Week 8 Preview: at Louisville Cardinals
Record: 4-2, 1-2
Head Coach: Jeff Brohm
Offensive Scheme: Pro Style
Defensive Scheme: 4-3 Multiple
Team Schedule
vs. FCS: W 24-10
vs. Jacksonville State: W 38-35
vs. Georgia Tech: W 24-23
at #12 Notre Dame: W 26-17
vs. SMU: L 42-14
at Virginia: L 30-20
Western High School star tight end Kevin Pujals commits to the University of Miami
Eddie Fernandez -- 247 Sports Miami Insider
Four-star tight end Kevin Pujals committed to Miami on Friday evening during Western High School's game against Goleman. The four-star 2025 tight end is the 11th-ranked tight end in the country and a top 247 prospect in the 247Sports composite.
Pujals visited Miami earlier this season when they hosted Virginia Tech and it was then that he could see himself playing for Miami in the orange and green. The Hurricanes beat out Georgia and Florida State for his commitment.
"They have a great tradition of sending tight ends to the NFL," Pujals said of Miami, "It's always been a dream of mine to play for Miami and I'm excited to make it a reality."
He's an intriguing pickup for the Hurricanes as he adds a vertical threat to the tight end room that already has an intriguing mix of talent between a versatile Elija Lofton, a more traditional tight end in Riley Williams and an inline blocker in Jackson Carver. Pujals is more of a receiver than a blocker at this stage in his development but does have the body at six-foot-two and 254 pounds to be a people mover at the next level.
2025 Miami Recruiting Class
Walt Coffey [OLB #3]: 6'4", 256lbs | Opelika, AL | 5-star
James Fernandez [ILB #3]: 6'3", 234lbs | Miami, FL | 5-star
Jacques Turk [ILB #4]: 5'11", 226lbs | Fort Lauderdale, FL | 4-star
Maurice Rugamba [HB #10]: 6'0", 232lbs | Fort Lauderdale, FL | 4-star
Richard Cookus [OT #12]: 6'4", 289lbs | Fort Lauderdale, FL | 4-star
Elias Raines [CB #15]: 6'2", 177lbs | Miami, FL | 4-star
Miguel Escobar [WR #25]: 6'3", 191lbs | Palm Beach Gardens, FL | 4-star
Kevin Pujals [TE #11]: 6'2", 254lbs | Fort Lauderdale, FL | 4-star | Miami
Titus Willis [QB #29]: 6'1", 202lbs | Lilburn, GA | 4-star
Doug Bean [DE #7]: 6'3", 274lbs | Tampa, FL | 4-star
George Robledo [OT #6]: 6'6", 314lbs | Miami, FL | 4-star
Eric Incoom [WR #61]: 5'9", 204lbs | Pompano Beach, FL | 4-star
2025 Miami Recruiting Board
Kevin Yeboah [DT #3]: 6'1", 288lbs | Oxford, AL | 5-star | Miami, Alabama, Ole Miss
Rico Veasy [DT #4]: 6'1", 290lbs | Ocala, FL | 4-star | Louisville, Florida, Miami
Paul Webb [CB #6]: 5'11", 190lbs | Montgomery, AL | 4-star | Miami, South Carolina
Tommy Stacy [CB #9]: 6'2", 191lbs | Miami, FL | 4-star | Miami, Alabama, Florida State
Marshall Kearns [ATH #17]: 6'6", 272lbs | Fort Myers, FL | 4-star | Miami, Florida State
Dan Mintze [DT #22]: 6'3", 287lbs | North Palm Beach, FL | 4-star | Miami, UCF
LaMarcus Cook [FS #16]: 5'11", 213lbs | Bradenton, FL [IMG] | 4-star | Alabama, Miami
James Rutter [K #20]: 5'11", 178lbs | Tarpon Springs, FL | 3-star | Georgia Southern, USF, Miami
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Kyrie Ebiketie [CB #2]: 6'0", 193lbs | Seffner, FL | 5-star | Committed to Georgia
Denzel Major [FS #2]: 5'11", 217lbs | Bradenton, FL [IMG] | 4-star | Committed to Alabama
Kasey Havner [SS #6]: 6'0", 218lbs | Deerfield Beach, FL | 4-star | Committed to Georgia
Tim McCracken [DT #18]: 6'5", 296lbs | Fort Myers, FL | 4-star | Committed to Florida
Louisville inserts themselves back into ACC contention, hands Miami their first loss
Miami's Cam Ward was going to go Xavier Restrepo, no matter what. The entire stadium knew it but only one man could stop it as Devin Neal's outstretched arms were able to hold onto Restrepo and stop him short of the endzone as Louisville held on to beat Miami 29-27 on Saturday to shake up the early ACC title picture.
The Cardinals took a fifteen point lead with 5:37 remaining following Ward's pick six to Tahveon Nicholson and had to hang for dear life as Miami's offense came to life. Ward opened the next drive with four straight completions to get the ball into Louisville's territory and used his legs on back-to-back scrambles to set up the six-yard touchdown pass to Mark Fletcher with 3:06 left in the game.
After a 12-yard run on the first play by Maurice Turner, Miami's defense would come up with three straight stops to force Louisville to punt the ball and give Ward a chance to extend the game into overtime. Ward, who had to carry Miami's offense with their running game being neutralized by Louisville, nearly rose to the occasion, completing passes of eighteen, ten and seventeen yards to get the ball to the Louisville 33-yard line, converting a third and ten.
Miami's rushing offense was held to 57 yards on 22 carries after averaging over 200 yards per game in the last three games and All-ACC kicker Andre Borregales missed two field goals. Former Miami running back Donald Chaney rushed for 51 yards, leading the Cardinals in rushing.
On first and twenty following a holding penalty, Ward found Isaiah Horton across the middle for a 29-yad gain and then scrambled for a touchdown on the next play. The first two point conversion fell incomplete but pass interference was called on the attempted pass to Restrepo. Ward went back to Restrepo on the next play, this time on a bubble screen where Neal was able to stop him short of the endzone.
Ward confirmed after the game that it was a RPO and that he made the wrong read. Scoring Summary Quarter 1 Damien Martinez, 1 Yd run (2:03)
Quarter 2 Brock Travelstead, 46 Yd FG (10:29) Ray Ray Joseph 72 Yd pass from Cam Ward (5:56) Donald Chaney 11 Yd pass from Tyler Shough (0:47) Brock Travelstead, 58 Yd FG (0:03)
Quarter 3 Brock Travelstead, 35 Yd FG (7:02) Chris Bell 17 Yd pass from Tyler Shough (0:19)
Quarter 4 Tahveon Nicholson, returned interception 24 Yds -- 2pt failed (5:29) Mark Fletcher Jr. 6 Yd pass from Cam Ward (3:01) Cam Ward, 5 Yd run -- 2pt failed (0:48)
Yeah, I tried to push it vertically early in the game which got us in 2nd/3rd and longs, essentially taking the running game out of it and when I did run, not much success there. Cam only had 1 TO though, the fumble was recovered by the offense. it would say (lost) if it wasn't
really struggled to stop their TE. Must have just gotten toasted by the seams
Ironically, same thing happened last year with the tight ends. The LBs just didn't get enough depth on their zone drops and allowed the TEs to catch stuff over the top. When I switched to man, they did better but then the corners struggled
QB Jack Plummer: 24-37, 308 yds, 3 TD, INT
HB Mark Fletcher Jr: 17 att, 126 yds, 2 TD
