ESPN announces that Miami will play Utah in destination 2027 season opener in Las Vegas

It always has been about Miami becoming Miami again. And now we are seeing seismic moves in the direction of trying to prove that notion can be a reality.

That begins with football seasons that begin with high expectations and then the high-profile games that come along with that.

Monday it was announced that Miami will open the 2027 football season in a destination nationally-televised game against Utah in Las Vegas. The game date, time and network will be announced at a later date.

That power scheduling move comes on the heels of the Miami being penciled in to open the 2025 season at home against Notre Dame after opening the 2024 season August 31 on the road against Florida. The 2026 season opener is presently scheduled to be at South Carolina unless a game is added in advance of Labor Day weekend.

“We are excited to kick off the 2027 season against Utah in the Vegas Kickoff Classic,” Miami Athletic Director Dan Radakovich said. “It not only gives our program an opportunity to play a great non-conference opponent on a national stage, but also gives our fans the chance to cheer on the Hurricanes in a world-class venue at a destination location.”

The Hurricanes have always been a top tv draw regardless of how good the program was in a given year. Miami teams that are competitive on the national stage amp that up to an entirely different level.

So Miami is no stranger to high-profile games to start the season.

In 2001, Miami opened with a 33-7 victory at Penn State. In 2004, the Hurricanes began the season with a 16-10 victory at home against FSU. The next season Miami lost a 10-7 game at FSU to start the season and then lost at home to FSU in 2006 by a 13-10 margin.

Miami won the 2009 season opener in Tallahassee, 38-34, lost 32-24 at Maryland in the 2011 opener and got blown out in the 2014 opener at Louisville, 31-13.

The Hurricanes stepped up for the 2018 opener and took on a LSU team on the upswing, losing 33-17 in Dallas and then lost to Florida in Orlando in 2019 by a 24-20 margin. For the  2021 season opener, Miami took on Alabama in Atlanta, losing 44-13.

So even though the results have not always been great, Miami is no stranger to the big game to start a season.

And this one will come with some intrigue as Cristobal has a history and some unfinished business with Utah dating back to his time as the head coach at Oregon, where the Ducks lost three of four games to the Utes.

Oregon lost to Utah in Cristobal’s first season as head coach in 2018, 32-25. The two teams did not play in the regular season in 2019, but collided in the Pac-12 title game as Oregon came prepared with wrinkles and won 37-15. The Ducks utilized senior QB Justin Herbert as an option in the run game and also effectively manipulated the run gap assignments of Utah’s excellent linebackers. Oregon gained 239 yards rushing in the victory and went on to defeat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

Utah beat Oregon twice in Cristobal’s final season in Eugene. Utah jumped all over the Ducks early and won 38-7 in the regular season. Two weeks later, the teams played again for the conference title. Utah won again by a similar score, this time 38-10.

“One of the great things about college football is that there are still first-time matchups like this one to capture the attention of fans across the nation,” said John Saccenti, executive director of the Vegas Kickoff Classic and SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl. “We have a frequent visitor to our city in Utah playing a national brand like Miami for the first time ever at one of the world’s greatest football venues.”

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