Game Day Notes: Miami Hurricanes at Cal … how to watch, start time, game notes & more

8/#8 Miami (5-0, 1-0 ACC)

Head Coach: Mario Cristobal (Miami, ‘93) Record at Miami: 17-13 Career Record: 79-73 Record vs. Cal: 3-1

AT

California (3-1, 0-1 ACC)

Head Coach: Justin Wilcox (Oregon, ‘99) Record at Cal: 39-44 Career Record: 39-44 Record vs. UM: 0-0

MIAMI AT CAL GAMEDAY INFORMATION

Date: Sat., Oct. 5, 2024
Time: 10:30 p.m. EDT
Location: Berkeley, Calif.
Stadium: California Memorial Stadium (63,000)
Television: ESPN
Talent: Dave Flemming, Brock Osweiler, Sherree Burress
Radio: 560 WQAM
Talent: Joe Zagacki, Don Bailey, Jr., Josh Darrow
Series History: Series tied, 2-2
Miami / Miami Gardens: Series tied, 1-1
Berkeley: Miami leads, 1-0
Neutral Site: Cal leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Miami lost, 17-24 (Dec. 27, 2008)

GAME NOTES

QUICK HITS

• The Miami Hurricanes continue their third season under the direction of head coach Mario Cristobal on Sat., Oct. 5 at California. Kickoff for Miami’s first trip to Berkeley since 1990 is set for 10:30 PM EDT.

• Miami is off to a 5-0 start for the first time under Cristobal’s direction. The Hurricanes opened their conference slate with a 38-34 win over Virginia Tech at Hard Rock Stadium on Fri., Sept. 27.

• QB Cam Ward became the first Hurricanes quarterback in history to open his career with five straight performances of 300 passing yards or more; last time out, Ward threw for 343 yards and four touchdowns.

• Miami is looking to start a season 6-0 for the first time since 2017, when it started the season 10-0.

• Berkeley will also be the host site for ESPN’s College Gameday show – the 25th time the show has involved a game with Miami (15-9 all-time record).

NOTABLE

• Miami is looking to continue a strong start to Atlantic Coast Conference play when it travels to play Cal on Sat., Oct. 5. Miami opened its ACC slate with a 38-34 win over Virginia Tech and is traveling to Cal to play the Golden Bears for the first time since 1990 – a 52-24 win.

• Bolstered by the addition of several impressive newcomers and anchored by a talented group of returning veterans, Miami was ranked No. 19 in both preseason polls – and checked in at No. 8 in both the Associated Press poll and LBM Coaches Poll on Sept. 29.

• Among Miami’s top newcomers is QB Cam Ward, who was named ACC Preseason Player of the Year in a poll of media at the conference’s annual media day in Charlotte, N.C. Selected to nearly every major award watch list, Ward became the first quarterback in Miami Hurricanes history throw for 300 yards and three or more touchdowns in his first five starts of the year.

THE MATCHUP

• #8/#8 Miami continues the 2024 season – its third under head coach Mario Cristobal – on Sat, Oct. 5 at Cal. Kickoff for UM’s ACC road opener is set for 10:30 p.m. EDT from California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, Calif.

• Cal is in its first year in the ACC and is hosting UM for the first time since Sept. 15, 1990 – a 52-24 win for Miami. The Hurricanes and Golden Bears last met in the 2008 Emerald Bowl in San Francisco – a 24-17 Cal victory.

• UM is looking to start the season 6-0 for the first time under Cristobal and first time since 2017 (10-0). Berkeley will also be the host site for ESPN’s College Gameday – the 25th time Miami has participated in a CGD game.

A LOOK BACK: MIAMI HOLDS ON IN ACC OPENER

• The Hurricanes opened their Atlantic Coast Conference schedule in thrilling fashion last time out, topping visiting Virginia Tech, 38-34, at Hard Rock Stadium on Fri., Sept. 27. Trailing for nearly the entire game, Miami took a fourth-quarter lead with 1:57 remaining and held on despite a near conversion on a Hokies’ Hail Mary attempt.

• QB Cam Ward was responsible for five touchdowns on the day, including one rushing touchdown. He threw for 343 yards and four touchdown passes, finishing 24-for-38 with two interceptions to help Miami start the year 5-0.

