No. 8 Miami (10-1, 6-1 ACC, No. 6 CFP) at Syracuse (8-3, 4-3), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
BetMGM College Football Odds: Miami by 10.5.
Series record: Miami leads 16-7.
What’s at stake?
Miami needs a win to clinch a berth in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game against SMU on Dec. 7 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and remain on track for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Syracuse — with a win Saturday and then in a bowl game — still has a shot at a 10-win season, which would be the eighth in the school’s 134-season history of football.
Key matchup
It’s the quarterback battle. Syracuse’s Kyle McCord entered the week No. 1 nationally with 3,946 yards and tied for seventh with 26 touchdown passes. Miami’s Cam Ward entered the week No. 2 nationally with 3,774 yards and No. 1 nationally with 34 touchdown passes.
Players to watch
Miami: WR Xavier Restrepo is 21 receiving yards from becoming the first Hurricane ever with two 1,000-yard seasons. He had 1,092 receiving yards last year.
Syracuse: TE Oronde Gadsden II, the son of Miami Dolphins WR legend Oronde Gadsden, leads the Orange with 810 receiving yards, nine more than WR Jackson Meeks.
Facts & figures
The Hurricanes are playing at Syracuse for the first time since 2002. The two most recent meetings — 2003 and 2017, both one-touchdown wins for the Hurricanes — were in South Florida. … The teams have three common opponents: Georgia Tech, Cal and Virginia Tech. Syracuse went 3-0 in those games, Miami 2-1 with the loss to Georgia Tech. … Miami is the fourth team that will be in the AP Top 25 when it plays Syracuse this season. The Orange are 2-1 in their previous such games. Miami hasn’t faced a ranked-at-the-time opponent this season. … Ward has thrown for 153 touchdowns in college, two shy of former Houston QB Case Keenum’s Division I (FBS and FCS) record of 155 and nine shy of John Matocha’s all-division record of 162. Matocha played at Division II’s Colorado School of Mines. … Miami has been ranked for each of its last seven trips to Syracuse.
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