Hurricanes for Halloween: No. 22 Duke set to host Miami

<p>Miami wide receiver Herb Waters has scored a touchdown against the Blue Devils in both of the last two seasons, and will hope for another strong game Saturday.</p>

Miami wide receiver Herb Waters has scored a touchdown against the Blue Devils in both of the last two seasons, and will hope for another strong game Saturday.

There might be turmoil in South Beach this week.

But in Durham, the focus has been solely on Duke and winning.

The No. 22 Blue Devils are gearing up to face ACC Coastal Division foe Miami in a Halloween showdown Saturday at 7 p.m. at Wallace Wade Stadium. After suffering a 58-0 loss to Clemson—the worst defeat in program history—last weekend, Miami athletic director Blake James announced that the program was parting ways with head coach Al Golden, appointing tight ends coach Larry Scott to fill the void in the interim.

Although the shakeup has surely brought change to the Hurricane program, Duke’s preparation for this weekend’s game against a talented Miami team has remained the same.

“You prepare for that team as you would for any other team,” redshirt senior strike safety Jeremy Cash said. “They are going to have a coach at their helm leading them out of the tunnel ready to play some football. We are going to be ready to play as well.”

As Miami (4-3, 1-2 in the ACC) searches for answers after dropping three of its last four games and losing its head coach, the levels of enthusiasm and confidence around the Blue Devil program could not be any higher. Duke (6-1, 3-0) is coming off a thrilling 45-43 quadruple-overtime road win against Virginia Tech that put it in serious contention for the Coastal crown for the third straight year. With wins against the Hurricanes, North Carolina and Pittsburgh in the next three weeks, the squad could find itself in the ACC championship for the second time in three years.

The win against the Hokies did not come without its drawbacks, though, as the longest game in ACC history took a physical toll on the Blue Devils and left players like Cash covered in ice following the game. The All-ACC safety said that, although he has no doubt that the team would be physically ready on Friday, coming off such a long game has been a process.

“We were able to use Sunday for recovery,” Cash said. “[Tuesday] we weren’t hitting on all cylinders, we still need to get our legs back a little bit. Ultimately we’re going to come back tomorrow and do whatever we need to do to make sure we are ready on Saturday.”

Cash and the Duke defense were tested last weekend in Blacksburg, but did register another solid performance, only giving up 24 points in regulation. The Blue Devils were able to harass quarterback Michael Brewer in backfield, posting eight tackles for loss and three sacks in the win, even with senior defensive end Kyler Brown sidelined with a knee injury. In his absence, defensive tackle Mike Ramsey made the most of his first start with seven tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.

After being listed as questionable earlier in the week, quarterback Brad Kaaya will not make the trip for Saturday’s game, the Miami Herald's Susan Miller Degnan reported on Twitter Thursday night. The sophomore suffered a concussion against Clemson and did not practice midweek, but the Hurricane's athletic ability on the offensive side of the ball will test the staunch Blue Devil defense will backup Malik Rozier under center.

Running back Joseph Yearby is averaging 5.3 yards per carry and has seven total touchdowns and wideout Rashawn Scott has hauled in 35 catches for 467 yards and four touchdowns. Scott’s fellow receiver Herb Waters—who has caught a touchdown pass against Duke in both of the past two years—has 23 catches for 396 yards. The duo will test the Blue Devil secondary, which gave up three touchdown passes in last week’s overtime win.

Containing talent on the offensive side of the football will be a huge challenge for Duke Saturday, head coach David Cutcliffe said.

“A lot of those kids come out of South Florida, which has an incredibly competitive high school league,” he said. “So it’s a great game to measure who you are and hope that our [team] understands how we are going to have to prepare to be ready.”

On the other side of the ball, the Miami defense has not been as strong this season. Blue Devil redshirt junior quarterback Thomas Sirk, who is coming off a performance of 379 total yards and four touchdowns, is facing a Hurricane defense that ranks 79th in scoring defense, giving up 27.7 points per game.

The Glen Saint Mary, Fla., native, has found some strong targets in a receiving unit that struggled earlier in the season. Max McCaffrey is playing like a senior leader, pacing the team with 25 catches for 360 yards and three touchdowns. But other targets are emerging—such as Anthony Nash, who has eight catches for 129 yards and a touchdown in his last two games—giving Sirk multiple options to choose from.

“[Nash] has a very wide range,” Sirk said. “He can fill it with his body frame anywhere, he has such long arms that he can get it and attack the ball.”

If Sirk and the Blue Devils can get the passing game going, it could be a long day for a Miami defense that lost starting linebackers Darrion Owens and Rafael Kirby for the season with injuries and could be missing cornerback Artie Burns—who has five interceptions this season—due to the death of his mother.

But Cutcliffe and Duke aren’t reading too much into who will be on the field Saturday. The Blue Devils have only won once against the Hurricanes in the last 10 meetings and continue to have a sour taste in their mouths after losing 22-10 at Sun Life Stadium in a slugfest.

Miami has plenty of talent across the board and that won’t have Duke overlooking Saturday’s game with a possible top-25 showdown with North Carolina looming in a week.

“I’m looking forward to see how our team will improve and compete against a team that has so many dimensions,” Cutcliffe said. “I look at them and I start trying to think of their greatest strengths….you just have to keep going.”

This story was updated at 12:25 p.m. Saturday to reflect Kaaya's status.

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