What To Watch For: Miami Hurricanes

WHICH LOUISVILLE TEAM SHOWS UP?

Louisville had no business struggling to beat Virginia last week. They also had no business getting beaten handily by Pitt. While both of those statements are true, it’s worth wondering if they had any business beating Notre Dame or NC State when you look at how they played against UVA and Pitt.

Which team is the “real” Louisville? We’ve seen them play well more times than not at this point but I think it’s fair to expect more this season. This team has an opportunity to do something we truly have not seen with this program and we should all expect them to show up to meet the moment.

KAM KINCHENS WILL MAKE AN IMPACT PLAY

This game is built for a player like Kam Kinchens. Louisville’s offense has not done well when teams have been able to pressure the passing game. Kinchens is a guy that can make you pay if you try to make things simple. He will jump routes and bait your quarterback into making throws that look open while they are really not.

I also think that Kinchens will be a factor in the run game. He does a great job of playing downhill on the edge to cut down runners. While Kinchens takes too many risks at times, hit ability to make timely impact plays will be a big factor on Saturday.

MIAMI IS GOING TO BRING A LOT OF PRESSURE ON JACK PLUMMER

The Canes are 8th in the country in sacks this season and they don’t really shy away from being very aggressive up front. They play a lot of “man-free” with press coverage on the outside and Kam Kinchens and James Williams swapping out as the deep safety.

They are going to ramp it up this week with all of the evidence we’ve seen of Jack Plummer struggling when pressured. Throw in the fact that Louisville’s receivers haven’t been able to make major impact plays in recent weeks and you’d be insane to not throw everything you have at Plummer and hope for the best.

LOUISVILLE WILL NEED BIG PLAYS TO WIN

Speaking of the receivers not making many impact plays as of late, they will need to to help with this game. Miami’s defense is extremely talented and is very good in a lot of ways but they given up some big plays this year. They have been beaten in a few different was in the pass game but all of them seem to be because of mistakes or poor play. UofL will have opportunities to make big plays and they have to take advantage.