Miami Hurricanes revealed to have an even bigger edge without lifting a finger in season-opening clash with Stanford
The Canes are squaring off against a banged up Cardinal team.
The Miami Hurricanes kick off their 2026 season on Friday night before a national audience against the Stanford Cardinal.
Coming into the contest as a 24.5-point favorite, one might think that the Hurricanes already don’t need any more of an edge in the contest. Certainly Miami holds a talent one and a coaching edge throughout their respective staff.
But Miami appears to have picked up yet another one late Tuesday night. The ACC released the availability report for the game, and Stanford’s list reads like a CVS receipt, while Miami’s is basically nonexistent.
Starting center Aidan Kilstrom has been listed as out for the game. He was injured during the third quarter of the game against Hawaii last Saturday, and (likely not coincidentally), Stanford’s offense slowed down in the second half after taking a 23-7 lead. The Cardinal would rally from behind to re-take the lead and win 37-27.
Starting right tackle Niki Prongos missed the Hawaii game and is still listed as questionable, as is key guard Simione Pale, among a slew of other names.
Some say there’s a built in advantage to playing Week 0 and getting your sea legs under you for a big Week 1 matchups. And Stanford certainly did get a nice win over Hawaii, one of a handful of teams considered to have been a Group of 6 challenger for the playoff.
But this is also the downside when you lose a starter like the Cardinal did with Kilstrom. And now, the Hurricanes’ elite defensive tackle duo of Ahmad Moten, Sr. and Justin Scott have to be licking their chops even more for Friday night.
