The No. 10 Miami Hurricanes won their 13th-straight game in front of 63,932 fans at Hard Rock Stadium – the largest turnout of the season by more than 6,000 people.
Now, with the Canes still undefeated, UM and the city of Miami are starting to feel a special connection.
“It was an hour before kickoff. One of the guys came out, and they just noticed the difference of the energy,” UM defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said after Miami beat No. 13 Virginia Tech 28-10 on Nov. 4. “The student section brought it, and the fans brought it – let our guys know that the city is different, and that’s the relationship between Hurricane football and South Florida.”
The players, who rocked entirely black uniforms against Virginia Tech, felt it, too. Sophomore linebacker Shaq Quarterman described the environment as “magical.”
“This was the livest game I’ve ever been a part of,” he said. “I’ve never seen so much love for our team, the way our fans showed up. It took me by surprise, honestly, coming out, running out the smoke. We rarely saw any other color that wasn’t orange and green.”
After selling out the stadium against Virginia Tech, Miami head coach Mark Richt is looking forward to the same type of atmosphere in a primetime matchup against No. 3 Notre Dame on Nov. 11.
“It was a great night. Every so often, I’ll take my headsets off to listen to how loud it really is,” Richt said on his weekly teleconference Nov. 5. “You can tell it’s really loud when it goes through your mouth mic into your headset. There was no doubt our crowd was on it really from the beginning to the very end. Really, really proud of everyone who came and supported us.”
ESPN’s College GameDay, a pre-game show broadcast to preview the day’s upcoming games, is set to broadcast from Coral Gables for the first time since 2001. The program airs from the location of one of the weekend’s featured games between two highly ranked teams.
UM couldn’t be more excited to host.
“When GameDay comes, that means something good is happening at your school,” Richt said. “I hope they enjoy it. I hope we live up to the expectation of that type of a game.”
The Miami athletic department has sold out single-game tickets and only has suites in the stadium still available.
As of Nov. 6, the cheapest tickets available on ticket resale websites, such as StubHub and SeatGeek, cost about $230 after fees.
With ticket prices increasing as the Hurricanes continue to win, the players have taken note of their fan support.
“They’ve been through a lot with us throughout the years,” senior wide receiver Braxton Berrios said. “They deserve it just as much as a lot of people on this team. They change everything, they really do. That is a huge advantage when Hard Rock gets going like that.”
“We’re going to go back to work,” Richt said. “We’re going to battle our tails off and get ready to hopefully excite a packed house. We need a packed house. I believe we’ll get it.”
Kickoff against Notre Dame is set for 8 p.m. Nov. 11 at Hard Rock Stadium.