Hurricanes book another marquee opener, schedule something they haven’t in 60-plus years

The Miami Hurricanes next season will do something that they haven’t done since 1971: play eight regular-season home games in one year. They will also have a marquee opener for the second year in a row.

After opening at Florida this season, UM will begin its 2025 season at home against Notre Dame during Labor Day weekend, with Labor Day falling on Sept 1 in 2025.

Sometime between February and May, ABC/ESPN will decide whether the Notre Dame-at-UM game next year will be played on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday evenings, or Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, UM has scheduled all four 2025 nonconference games at Hard Rock Stadium: Notre Dame (date TBA), Bethune Cookman Sept. 6, USF Sept. 13, Florida Sept. 20.

The Canes also will play host to four Atlantic Coast Conference opponents: Louisville, North Carolina State, Stanford and Syracuse.

The Canes will leave South Florida only four times, to play ACC schools FSU, Pittsburgh, SMU and Virginia Tech.

Dates of ACC games haven’t been announced.

The Canes have played eight games at Hard Rock Stadium, or the Orange Bowl, during a handful of seasons that ended with UM playing a bowl game in its home stadium.

But 2025 will be the first time since 1971 that UM will have eight scheduled games at home. The Canes went 4-7 under Fran Curci during that 1971 season, leaving South Florida only to play Wake Forest, Alabama and Houston.

As for Notre Dame, next year’s game will start a new seven-game series between the schools.

Beginning in 1971, the two schools played 19 times over 20 seasons, and several of the games in the 1980s produced some of the more memorable moments in college football history.

But they have played only four times since 1990: Notre Dame wins in 2010 (the Sun Bowl), 2012 and 2016 and a 41-8 UM win in November 2017 at Hard Rock Stadium.

The teams were originally scheduled to play this season in South Bend, Indiana. But UM had a scheduling conundrum, with five nonconference games slated for four slots this season.

Instead, the Hurricanes and Fighting Irish agreed to move the 2024 game to 2026 in South Bend. The teams previously agreed to play at Hard Rock Stadium in 2025.

UM and Notre Dame are also scheduled to play in 2028 and 2031 and 2037 in South Bend, and in 2032 and 2034 in Miami.

THIS AND THAT

▪ DraftKings lists UM quarterback Cam Ward with the third-best odds to win the Heisman Trophy, behind only Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel and Colorado’s Travis Hunter. FanDuel has Hunter as the favorite, Gabriel second and Ward third.

“My goal is not to be a Heisman Trophy winner,” Ward said Wednesday. “My goal is to win football games and play for a national championship.”

▪ Duke, which plays UM at noon on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium on ABC, is second in the country in tackles for loss (71) and second in takeaways per game. The Blue Devils are allowing 18.6 points per game, which ranks 20th in the country.

“A good, sound defense for sure,” Ward said. ‘Their defensive line is very athletic, defensive back corps, linebackers very athletic. They do a lot of different looks on third downs. Their blitz packages are pretty good. I’m just excited for the challenge.”

FYI: UM is 40th in scoring defense, permitting 21.5 points per game.

▪ Per Pro Football Focus, right guard Anez Cooper has allowed a team-leading three sacks, while center Zach Carpenter and backup left tackle Markel Bell have permitted two apiece.

The Canes have relinquished 16 sacks; 66 FBS teams have allowed fewer.

“I’ve had about four bad sacks, so they’re playing good ball,” Ward said of UM’s offensive line. “This is a top-five O-line in the country. Whatever we’re doing is working in the pass game, run game also. That’s why we’re such a good offense.”