Which Miami Hurricanes Opponent will be the Canes' Clunker?

Trinton Breeze
2 min read
Expectations for the Miami Hurricanes this season are sky-high. Plenty of media outlets have the Hurricanes projected as a College Football Playoff contender, while others still wonder if Miami will once again stumble short of the mark.

But here’s the real question every fan is asking: What will be Miami’s clunker game if one shows up?

History tells us that even when the Canes are rolling, there’s usually at least one game where things fall apart.
  • 2017: Miami 14, Pittsburgh 24
  • 2018: Miami 13, Virginia 16
  • 2020: Miami 26, UNC 62
  • 2022: Miami 31, Middle Tennessee State 45
  • 2023: Miami 20, Georgia Tech 23
  • 2024: Miami 23, Georgia Tech 28
The Hurricanes always seem to slip once, even in great seasons; those letdowns have derailed momentum late in the year.

So as Miami enters 2025 with championship expectations, the question looms. If the Canes drop a game, they shouldn’t. Who’s the team that hands them this year’s clunker?

If you look at the Miami Hurricanes’ schedule, it’s loaded with potential clunker spots.

Let’s start with SMU. It’s on the road, the Mustangs are striping their stadium, and they’re led by former Miami OC Rhett Lashlee, who has built them into a consistent 11-win program.

Then comes November, which is brutal for Miami. The Hurricanes have to run through SMU, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, NC State, and Pittsburgh, all in the same month, which dont seem too bad, but Miami always seems to slip up in the month of November. That’s a stretch where, if a clunker is going to show up, it very well could.

Miami will also have to travel to Tallahassee to face rival Florida State on the first weekend of October. It will likely be a night game, and as with any rivalry matchup, expect it to be a back-and-forth battle.

I don’t have one specific game circled as the clunker, but if I had to pick, I’d say at Pittsburgh. History says the Panthers are always better than people expect, and catching them on the road to close the season has trouble written all over it. Do we have to mention 2017?

Who do you think the Hurricanes' clunker game this season is? You can maybe say as early as the Notre Dame or Florida game.
 

Comments (60)

i am going to say we are 5-0 and lose to the louisville and we are going to b10-1 and lose to pitt. of course I will be wrong, because no way to predict this, but I will stick with this.
 
Expectations for the Miami Hurricanes this season are sky-high. Plenty of media outlets have the Hurricanes projected as a College Football Playoff contender, while others still wonder if Miami will once again stumble short of the mark.

But here’s the real question every fan is asking: What will be Miami’s clunker game if one shows up?

History tells us that even when the Canes are rolling, there’s usually at least one game where things fall apart.
  • 2017: Miami 14, Pittsburgh 24
  • 2018: Miami 13, Virginia 16
  • 2020: Miami 26, UNC 62
  • 2022: Miami 31, Middle Tennessee State 45
  • 2023: Miami 20, Georgia Tech 23
  • 2024: Miami 23, Georgia Tech 28
The Hurricanes always seem to slip once, even in great seasons; those letdowns have derailed momentum late in the year.

So as Miami enters 2025 with championship expectations, the question looms. If the Canes drop a game, they shouldn’t. Who’s the team that hands them this year’s clunker?

If you look at the Miami Hurricanes’ schedule, it’s loaded with potential clunker spots.

Let’s start with SMU. It’s on the road, the Mustangs are striping their stadium, and they’re led by former Miami OC Rhett Lashlee, who has built them into a consistent 11-win program.

Then comes November, which is brutal for Miami. The Hurricanes have to run through SMU, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, NC State, and Pittsburgh, all in the same month, which dont seem too bad, but Miami always seems to slip up in the month of November. That’s a stretch where, if a clunker is going to show up, it very well could.

Miami will also have to travel to Tallahassee to face rival Florida State on the first weekend of October. It will likely be a night game, and as with any rivalry matchup, expect it to be a back-and-forth battle.

I don’t have one specific game circled as the clunker, but if I had to pick, I’d say at Pittsburgh. History says the Panthers are always better than people expect, and catching them on the road to close the season has trouble written all over it. Do we have to mention 2017?

Who do you think the Hurricanes' clunker game this season is? You can maybe say as early as the Notre Dame or Florida game.
Miami only lost that 2017 game due to injuries. We were too depleted on offense.

Any stumble later in the season will be injury related. We have a much more balanced roster than last year, and it’s the most talented roster on paper in twenty years.
 
can see this being the year Louisville gets us, or SMU.

cuse, VT are taking big steps back
 
I think we beat ND, lose to FL, and run the table in the ACC. Coin toss we meet CLEM in the title game. I feel like FL will be solid this year and we’ll meet them again in the playoff.
 
SMU & VT, Lashlee will be ready, but does he have the horses? VT is a tough place to play, typically.
 
Miami only lost that 2017 game due to injuries. We were too depleted on offense.

Any stumble later in the season will be injury related. We have a much more balanced roster than last year, and it’s the most talented roster on paper in twenty years.
Naw the book was out on rosier, he couldn’t complete a forward pass. The timely turnovers by the defense didn’t bail us out. Malik went 15/34 that game for 187 yards.
 

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SMU and UL are good, very well coached teams that will be tough games. Losing to one of those wouldn’t necessarily be a clunker to me like some of the other Ls outlined in the OP.

Losing @ VT, who could easily be sub-.500 when we play them and maybe even have an interim HC, would be a clunker.
 
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