Preview: Miami (FL) vs. #24 Nebraska

Date: 9/20/14

Time: 8:00 PM ET

Television: ESPN2 (National)

Spread: Nebraska -8

Players to Watch

Duke Johnson, Running Back (Miami)

Johnson missed the second half of the 2013 season with an ankle injury, but has come back strong for the Hurricanes, averaging 6.44 yards per carry so far this season. Johnson has a thick build (5’9”, 206) and has home run speed. He will be key in taking pressure off true freshman quarterback, Brad Kaaya.

Denzel Perryman, Linebacker (Miami)

Perryman is the leader of Miami’s defensive unit. He has sideline-to-sideline range and is effective in the running game, and in pass coverage. He has great instincts and reads the offense well, putting himself in position to make a play, shown by him leading the team in tackles.

Ameer Abdullah, Running Back (Nebraska)

Abdullah is the player that makes Nebraska’s offense go. This season, Abdullah already has 501 yards on offense and four touchdowns, including the game-winning touchdown in the final minute against McNeese State that made every major sports network’s highlight reel. He’s smaller than what many would expect from a feature back, but runs effectively between the tackles, and excels outside the tackles.

Randy Gregory, Defensive End (Nebraska)

Gregory is an incredibly talented, yet still raw, pass rusher for the Huskers. He has great size, speed and athletic ability, but has not yet been able to put it all together to become a dominant pass rusher. He missed the first two games of 2014 with a knee injury, but saw his first action of the season last weekend against Fresno State. He will need to be dominant to help give the Huskers a shot to win.

Miami’s Offense vs Nebraska’s Defense

Miami’s offense has shown improvement since their opening week loss to Louisville, as Brad Kaaya has become more comfortable under center. However, after the Cardinals, Miami played Florida A&M and Arkansas State, so they haven’t seen the caliber of team that Nebraska is in a few weeks. Specifically, they haven’t faced a pass rusher like Gregory, since struggling against Louisville’s Lorenzo Mauldin, so it will be interesting to see how the Hurricanes attack the defense.

Nebraska’s Offense vs Miami’s Defense

Tommy Armstrong has not been accurate passing the ball this season, only completing 53-percent of his passes, so the Hurricanes’ game plan has to focus on stopping Ameer Abdullah and containing Armstrong to the pocket. Nebraska has the ninth best rushing attack in the country in the early portion of the season, so that will obviously be their gameplan to stretch the Miami defense from sideline to sideline and open lanes to run through.

Game Preview

Nebraska projects to be the favorite on paper. They have a dominant rushing attack, while Miami’s offense is still getting used to a freshman quarterback. However, it is concerning that it took a last-minute touchdown for a ranked team to be McNeese State, but they recovered nicely against Fresno State, and benefitted from the return of Gregory to the defense.

Implications

This is Nebraska’s last chance to get ready for B1G play, and with early hiccups many of the other teams in the conference have suffered already, if Nebraska can perfect their gameplan prior to entering conference play, they could prepare themselves for a strong season, and potentially earn a spot in the Conference Championship Game.

If Miami were to lose this game, they would drop to 0-2 in conference play, putting a huge damper on any chances of winning the conference. (Though, with Florida State in the ACC, their chances were incredibly low to begin with.)

Final Prediction: Miami- 17 vs. Nebraska- 35