• Ward is tied for the national lead with five games of 300 yards, encompassing all of 2024. His five-game streak of at least 300 yards and three TDs is the longest since Tyler Van Dyke had six straight such games to end 2021.

• DB Meesh Powell had his team-high third interception of 2024. DB Jadais Richard led Miami with eight tackles.

• It was the Hurricanes’ first win to open ACC play since 2020, a 47-34 decision at Louisvill. The Hurricanes had lost three straight ACC openers (2021 – Virginia, 2022 – North Carolina, 2023 – Georgia Tech) previously.

MIAMI CHECKS IN AT #8 IN BOTH MAJOR POLLS

• Following its 38-34 win over Virginia Tech last time out, Miami dropped one spot to No. 8 in the Associated Press top 25 (from No. 7) and moved up one spot to No. 8 (from No. 9) in the LBM Coaches Poll released on Sept. 29.

• Following a 56-9 win over Florida A&M on Sept. 7, the Hurricanes cracked the top-10 of the Associated Press poll on Sept. 8 at No. 10. It was the first time Miami has been ranked in the AP top 10 since Dec. 6, 2020 (No. 9).

• Bolstered by the addition of several impressive newcomers and anchored by a talented group of returning veterans, the Hurricanes are ranked in the top 25 of both preseason polls – checking in at No. 19 in both polls.

• Mario Cristobal’s highest-ranked team as head coach came in the final 2019 polls, when Oregon was No. 5/5.

• The Hurricanes were not ranked in the 2023 preseason polls, but were ranked in the 2022 preseason polls in Cristobal’s first year as head coach, checking in at No. 16 in that year’s coaches poll and No. 17 in the AP top 25.

• Miami spent four weeks in the top 25 of 2022 (preseason, Sept. 6, Sept. 11, Sept. 18 polls) and also cracked the top 25 rankings of both polls for four weeks in 2023 (Sept. 10, Sept. 17, Sept. 24, Oct. 1). It has been in the rankings of both polls for the first four weeks of 2024.

RESTREPO BECOMES 10th CANE TO ECLIPSE 2,000

• With a six-catch, 99-yard performance vs. USF on Sept. 21, WR Xavier Restrepo became the 10th Hurricane in program history to eclipse 2,000 career receiving yards. Over his career, Restrepo has totaled 2,139 yards.

• Earlier this season against Florida A&M (104 yards), the eighth 100-yard game of Restrepo’s career moved him past Andre Johnson (1,831) and Allen Hurns (1,891) into 10th place in program history.

• With 60 yards vs. Virginia Tech last time out, Restrepo moved past Phillip Dorsett (2,132) into ninth place. He needs eight yards to pass No. 8 Travis Benjamin (2,146), 20 to pass No. 7 Mike Harley (2,158) and 22 to pass No. 6 Leonard Hankerson (2,160). With 80 more yards, he’d move past Stacy Coley (2,218) into the top-five in history.

• With his eighth career 100-yard performance, Restrepo tied Andre Johnson for the most games with 100 receiving yards by a Miami player since 2000. He was previously tied with Santana Moss and Phillip Dorsett (7 each).

UM STARTS 5-0 FOR 4TH TIME SINCE JOINING ACC

• With a 38-34 victory over Virginia Tech last time out, the Hurricanes improved to 5-0 to start the season for the first time since 2017, when they started 10-0. Prior to 2017, the Hurricanes last started a season 5-0 in 2013 (7-0).

• Miami has only started 5-0 four times since joining the ACC – 2004 (6-0), 2013 (7-0), 2017 (10-0) and 2024 (5-0).

NEW HURRICANES SIGNALCALLER: QB CAM WARD

• Miami added one of the top quarterbacks in the country in the January transfer window, signing QB Cam Ward after two dominant years at Washington State. Ward, who began his career at FCS program Incarnate Word in 2020, started all 25 games of his Washington State career across 2022 and 2023. He finished his time at Wazzu with 6,963 passing yards and 48 passing touchdowns compared to 16 interceptions, and also added 13 rushing touchdowns in his two years with the Cougars.

• In a win over USF on Sept. 21, Ward became the 13th player to surpass 15,000 career passing yards in college – he now has 15,658 yards. He became the first ACC player since Miami joined (2004) with at least 300 passing yards and three touchdowns in each of their first five games and the first Miami quarterback to ever do so.

