Kicker Jose Borregales is Miami Hurricanes X-Factor

The Miami Hurricanes are 2-0 after a dominating 47-34 victory on the road against Louisville.

Most of the credit for this hot start will go to the newly added quarterback D’Eriq King, who thew for 325 yards and three touchdowns on 18-of-30 passing. The Hurricanes have seen stellar quarterback play before, although this year might be different. Offensive personnel has never been Miami’s problem, even in a year that ended with a 6-7 record.

What makes this year different is kicker Jose Borregales, who nailed four field goals. What makes those kicks notable is two of them went as far as 48 and 57 yards, with the latter breaking the Cardinal Stadium record for an opponent by the six yards and the overall mark by five.

Could you imagine the Hurricanes ever attempting to kick field goals from those distances a year ago? The furthest Camden Price kicked was a 32-yard field goal against Florida State.

Miami had to use three different kickers in 2019. Their 28-21 overtime loss to Georgia Tech was a nightmare kicking wise, as both Bubba Baxa and Turner Davidson went a combined 0-for-3 in field goals. Worst part is all of those field goal attempts were short distance.

Davidson was made to be a hero for merely converting one extra point and a 19-yard field goal in Miami’s 17-9 upset win over No. 20 Virginia, a team that finished its season at the Orange Bowl. The bar was set that low due to Baxa missing half of his field goals. An argument could be made that the Hurricanes season would have gone in a much different direction if he only missed just a quarter of his field goals.

While that was happening, Borregales was at FIU giving the Panthers confidence that most of their offensive drives will at least result with three points. He was instrumental in FIU upsetting Miami at Marlins Park this past November, making all thee field goals including two going over 50 yards.

The Panthers started calling Miami the “University of Coral Gables” after that game. This website actually sells shirts with that name.

Nevertheless he joined the so-called University of Coral Gables as a graduate transfer because as he admitted last November, it was his dream school and his brother, Andres Borregales, will soon replace him next year.

The rankings are a bit suspect this early in the strange 2020 season. Both Miami and Louisville were unranked a week ago hosting C-USA opponents. The ACC is considered as the superior conference so for both teams to jump so high in the rankings after predicable wins seemed unusual. A conspiracy theorist would tell you that the rankings were manipulated to make the Saturday night game an easier sell. With little to none fan attendance in the stands due to the COVID-19 pandemic, college football has become virtually exclusively purposed for television.

Miami came out on top so now next week’s home game against their bitter but weaker rivals, the Florida State Seminoles, will not only be another primetime affair but also attract ESPN College Gameday to brace the campus with their presence. Had Louisville won, maybe No. 25 Pittsburgh would have jumped higher in the polls than it otherwise would after being Syracuse to make their matchup with the Cardinals a marquee matchup, rather than a mere matinee.

The Hurricanes have a good chance to start 3-0 and be well positioned for championship contention. Maybe Clemson goes through the entire season without a challenge but the face that Borregales can put the Hurricanes in field goal range as soon as their offense crosses the midfield logo gives them a chance to unseat the champs.