It’s been eight months since the Miami Hurricanes football team last faced an opposing squad.
But now the wait is over. College football is back, and the No. 8 Hurricanes will open the 2018 season in grand style when they face one of the Southeastern Conference’s most storied programs—the LSU Tigers—at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the AdvoCare Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Miami players, who earlier this week practiced in pads for the last time before heading to Texas, are excited but not intimidated at the idea of opening their season on the big stage.
“You just go back to your habits and all the training that you did in the offseason. (Make sure) that you go in with confidence and know that you’re ready and that the coaches are putting you in a position to do well,” said senior defensive back Jaquan Johnson. “So, that’s how we’re approaching it every day. We’re not thinking about how big the game is or all the hype around it. We’re just thinking about doing our job, focusing on the little details, and (knowing) that will take care of everything else.”
Here’s eight things you need to know in advance of the big game:
- The 2018 AdvoCare Classic will mark the 10th anniversary of the annual kickoff weekend game. The Tigers have played in the game twice. Sunday’s game will be the first time Miami has played in the game and the team’s first game at AT&T Stadium.
- The game will mark the first regular season meeting between the two schools since 1988 and just the third overall meeting since 1969. The Tigers beat Miami in the 2005 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the last meeting between the ACC and SEC schools. Overall, the teams have played 12 times, dating back to 1946, and the Tigers own a 9-3 advantage in those matchups.
- Miami’s last win against LSU came in Tiger Stadium in 1988, when the Hurricanes drubbed the Tigers 44-3.
- Miami will wear environmentally conscious uniforms for its matchup against LSU. The special edition adidas x Parley A1 football uniforms are the first ever to feature repurposed and upcycled materials. The uniforms will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science to launch a fund for educational research.
- AT&T Stadium is home of the NFL Dallas Cowboys. From 2009 to 2014, the AdvoCare Classic was originally known as the Cowboys Classic.
- Miami’s signature Turnover Chain is back for 2018. Last season, the Hurricanes recorded 31 turnovers, good enough to help them finish fifth among major programs in that category.
- Mark Richt enters his third season as head coach of the Hurricanes. Last year he picked up two major honors, winning the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference and Walter Camp 2017 Coach of the Year awards.
- Miami returns 14 starters from a squad that went 10-3 in 2017. One of those starters, veteran quarterback Malik Rosier, threw for 3,120 yards and 26 touchdowns last season.