• Ward’s 1,035 yards through the air in his first three games were the second-most in program history over a three game start to the season, trailing only Craig Erickson’s 1,126 in 1990. He passed Gino Torretta’s 1991 start (989) with 346 in a 62-0 win over Ball State. Ward exited the first four games early with UM sporting substantial leads.

• In his first start as a Hurricane, Ward threw for 385 yards, three touchdowns and one interception on 26-for-35 passing in a road win over Florida. The 385 yards were the most by a Hurricane quarterback in the first start of his Miami career in the modern era of Hurricanes Football (since 1979). He added 33 rushing yards on three carries.

• Ward became the first Hurricane player in program history to throw for 300 yards in his first two starts when he tossed for 304 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions against Florida A&M. He also rushed for a touchdown in the victory to help propel Miami to a 2-0 start.

• He was the first Miami quarterback to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns in a season opener since Ken Dorsey did so at Penn State in 2001. Ward was named ACC Quarterback of the Week and Maxwell Award National Player of the Week for his performance against the Gators. He was also named Davey O’Brien Quarterback of the Week, a member of the Davey O’Brien Award “Great Eight” and a Manning Award Star of the Week.

• He passed for 2,260 yards and an FCS-leading 24 touchdowns against four interceptions with two rushing touchdowns in six games during the shortened 2020–21 FCS season, which was played in spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He won the Jerry Rice Award as the most outstanding freshman in Division I FCS.

• Ward was named the ACC Preseason Player of the Year in a poll of conference media at the league’s annual “ACC Kickoff” event in Charlotte. Before transferring to Washington State, Ward was named Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year in his final year at UIW (2021), totaling 4,648 passing yards and 47 touchdowns.

• A native of West Columbia, Texas – with a population of 3,700 – Ward was a “zero star” recruit out of high school. Though he starred in high school, he threw for only 1,070 yards as a junior and had 12 passing attempts per game as a senior due to the program’s focus on running the football.

• Among active players entering the 2024 season, Cam Ward’s career total yardage of 14,140 at the FBS / FCS level far surpassed No. 2 Will Rogers (11,999), No. 3 Seth Henigan (11,483), No. 4 Grayson McCall (11,118) and No. 5 Shedeur Sanders (10,293). Since 2020, Ward and former Auburn / Oregon QB Bo Nix (14,110) were the only players to have surpassed 14,000 yards of total offense (pass and rush). He added 413 yards Week 1 vs. UF.

MIAMI OFFENSE RANKS #1 IN PLAYS OF 20-PLUS

• Miami is ranked No. 1 in FBS in plays of 20-or-more yards (45) and No. 2 in plays of 10-or-more yards (107). Of the 45 plays of 20-or-more yards, 37 are passing – most in FBS. Of the 87 plays of 10-or-more yards, 81 are passing. The Canes had only 48 passing plays of 20-or-more yards and 129 of 10-or-more pass yards in 2023.

CANES OUTSCORING TEAMS +21.6 IN 2ND HALVES

• Miami is ranked No. 2 in FBS in scoring differential in second halves of games; Miami’s +21.6 average point differential in the second half trails only Ohio State (+22.0). The Hurricanes’ best quarter is the third quarter (+12.0).

TIGHT ENDS SHINING THROUGH FIRST FIVE WEEKS

• A season after the entire group finished with 154 receiving yards and one touchdown in 2023, Miami’s tight ends have emerged as go-to options for QB Cam Ward in 2024. In the season opener vs. Florida, Elijah Arroyo had a career-best 89 yards on four catches, Cam McCormick opened the game’s scoring with his first touchdown as a Hurricane, and freshman Elija Lofton had two catches for 38 yards vs. the host Gators in a lopsided win.

• Last time out in a 38-34 win over Virginia Tech, the group had five catches, 125 yards and two touchdowns.

• Through five weeks, Miami’s tight ends have totaled 491 yards on 26 catches with six touchdown receptions.

GUIDRY’S DEFENSE CAUSING MAYHEM FOR TEAMS

• Entering Week 6, the Hurricanes rank No. 5 in the nation in “defensive mayhem” – plays on defense featuring a a tackle for loss, an interception or a gained fumble. Despite no fumbles gained, Miami has a 16.33% mayhem rate on defense; the Hurricanes have a 9.94% sack rate, a 13.33% tackle-for-loss rate and a 5.52% interception rate.

