Game Day Notes: Miami Hurricanes vs. Florida A&M … how to watch, start time, game notes & more

NO. 12 MIAMI (1-0, 0-0 ACC) VS. FLORIDA A&M (2-0)

Date: Sat., Sept. 7, 2024

Time: 6 p.m. EDT

Location: Miami Gardens, Fla.

Stadium: Hard Rock Stadium

Television: ACC Network Extra

Talent: Chuckie Kempf, Forrest Conoly, Marilyn Payne

Radio: 560 WQAM

Talent: Joe Zagacki, Don Bailey, Jr., Josh Darrow

Series History: Miami leads, 10-1

Miami / Miami Gardens: Miami leads, 10-0

Tallahassee: Florida A&M leads, 1-0

Neutral: N/A

Last Meeting: 70-3, Miami (9/3/2016 in Miami Gardens)

MIAMI GAME NOTES

QUICK HITS

• The Miami Hurricanes continue their third season under the direction of head coach Mario Cristobal on Sat., Sept. 7 against Florida A&M. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. from Hard Rock Stadium.

• Miami has not lost a home opener since 2006, and has emerged victorious in its last 17 home openers – including a 38-3 win over Miami (Ohio) in its 2023 home opener at Hard Rock Stadium.

• The Hurricanes are a perfect 16-0 since moving to Hard Rock Stadium prior to the 2008 season.

• Miami is coming off a 41-17 win over Florida in its season opener – the Hurricanes’ first win over the Gators in Gainesville since 2002.

• The Hurricanes have topped SEC opponents in back-to-back seasons, having won a top-25 Texas A&M team in 2023 at Hard Rock Stadium.

STORYLINES AND NOTABLE

• Coming off a 41-17 domination of in-state rival Florida in their season opener on Aug. 31, the Miami Hurricanes continue their 2024 campaign with their home opener against Florida A&M on Sat., Sept. 7 at Hard Rock Stadium.

• Bolstered by the addition of several impressive newcomers and anchored by a talented group of returning veterans, the Hurricanes were ranked in the top 25 of both preseason polls – checking in at No. 19 in both the US LBM Coaches Poll and Associated Press rankings.

• 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 was brilliant in the season opener against Florida, throwing for 385 yards on 26-for-35 passing with three touchdowns and one interception.

THE MATCHUP

• #19/#19 Miami continues the 2024 season – its third under head coach Mario Cristobal – on Saturday, Sept. 7 against Florida A&M. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

• Miami carries a 10-1 all-time series lead against the Rattlers, including a perfect 10-0 mark in home games in the series. Florida A&M has not visited Miami since the 2016 season, when the Hurricanes opened their first year under head coach Mark Richt with a 70-3 victory.

A LOOK BACK: MIAMI WINS IN “CANESVILLE”, 41-17

• The Hurricanes steamrolled Florida in their season opener at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, topping the host Gators, 41-17. It was Miami’s first win in Gainesville since the 2002 season and snapped an undefeated home opener streak for the Gators that dated back to 1989.

• According to ABC/ESPN, 6.6 million tuned into the game between the longtime rivals – the most highly rated late afternoon window game on the network since 2017.

• Miami totaled 529 yards against Florida, its most against an SEC opponent since a 1981 matchup against Vanderbilt (542). The Hurricanes scored on six of their first eight possessions into the game’s third quarter.

• In his first start as a Hurricane, Ward threw for 385 yards, three touchdowns and one interception on 26-for-35 passing. 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).

• Ward became 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.

• Miami, which topped Texas A&M at Hard Rock Stadium in 2023, made it two straight years with a victory over different SEC opponents. The last time the Hurricanes managed to do so was 2002 (at Tennessee) and 2003 (Florida).

• Three Hurricanes were recognized with ACC weekly honors after Saturday’s performance: Zach Carpenter (Offensive Lineman), Jaden Harris (Defensive Back) and Cam Ward (Quarterback).

HOME SWEET HOME OPENERS

• The Miami Hurricanes open their 17th season at world-class Hard Rock Stadium on Sept. 7 vs. Florida A&M; UM holds a 16-0 all-time mark in home openers at the stadium, having outscored opponents 727-122 for an average margin of victory of 37.8 points in those 16 home openers since 2008.

• The Hurricanes have not lost a home opener since 2006, when they fell to Florida State 13-10 at the Orange Bowl on Sept. 4, 2006. Miami has won 17 straight home openers since – each one since 2007

• Since joining the ACC prior to the 2004 season, Miami has played a conference opponent in only three of its 20 home openers: Florida State twice (in 2004 and 2006) and Georgia Tech once (2009).

• In the modern era of Miami Hurricanes football (since 1979), UM has opened the season at home 19 times and is 17-2 in those games. The Hurricanes are 33-12 in regular season openers dating to 1979.

HURRICANES SOAR IN RANKINGS, UP TO #12/#15

• 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 the US LBM Coaches Poll and Associated Press rankings.

• After a resounding 41-17 win over Florida in Gainesville in their Week 1 opener, Miami jumped to No. 12 in the AP poll and No. 15 in the Coaches Poll. Its No. 12 AP ranking is its highest since being No. 9 on Dec. 5, 2020.

• Miami’s ranking of No. 15 in the Coaches Poll is its highest since the 2022 season, when the Hurricanes checked in at No. 13 in the Coaches Poll on Sept. 11, 2022.

• Cristobal’s highest-ranked team as a head coach came in the final 2019 polls, when the Ducks were 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).

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 his first start as a Hurricane, Ward threw for 385 yards, three touchdowns and one interception on 26-for-35 passing. 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 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.

• His 418 yards were the most by any player in the ACC this season. His 11.0 yards / pass attempt was the second-best mark in the ACC during Week 1 – behind only Anthony Colandrea of Virginia – while his passing completion percentage of 74.3% current ranks as the fourth-best in the conference.

• 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) are the only players to have surpassed 14,000 yards of total offense (pass and rush). He added 413 yards Week 1 vs. UF.