Thanks to stringing together five-consecutive victories to start the 2013 season, the Miami Hurricanes find themselves back in the Top 10 of the College Football rankings for the first time in four years. The most impressive victory came in Week 2 against the Florida Gators, a team possessing what many believe is the best defensive unit in the SEC and one of the best in the country. Taking the game 21-16, Miami certainly jumpstarted their campaign with a premier early-season win.
Reeling off three-straight since taking down Florida - with victories over Savannah State (77-7), South Florida (49-21) and Georgia Tech (45-30) - the Hurricanes are certainly capable of continuing a strong season, especially since their defense ranks ninth in the nation in points against (16.0) while the offense is ninth in points for (45.2 ppg). Despite the quick start and the current Top 10 ranking however, head coach Al Golden remains in the now and doesn't want his team to get ahead of themselves with an ACC showdown against 1-4 North Carolina on the schedule next.
"At the end of the season we'll count them up and see where we're at," Golden said. "We're 0-0 going into this game. All that matters right now is going to Chapel Hill, being a mature team, having poise, playing with pose, communicating, executing. The rest of it doesn't really matter.
"You really don't have any leadership until you have a bead of sweat and the crap hits the fan," Golden continued, regarding the fact that his team had to overcome a 17-7 deficit in their last victory over Georgia Tech. "And that's what happened. I think we learned a lot about our team. We had great leadership through that, we had great poise, but it did look bleak."
Taking on a North Carolina team that has certainly endured its fair share of struggles, Miami hopes to earn another win in order to keep pace with No. 19 Virginia Tech (6-1 overall, 3-0 ACC) in the ACC Coastal Division. The Hurricanes will see Tech on November 9th, a week after they play No. 5 Florida State in Tallahassee, so taking care of business this weekend will certainly be priority number one.
Miami (Fl.) vs. North Carolina: DATE, TIME & TV INFO
DATE: Thursday, October 17
TIME: 7:30pm, ET
TV COVERAGE: ESPN
LIVE STREAM: CLICK HERE
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