Miami Football: 2024 schedule officially released

The ACC officially released Wednesday night dates and times for the football season. Here are the games to be most excited about come fall.

Miami will play non-conference opponents Florida, Florida A&M, Ball State, and USF to start the season and then move into the ACC schedule that includes hosting Duke, Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest and traveling to Cal, Georgia Tech, Louisville, and Syracuse.

The first game of the year is always the “biggest,” but the stakes are higher when it’s your rival from what most consider the best conference in college football in the SEC.

Miami leads the all-time series 29-27, but the two teams have split the last four matchups. The Hurricanes fell to the Gators 24-20 the last time both teams met, in Orlando, FL.

It’s the first time Miami has played in Gainesville since 2008, a 26-3 loss.

Both teams are returning from disappointing seasons (Miami, 7-6, 3-5 ACC, Florida, 5-7, 3-5 SEC), and a win could springboard its team and set the tone for the 2024 season. The last time Florida had double-digit wins was in 2019 (11-2), and Miami last won ten games in 2017 (10-3).

Miami has a three-game losing streak versus Florida State, its longest losing streak in the series since 2016 when the Hurricanes lost six consecutive. In classic Miami-FSU fashion, the 2023 game came down to the final drive with an opportunity for Miami to tie the game with a touchdown. Emory Williams, who started the game, injured his arm on the drive, and Tyler Van Dyke ended any hopes of a comeback by throwing an interception.

The Canes missed a golden opportunity to spoil the Noles’s undefeated season, and as the game returns to Hard Rock Stadium, Miami will look to make a statement at home.

The game at Georgia Tech will be circled after the heartbreaking loss at home in 2023. It was a game that will live in infamy because if Miami had knelt the football in the waning moments, the Hurricanes would have walked away with a victory.

Instead, Miami started its conference schedule with a demoralizing loss after beginning the season 4-0. The season seemed to tailspin downward from that point, and the Hurricanes will be looking to right its wrongs in Atlanta. The all-time series is tied with the Yellow Jackets at 14.

The loss to Louisville on senior day was also painful. Miami had a chance to tie the game at home but could not score on fourth down and goal as Van Dyke’s pass sailed over Jacolby George’s head incomplete. It was an opportunity to prove that Miami was better than its record showed, but unfortunately, the narrative surrounding the team not living up to expectations continued. It was the first time Louisville defeated Miami on the road. The Canes have a chance for revenge in Louisville.

Miami took care of business of similar opponents in the 2023 season, defeating Bethune and Miami (OH). The Hurricanes took down the Wildcats 48-7 and the Red Hawks 38-3. Expect a similar result in 2024 with the Cardinals and Rattlers.

Florida A&M (12-1) is coming off one of its best seasons in recent memory, so they are a big step up from their rivals. The Rattlers won the SWAC and emerged victorious in the Celebration Bowl (30-26 over Howard). Miami should still handle FAMU with the talent differential.

Ball State (4-8) is a step down from its conference foes Miami (OH). It should be just a tune-up game for the Hurricanes.

Miami is playing against California for the fifth time in its history. In the last meeting, Miami lost to the Golden Bears in the Emerald Bowl 24-17 with a team led by head coach Randy Shannon and quarterback Jacory Harris in 2008.

The Hurricanes won 52-24 in Berkeley in 1990, and if anyone saw the game live or the “The U” documentary, most remember Miami doing a lot of dirty dancing in that game.

Cal will join the ACC this summer, with the all-time series tied at two. Miami gets a bye week after the long trip to the West Coast.

Miami has never lost to USF in Tampa, but this does not mean the Canes can’t be upset in 2024.

Miami defeated South Florida 49-21 in its last meeting in 2013, but the 2024 Bulls shouldn’t be a pushover. USF finished fifth in the American Athletic Conference in ’23 and nearly pulled off an upset against Alabama.

After playing back-to-back blowout games (hopefully), Miami’s focus may not be as strong looking ahead to their first ACC game versus Virginia Tech.

The Canes own a 5-1 lead over the Bulls.

After a one-year absence, Miami renews its rivalry with Virginia Tech, riding a three-game winning streak.

The Hurricanes get the Hokies on a Friday night at home to start its ACC schedule. The game makes it a longer week to prepare for the trip to Cal. Tech finished ahead of Miami in the ACC standings and is trending upward for 2024 after a 5-3 conference record. Miami leads the all-time series 25-15.

Miami has not played at Syracuse since a 49-7 win in 2002 when both were in the Big East and ends its 2024 regular season in upstate New York. The Hurricanes have won six straight games against Syracuse since a 66-13 loss in 1998.

The Canes lead the all-time series with the Orange 16-7.

Miami versus Duke can also be classified as a revenge game for the Hurricanes. The last time the two teams met was in Hard Rock Stadium in 2022, a 45-21 loss to the Blue Devils. It was one of the indications for Mario Cristobal that the program has a ways to go to be back on the college football elite map.

Two years later, Miami can show just how much the team has grown. Former head coach Mike Elko is the head man at Texas A&M, and Riley Leonard, the former quarterback of the Blue Devils, has taken his talents to Notre Dame, so Duke essentially is rebuilding, but that shouldn’t matter to the Hurricanes, who many on the team still feel the sting of that loss in ’22. Additionally, Miami will face a familiar face with former Miami head coach Manny Diaz now at the helm in Durham. Duke finished ahead of Miami in the ACC standings with a 4-4 record in 2023.

Miami owns a 15-5 lead in the all-time series but has lost three of the last five to Duke.

It’s been eleven years since Miami last met with Wake Forest, and they are riding a seven-game winning streak. The Demon Deacons finished at the bottom of the conference in 2023 (1-7). Miami will be coming off its second bye week going into the game with the Demon Deacons. The Hurricanes have failed to win a game after a bye since 2016.

Miami owns an 8-3 lead in the all-time series.

In 2024, Miami will avoid two teams they lost to in 2023 – North Carolina and NC State. Both teams should continue to see success despite losing quarterbacks Drake Maye and MJ Morris, who are no longer with the respective programs, but Miami avoids them this season.

Miami also avoids Clemson, the best conference team in the last five years.