No. 1 Miami Hosts Pitt in First Game Atop the AP Poll Since 2002

For the first time since the 2002 season, the Miami Hurricanes will take the field as the No. 1 team in the country. Miami (6-0, 4-0 ACC) hosts Pittsburgh (5-2, 2-2) at noon ET Saturday, Oct. 24, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, with ESPN carrying the game nationally. It is the Hurricanes' first game atop the AP Top 25 in more than two decades, and it arrives a week after a double-overtime win over Florida State that sent South Florida into a frenzy.

The timing has a symmetry Miami is leaning into. The 2001 national championship team, the unbeaten group that had a record 38 players selected in the NFL draft, is reuniting this weekend and will be honored in a halftime ceremony, according to The Associated Press. The Hurricanes will also wear uniforms modeled on the ones that team wore.

How Miami got to No. 1

Miami climbed two spots in the Oct. 18 AP poll after a chaotic weekend in which five of the top seven teams lost, a first in the poll's 90-year history, according to the AP. Then-No. 1 Georgia lost to Auburn, and then-No. 2 Notre Dame lost to BYU. Miami received 40 of 70 first-place votes, with BYU, now No. 2, receiving 20 and No. 3 Ohio State nine, according to AP poll coverage.

The Hurricanes earned their spot by surviving. On Oct. 17 at Hard Rock Stadium, Darian Mensah threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns, and his 3-yard scoring pass to Malachi Toney in the second overtime gave Miami a 43-35 win over Florida State. Toney had 11 catches for 154 yards and two scores and threw a 2-point conversion pass to Cooper Barkate. Bryce Fitzgerald ended it with an interception in the end zone on the final play, a call confirmed on review before fans stormed the field. Florida State had appeared to convert a fourth-and-21 heave that would have made it 43-41, but the play was wiped out by a holding penalty.

The rest of Miami's season has been far less tense. The Hurricanes opened with a 45-6 win at Stanford, beat Florida A&M 77-7, won 33-20 at Wake Forest, routed Central Michigan 52-3 and won 41-13 at Clemson before the FSU game.

Cristobal's rebuild reaches the top

Coach Mario Cristobal, who won a national title as a Miami player a decade before the 2001 team did, came home to his alma mater before the 2022 season and set out to rebuild the program. According to the AP, Miami has gone 29-6 over the last two and a half seasons. Cristobal, Mensah and Toney all collected AP midseason All-ACC honors this month.

Cristobal drew a direct line between the 2001 team and his own roster this week. He described the players who built that dynasty as "young men of action" and "builders," the AP reported, saying they chose Miami when the program had to dig itself out of a hole.

History favors the Hurricanes in this spot. Miami is 42-6 all-time as the nation's No. 1 team, including 3-0 against Pitt in that position (1986, 2001 and 2002), according to the AP. Miami is 23-0 in home regular-season games as the top-ranked team and has won 30 consecutive regular-season games while ranked No. 1, a streak that dates to 1990.

Mensah, Toney and the Miami offense

Mensah, the Duke transfer, leads the nation in completion percentage. Entering Saturday he has completed 135 of 167 passes (80.8 percent) for 1,764 yards, 18 touchdowns and one interception, according to ESPN. His only pick of the season came in the third quarter against Florida State, ending a streak of 153 passes without an interception to start his Miami career.

Toney, a sophomore, has 50 catches for 758 yards and eight touchdowns and enters the week 31 yards shy of 2,000 career receiving yards. Javian Mallory leads the rushers with 397 yards and five touchdowns on 52 carries, including 108 yards and two scores against FSU. On defense, Marquise Lightfoot has five sacks and Mohamed Toure leads the team with 30 tackles.

Miami has been playing without running back Marty Brown and receiver Joshua Moore, both lost for the season to injuries suffered in the Sept. 18 win at Wake Forest, the AP reported at the time. Miami had not released a detailed injury update for the Pitt game as of Friday morning.

Pitt arrives in a quarterback bind

Pitt started 5-0 but has dropped two straight ACC games, a 21-17 home loss to North Carolina and a 27-21 loss at Boston College on Oct. 17. The slide followed the loss of starting quarterback Mason Heintschel, who tore the ACL in his right knee during the Panthers' 35-33 win at Virginia Tech on Oct. 2 and is out for the season.

Holden Geriner replaced him and started against North Carolina, throwing two interceptions. True freshman Corey Dailey made his first career start at Boston College, opening with a 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage but finishing 11 of 25 for 193 yards with two interceptions, according to Field Level Media. Coach Pat Narduzzi said this week he had not decided who would start against Miami.

The Heintschel story carries a Miami subplot. The Hurricanes pursued him in the transfer portal last offseason before landing Mensah, and Narduzzi drew attention this week with a veiled jab at Cristobal's recruiting, saying "he's playing by his rules," according to the AP. Narduzzi also praised the Hurricanes as an outstanding team with players all over the field.

Pitt's strength is its run defense, which ranks first nationally, according to the AP. Its weakness lines up with Miami's strength: the Panthers rank 116th in passing yards allowed per game. Running back Damon Ferguson Jr. leads Pitt with 438 rushing yards, and Cataurus Hicks has 500 receiving yards. Linebacker Cruce Brookins has 46 tackles.

Odds, history and the forecast

Miami is a 19.5-point favorite on DraftKings, with an over/under of 48.5 and a Hurricanes moneyline of -1650, according to odds listed by ESPN. ESPN's matchup predictor gives Miami a 92.4 percent chance to win. The forecast listed by ESPN calls for a temperature around 81 degrees at kickoff, with a 51 percent chance of rain.

Miami leads the all-time series 30-12-1 and has won 23 of the last 27 meetings. Pitt is 0-13-1 all-time against teams ranked No. 1 at kickoff and has not played a top-ranked team since facing Miami in 2002, according to the AP. Narduzzi does own a famous upset of a No. 2 Miami team in 2017, the AP noted.

What's next and the playoff picture

The stakes grow from here. After Pitt, Miami visits North Carolina on Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m. and then plays at Notre Dame on Nov. 7, a game that looms as the biggest remaining test on the schedule. The Hurricanes close at home against Duke, Virginia Tech and Boston College.

With the College Football Playoff selection committee's rankings still ahead, the AP poll is the clearest measure of where Miami stands, and the margin at the top is thin: Field Level Media reported the top three teams were separated by 48 points. A loss to an unranked Pitt would undo the week's celebration. A clean win would keep Miami in control of its path in the ACC and toward a playoff spot, with the 2001 champions watching from the stands.