Miami football 2019 season preview: Best and worst-case scenario

The Miami Hurricanes are now under new management but will Manny Diaz and Tate Martell be able to lead The U to prominence in 2019?

The hype train was moving full-steam ahead last year for the Miami Hurricanes as they were circled as a fringe College Football Playoff contender. In reality, the sub-par quarterback play that has plagued Miami football for years reared its head again as both Malik Rosier and N’Kosi Perry struggled immensely in comparison to expectations, finishing the year with a pedestrian 7-6 record.

Since then, Mark Richt has retired and former defensive coordinator Manny Diaz is now the head coach. Furthermore, he’s bringing reinforcements with him. Trying to address the quarterback play, Miami football landed Ohio State transfer Tate Martell to compete with Perry and Jarren Williams. While many presumed Martell would win the job, it was Williams who showed the most in the offseason and early in camp to be named the starter.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Hurricanes roster has the potential to shine. The defense needs to contend with losing three starters in the secondary but still has Shaquille Quarterman and Michael Pinckney. On top of that, the offense has weapons in the wide receiver corps with Jeff Thomas, Brevin Jordan and transfer K.J. Osborn.

With all of this and a relatively mundane schedule, will Miami football rebound in 2019? Let’s take a look at the best- and worst-case scenarios for the Hurricanes in the first year under Diaz.

Miami football best-case scenario

• Aug. 24 – vs. Florida – L
• Sept. 7 – at North Carolina – W
• Sept. 14 – vs. Bethune-Cookman – W
• Sept. 21 – vs. Central Michigan – W
• Oct. 5 – vs. Virginia Tech – W
• Oct. 11 – vs. Virginia – W
• Oct. 19 – vs. Georgia Tech – W
• Oct. 26 – at Pittsburgh – W
• Nov. 2 – at Florida State – W
• Nov. 9 – vs. Louisville – W
• Nov. 23 – at Florida International – W
• Nov. 30 – at Duke – W

Final Record: 11-1 (8-0 ACC)

Putting an inexperienced quarterback on the field to start the season at a neutral field against a highly talented Florida Gators defense seems like it could go south, even in the best of scenarios for the Hurricanes.

Even if they lose the first game of the 2019 season, though, Miami can still be in a good position for the rest of the year. On the whole, the ACC is relatively weak outside of Clemson and the Hurricanes avoid playing the Tigers this season. Subsequently, there isn’t a conference game on their schedule that they can’t win and no non-conference matchup outside of Florida that should worry them either.

In the best scenario for the 2019 season, The U should end the year with just one loss overall and an undefeated record in the ACC. Their defense is strong enough that, even if Williams and the offense take a bit to get in a groove, they should be able to still succeed.

Miami football worst-case scenario

• Aug. 24 – vs. Florida – L
• Sept. 7 – at North Carolina – W
• Sept. 14 – vs. Bethune-Cookman – W
• Sept. 21 – vs. Central Michigan – W
• Oct. 5 – vs. Virginia Tech – W
• Oct. 11 – vs. Virginia – L
• Oct. 19 – vs. Georgia Tech – W
• Oct. 26 – at Pittsburgh – W
• Nov. 2 – at Florida State – L
• Nov. 9 – vs. Louisville – W
• Nov. 23 – at Florida International – W
• Nov. 30 – at Duke – W

Record: 9-3 (6-2 ACC)

Again, in either the best or worst scenario for the Hurricanes in 2019, they’re going to lose to Florida. However, the difference between the two outcomes is how they far in ACC play.

Miami’s second game on their conference schedule welcomes a talented Virginia team to town. The Cavaliers defense is legitimate with high-end players at each level. If the Hurricanes offense is still figuring things out, the UVA defense has the ability to make life hard for them and turn that game into a defensive struggle, which could play out in favor of a more experienced Virginia offense.

On top of that, an early November trip to Tallahassee could be worrisome as well. Florida State was out of sorts in a monumental way last year but they have the talent still on the roster to compete with anyone. If things are still somewhat awry with Miami at that point in the year, which would be the case in a worst-case scenario, the Hurricanes could drop that one as well, giving them three losses on the season.