards per game, including only 58.2 yards per game on the ground. The Hurricanes are dominant against the run and have looked great in coverage. That coverage has played well, thanks to a solid pass rush for Miami.
North Carolina’s offense has put up 500 yards per game. However, before last week, Drake Maye had just five touchdown passes for North Carolina in four games. We’ll have to see if Maye is fully back to his old self like last season.
Miami vs North Carolina Free Picks Analysis
Although North Carolina has the higher NCAAF Championship odds in terms of probability, we like Miami to shock the world on Saturday.
The Hurricanes have the entire public clowning them for a terrible finish to their Georgia Tech game. But the Hurricanes have ultimately looked more impressive than North Carolina this season.
Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke has held his own, while Miami’s running game has earned nearly 40 more yards per game.
Meanwhile, North Carolina will have trouble rushing the football despite its 175 yards per game on the ground. Miami’s secondary has also held teams to 210.2 yards per game in the air. The Hurricanes have a better pass rush and are just more physical up front.
We’ll take the Hurricanes at +4 and would play down to +3.5. Make sure to at least get the +3.5, as there is a huge difference between +3 and +3.5.
For NCAAF betting news, odds, analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
