This was, in so many ways, as highly-anticipated a season opener as the Miami Hurricanes have had in years.
Miami arrived at AT&T Stadium on Sunday evening with its highest preseason ranking since 2004. The Hurricanes returned 14 starters from their first 10-win season in more than a decade and after winning the first ACC Coastal Division crown in program history last year, Miami was voted the preseason favorite to win the division title again and return to Charlotte for another appearance in the ACC Championship Game.
The pervasive thought was that Miami would take advantage of an unproven LSU team that was breaking in a new quarterback and had questions at several other positions, including running back.