Rece Davis predicts North Carolina to beat Miami

Rece Davis is taking the Tar Heels. On Thursday, the ESPN analyst provided his prediction for North Carolina’s matchup with Miami this weekend.

“I think North Carolina answers the bell finally,” Davis said. “This is a big spot for them too if they want to prove they’re something other than a good team with an excellent quarterback. I think they come through. I think they hand Miami its second straight loss and North Carolina announces that they’re in this thing for the long haul.”

North Carolina certainly has looked like more than “a good team with an excellent quarterback” this season. The Tar Heels enter Saturday’s matchup with a 5-0 record, boasting an average win margin of 17.6 points per game.

North Carolina looked better than ever last week in its 40-7 blowout win over Syracuse. In the triumph, the Tar Heels tallied a ridiculous 644 total yards of offense. For reference, the Orange recorded just 221 total yards.

Quarterback Drake Maye was as advertised in the outing, completing 70.2% of his pass attempts for 442 yards and three touchdowns. The sophomore QB also ran in a touchdown. Davis isn’t the only one who’s confident in North Carolina.

“If you think I’m gonna back that Miami team coming off that loss, you are crazy,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel said. “You want to talk about an all-time pit-of-your-stomach game. And you have all this good juju right now with Carolina.”

Miami faces more than North Carolina

Miami isn’t riding high into the Saturday showdown. The Hurricanes lost their first game of the season last weekend in heartbreaking fashion. Miami had the opportunity to take a knee on the final two plays to run out the clock. Instead, the Hurricanes ran the ball.

On the second carry, disaster struck. Running back Don Chaney fumbled and Georgia Tech recovered. A 30-yard dot and 44-yard TD pass later and Miami was on the losing end of a 23-20 game. Miami’s mind-boggling decision to run the ball instead of take a knee caused in uproar in the college football world.

Now, head coach Mario Cristobal is doing his best to rein in his team’s focus ahead of their big matchup against UNC.

“It’s a tough loss to take,” Cristobal said on “The Mario Cristobal Show.” “At the end of the game, the right call is to go ahead and kneel it down. Instead, I take ownership in not doing so.

“We’ve all taken it like we do anything else, we all take it together. Certainly, everybody came in with a great attitude (off the loss), ready to go to work understanding that our best opportunities are right there in front of us. Our guys are coming with a great mindset ready to get after it.”

Miami and North Carolina will face off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ABC.