Still some position battles being fought
Miami Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz called the competition at safety and striker the two toughest of fall camp on Monday as UM still has several position battles that will continue into a regular season that starts on Thursday night against UAB.
At striker, the safety-linebacker hybrid position in Miami’s defense, the Hurricanes have redshirt sophomore Gilbert Frierson and sophomore Keontra Smith as co-starters.
“Both those guys have earned the right to call themselves a starter,” said Diaz.
At safety, like safeties coach Ephraim Banda has previously stated, UM will rotate Gurvan Hall, Amari Carter and Bubba Bolden in the two spots.
“All three of those guys are line-one guys,” Diaz said. “They’re all starters and will all play a lot. Those were definitely the two most hotly contested battles and battles that have no loser. I think that’s just great for us and for our depth.”
Said defensive coordinator Blake Baker of the strikers: “Keontra was dominant early in camp. Gilbert, he felt underclassmen were really pushing him, and he upped his game the last two weeks.”
Baker said none of the three safeties should see significantly more playing time than another, regardless of who the two starters are.
“I think all three of those guys deserve to play equal,” he said. “They can start anywhere in the country, and I mean that.
Redshirt junior Bradley Jennings Jr. was named the starter at middle linebacker, earning those duties over standout sophomore Sam Brooks, with redshirt senior Zach McCloud at weakside linebacker.
“Bradley, since he’s been here, it’s been neck and neck with Shaq [Quarterman] in terms of who the biggest hitters are,” said Diaz of how Jennings compares to the starting middle linebacker the past four seasons. “Shaq was always a very physical presence at middle linebacker, and BJ right behind him, wasn’t far behind.
“BJ’s always been an extraordinarily explosive football player, which makes the injury he came
back from, all the more extraordinary. … He’s been in our program for a long time, so he understands our defense very, very well. He understands how the run fits work, the adjustments, all the calls of the people in front of him.”
But that doesn’t mean it’s over for Brooks either.
“It’s ongoing,” Baker said. “The following week, it could be Sam Brooks. He’s had a phenomenal camp. He has so much speed, very instinctual. Playing pass rusher his entire high school career, you don’t know what to expect, but he’s a very instinctual guy. He’s playing both our Mike and our Will. He does a great job picking the defense up, and we’re going to continue to get him reps at both of those positions.
“I can’t say enough about both of those two guys. It’s really been an ongoing battle every single day to see who goes out there first. You’re going to see a ton of both of them on Thursday.”
Offensively, as UM named its starting five offensive linemen on Monday while having its quarterback as D’Eriq King going back to before fall camp, the two junior tight ends of Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory were listed as costarters. That’s more a testament of what Mallory has done in training camp than anything that Jordan, a John Mackey Award finalist last season, hasn’t done coming back from a foot injury, offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said.
“[Mallory] has probably been one of the most consistent guys on our football team,” Lashlee said. “They’re both going to be very involved in what we do, and we feel very confident that, whoever’s in the game, we don’t have to hold anything back.”
The Hurricanes’ two talented freshman running backs are also listed as 2a and 2b on the depth chart behind junior Cam’Ron Harris.
“I think you’ve got to get into the game, and you’ll find out exactly how the reps will go at running back and just sort of see,” Diaz said. “I think with all our young guys, getting into the first game they’ve got to be able to get their feet wet a little bit, but we’ll have a plan for that for Thursday.”
Return of the chain
Diaz said on Monday there will indeed be a new Turnover Chain for the Hurricanes that, as long as UM forces a turnover against UAB, will be revealed on Thursday night.
“Yes, the Turnover Chain is back,” Diaz said. “We’ll have to wait until Thursday night if the guys do what they have to do and get after the ball for it to come back. It’ll be a little bit different, as it is every year.
“It’s not a Turnover Mask, which would’ve made some sense in this year, but we weren’t thinking ahead in time.”
Diaz added that the new chain will be wiped down and sanitized after each use.
Hurricanes freshman wide receiver Xavier Restrepo changed his jersey number to 7 ahead of the season to honor his fallen high school teammate at Deerfield Beach High, Bryce Gowdy, who died in December.
Restrepo, on Sunday night, posted on his Instagram story and Twitter an image of his new locker room nameplate that had No. 7 with it. He wrote, “For 7, I love you” in a text on the picture and added, “I have a why for EVERYTHING I do.”
Restrepo was wearing No. 80 during the spring and through fall camp. By Monday, Miami’s release of its depth chart had Restrepo listed as No. 7.