OFFENSE HAS THREE STRAIGHT 50-POINT GAMES

• Miami scored 50 points for the third straight game on Sept. 21, topping USF 50-15. The last time Miami had a season featuring three offensive outputs of at least 50 points was 2001 – when it won the national title. Miami had never scored 50 points in three consecutive games prior to this season. UM is No. 2 in FBS in scoring offense.

COLLEGE GAMEDAY REGULARS: 25th APPEARANCE

• Miami will be taking part in a College Gameday game for the 25th time and first time since October 10, 2020.

BARON ONE OF JUST 14 WITH 7.5 TFL THIS YEAR

• One of Miami’s most important offseason additions came on the defensive line, when DE Tyler Baron arrived to Coral Gables after an impressive career at Tennessee. Baron enrolled at Louisville for the spring but elected to transfer to the Hurricanes, where he has shined through the first five weeks of the 2024 season.

• Baron, who has started all five games, is one of just 14 players in FBS with 7.5 tackles for loss. Baron has 18.0 career sacks – which ranks as 15th-highest active career total among all FBS players. The Knoxville, Tenn., native started once again and put together only the 10th three-sack game over the last 20 years by a UM player vs. Florida A&M. He was named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week for his performance vs. the Rattlers.

BALLHAWKS: PFF RANKS SECONDARY #12 IN FBS

• The Hurricanes’ secondary lost four of five starters from a season ago, including both safeties (Kam Kinchens, James Williams), one starting cornerback (Jaden Davis) and its starting nickel (Te’Cory Couch). Despite the personnel losses, Miami ranks as the No. 12 performing secondary in FBS by pass coverage by PFF (91.0 grade).

• Miami ranks No. 35 nationally in passing yards allowed (168.0), No. 13 nationally in passing yards per completion (15.28), No. 2 nationally in passes intercepted (8) and No. 12 in FBS in team passing efficiency defense (90.50).

UM RANKS AMONG BEST TEAMS IN MIDDLE EIGHT

• In the “middle eight” rankings – which tracks the scoring in the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half, widely considered the most critical juncture of the game – Miami was No. 16 in FBS in the first two years under Mario Cristobal.

• The Hurricanes have taken another leap this year; Miami is ranked No. 10 in FBS in middle eight this year (+7.4).

• From 2014-2019, teams that won the “middle eight” minutes of the game at the FBS level won 74% of the time.

BORREGALES TIED FOR THIRD-MOST ACTIVE FGs

• One of the top kickers in the country for the entirety of his career with the Miami Hurricanes, K Andy Borregales is enjoying a senior year that could leave him atop the Miami record books among the best kickers in history.

• Last time out, Borregales kicked a career-long 56-yard field goal just before halftime – it was tied for the fourth longest field in Miami Hurricanes history. It was his 62nd career made field goal – the fourth-most in UM history.

• Borregales had eight points last time out vs. Virginia Tech (one field goal, five extra points), moving him to 330 caeer points. After UM’s win over Ball State, Borregales moved past Todd Sievers (310) for fourth in career points.

• Borregales, whose older brother Jose is the lone Lou Groza Award winner in Miami history (2020), went 22 for 26 on field goals in 2023, tied for the most made kicks in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He converted 44 of his 45 extra point attempts and recorded 46 touchbacks on 73 kickoffs. He was also an All-ACC first-team honoree.

• His 62 career field goals are the fourth-most in Miami history, trailing only Michael Badgley (77), Carlos Huerta (73) and Jon Peattie (64). Among active FBS kickers, Borregales is one of just five in the country who have more than 60 career field goals, joining Jonah Dalmas (Boise State – 83), Alex Raynor (Kentucky – 66), John Hoyland (Wyoming – 62) and Graham Nicholson (Alabama – 61).

WE RUN THIS STATE: HURRICANES LEAD THE WAY

• Among what is commonly referred to as the “Big Three” programs in the Sunshine State – Miami, Florida and Florida State, the Hurricanes are now the all-time state leaders in both wins vs. in-state opponents and winning percentage. UM’s win against Florida was its 100th and propelled UM to the best winning percentage in the state.