COLLEGE FOOTBALL

COOL NOTES BEFORE TOLEDO AND THE CANES SQUARE OFF

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After a 20-day layover that included one cancellation and one postponement due to Hurricane Irma, Miami will return to the gridiron for a matchup with visiting Toledo at Hard Rock Stadium on Sept. 23 AT 3:30 p.m. ET.

TOLEDO ROCKETS

  • Last time out, Toledo (3-0) rallied from a 21-point deficit to defeat Tulsa, 54-51 on Sept. 16. Toledo racked up 679 yards of total offense vs. Tulsa, the fourth-most all-time and the most since the Rockets gained 666 yards vs. New Hampshire in 2014.
  • Toledo ranks in the top 10 in the nation in Total Offense (552.7) – 10th; First Downs (82) – 10th. Toledo players rank in the top 10 nationally in Rushing TDs – Swanson (5) – 5th; Yards/Completion – Woodside (16.7) – 5th; Passing Efficiency – Woodside (185.4) – 9th; ReceivingYards/Game – Thompson (130.3) – 5th; Scoring – Vest (12.7) – 7th; All-Purpose – D. Johnson (171.0) – 10th; FGs/Game – Vest (2.7) – 4th
  • Toledo senior quarterback Logan Woodside is on pace to break several major Toledo passing records.
    Woodside currently ranks third all-time in passing yards (7,636). He needs 1,590 more yards to pass Bruce Gradkowski (9,225 from 2002-05) as Toledo’s career leader.
  • Toledo has two running backs listed in the top 10 in rushing in the MAC: senior Terry Swanson (1st-92.0 yards/ game) and sophomore Art Thompkins (3rd-78.7). Redshirt freshman Shakif Seymour has also rushed for 150 yards in three games.

MIAMI HURRICANES

  • Miami leads the series with Toledo, 1-0. The Hurricanes won in Miami in 1987, 24-14, when they were ranked No. 3 in the nation. Miami will make the return trip to Toledo in 2018.
  • Miami has not lost a home opener since 2006; a streak of 11 wins in home openers, including every single opener at Hard Rock Stadium. In the modern era of Hurricanes Football (since 1979), Miami has opened the season at home 18 times and is 16-2 in those games. The only losses coming in 1985
    and 2006.
  • Junior RB Mark Walton led all ACC running backs with 148 rushing yards in Week 1; the next-highest total was 124 by KirVonte Benson of Georgia Tech. Walton added two rushing touchdowns, moving him into a tie for eighth place in Miami history with 25 career rushing scores. He is just 10 behind the program’s all-time leader, Stephen McGuire (35). Walton’s 100-yard rushing performance was the seventh of his career.
  • Redshirt junior QB Malik Rosier finished 17-for-28 for 217 yards, a career-high three touchdowns and zero interceptions in his first-ever home start against BCU. He will be making just the third start of his career when he lines up under center against Toledo. His only other home start came in the season-opening win on Sept. 2. Rosier finished 20-for-29 for 272 yards and two touchdowns in his only road start, a 30-27 victory over Duke in October 2015.
  • Though he misesd the 2017 season opener with a hamstring injury, in his freshman season of 2016, wide receiver Ahmmon Richards led the Hurricanes with 934 yards receiving. The most ever by a freshman wide receiver at Miami. Richards’ 934 yards broke Michael Irvin’s 31-year-old record of 840, set in 1985.

QUOTABLES from Miami Head Coach Mark Richt

On how much conditioning level is determined by gameday experience…
“I think you just have to play. We’ve always had the thought of trying to substitute as much as possible. We always try to encourage our guys that if you’re not number one on the depth chart, don’t let that bother you. You play as many or more plays than the starter, if you’re in a solid backup role and a guy we feel like we can trust to put in the game.”

On what coordinator Manny Diaz called a “poor” performance by the team’s defense in Game 1…
“I’m sure he meant that we didn’t play to the expectations that we had for our defense. A lot of people outside of the program wanted to talk big about our defense, but we take pride in what we think we have. I think four 10-play drives, the first drive of the game going seven and a half minutes to open the season, that’s not what anyone expected. It was certainly a tribute to the preparedness of Bethune-Cookman and their program. We think we can do better than that, and we expect to do better than that. I’m sure it’s been a long wait to try and prove that we’re better defensively than we were. I’m not saying we lit anything up offensively, by any means, but I’m sure that’s what Manny meant. In our eyes, that’s not what we expect defensively.”

On if he sees anyone deserving of more playing time after their early season performance…
“It’s hard to say. Offensively, I would say Dayall Harris will get in the game a good bit more than he did last game. I don’t know who else, really. Defensively, I’ve not sat down with Coach Diaz to say how we’re going to substitute this game. Usually we wait until Thursday to do that.”