Can Miami secure a spot in the ACC Championship this weekend?

The No. 6 Miami Hurricanes will face the Syracuse Orange.

The Hurricanes lead the program all-time at 16-7. They have won six straight times against Syracuse. Syracuse’s last win over the Hurricanes was in 1998, when the Orange won 66-13.

Miami and Syracuse last met in 2017. The Hurricanes won 27-19 at Hard Rock Stadium.

Fran Brown is Syracuse’s head coach. It’s his first season with the program and he’s doing a phenomenal job. The team is 8-3 and at home they are 5-1. He’s a straight shooter and knows how to rouse the troops.

Before Syracuse, Brown worked with coaches at schools such as Georgia, Rutgers, Temple and Baylor. He learned from the best coaches at each institution.

Syracuse averages 31 points per game, 454 yards per game (19th in the country), 361 passing yards per game (2nd in the country) and 2.2 sacks (22nd in the country).

Syracuse has allowed five blocked kicks (130th in the country) and two blocked punts (124th) on the season. If you’re a Hurricanes player, you can take advantage of these unique opportunities.

Quarterback Kyle McCord has thrown for 3,946 yards with 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He completed 78 percent of his passes.

McCord’s skill set makes him a good fit for Syracuse’s offense. However, he has to get rid of the ball quickly. Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward is one of the most effective quarterbacks to do that.

McCord is probably the most productive quarterback the Hurricanes will face so far this season. Syracuse is a strong team. McCord has improved in pressure situations and has been able to get the ball to open receivers, which was a problem when he was quarterback at Ohio State.

Syracuse receivers are excellent at blocking catches, which helps McCord make deep throws.

One player to keep an eye on is Syracuse wide receiver Trebor Peña. He leads the ACC with 743 receiving yards. He is the Xavier Restrepo for Syracuse. This is your contact person. His best performance came in Week 2 against Stanford, when he recorded 10 receptions for 101 yards.

Forecast: Miami wins 30-26