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The Miami Hurricanes will host the UAB Blazers in the first college football game the season involving a Power 5 team on Thursday night. UAB will be a full week removed from a 45-35 home win over Central Arkansas, while the Hurricanes return to the field for the first time since a 14-0 loss to Louisiana Tech in last year’s Independence Bowl.
Miami is heading into the 2020 season with a potential Heisman Trophy candidate with Houston transfer D’Eriq King lining up under center. King only appeared in four games and took a redshirt year in 2019. In 2018, he played in 11 games and completed 63.5% of his passes for nearly 3,000 yards with 36 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also ran for 674 yards and scored 14 touchdowns on the ground that season.
UAB is among few college football teams with a 1-0 record at this point. The 45-35 score is a little deceiving as the Blazers dominated this game but three turnovers kept Central Arkansas somewhat close and able to cover the double-digit spread. UAB will need to take care of the ball against Miami to have a shot at pulling off an upset.
This will mark the first time these two programs played each other on the football field.
Injury Report
According to the USA Today college football injury report, Miami running backs Donald Chaney Jr. and Robert Burns are listed as questionable against UAB.
Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming
Thursday night’s game will begin at 8:00 p.m. ET at Hard Rock Stadium and can be seen on ACC Network.
Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends
Point spread: UAB (+14.5) vs. Miami
Point Total: O/U 55 (-110)
Money line: UAB (+525), Miami (-770)
- UAB is 0-5 straight up in its last five games against an ACC team.
- Miami is 16-4 straight up in its last 20 home games.
The Best Bet
Miami has been a fairly difficult team to predict in recent seasons, so it’s tough to know what to expect from the Hurricanes in Week 1 against a team already with a game under its belt. The Hurricanes blew out Louisville but appeared to not have much fight in them in their final three games with losses to FIU, Duke and Louisiana Tech. UAB controlled the ball for more than 37 minutes against Central Arkansas, so a few sustained drives that end in touchdowns could make it difficult for Miami to win this game by more than two touchdowns.
Pick: UAB +14.5
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