South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
COVID-19 had ’Canes ‘on the brink’
A possible outbreak had Miami close to canceling game
BLACKSBURG, VA. — With the Miami Hurricanes hit on the offensive and defensive lines due to a possible COVID19 outbreak, they nearly couldn’t play their 25-24 win at Virginia Tech on Saturday afternoon.
“We were on the brink,” said coach Manny Diaz after the game on a weekend that saw 15 cancellations or postponements across college football because of
COVID-19. “The players’ attitude, I thought, was the most telling. They wanted to play, and we were right on the brink at some position groups whether we could even function as a team.”
Thirteen total players were listed as unavailable, up two from the previous week’s 11. UM does not distinguish whether players are out due to COVID-19 when it releases its unavailability report an hour before kickoffs.
Redshirt senior linebacker Zach McCloud was unavailable. On the defensive line, defensive tackle Jared Harrison-Hunte, the team’s sack leader entering Saturday, was also out, along with defensive end Jahfari Harvey, a rotational player.
Starting left guard Jakai Clark was added to the list, putting the Hurricanes down both starters on the left side of the offensive line. Left tackle John Campbell remained out after also missing Miami’s game at North Carolina State the week prior.
The Hurricanes also had several backups unavailable on the offensive and defensive lines, which put them in a precarious situation if they lost anyone in those position groups during the game.
“By the grace of God, we stayed healthy during the game because, obviously, there were some scenarios that, if some guys went down, it was going to be really dicey for us,” Diaz said. “You don’t have a lot of options. The guys have to play a bunch of snaps.”
Despite being depleted at certain positions, Miami did activate star tight end Brevin Jordan, who had missed three consecutive games before Saturday. The first two, against Pittsburgh and Virginia, were due to a shoulder injury sustained on Oct. 10 at Clemson. Expected to return against N.C. State, he remained on the team’s unavailability report that night (Nov. 6). Jordan had two receptions for 22 yards on Saturday.
Sophomore Sam Brooks had already been eating into McCloud’s playing time at weakside linebacker and started for the first time this season at Virginia Tech. He had seven tackles, a sack and a pass deflection in the backfield.
While losing Clark, a sophomore that started Miami’s previous six games who was also a mainstay in the starting lineup as a freshman, the Hurricanes returned redshirt sophomore Ousman Traore, the backup guard who was was unavailable at N.C. State. Traore started at left guard.
“Ousman Traore just hopping back into the lineup after being out was big,” Diaz said. “For Ousman to go from no snaps and being out to playing the whole game at the tempo we play [was impressive].”
Sophomore Zion Nelson has held down the left tackle spot when the team has been without Campbell. Making his fourth start this season on Saturday, Nelson, who has been in a weekly competition with Campbell, also started his entire freshman season at left tackle.
Diaz also said senior Navaughn Donaldson, who has been rehabbing a knee injury that ended his 2019 season, was prepared to make his season debut if needed.
Harrison-Hunte’s three sacks as a second-team defensive tackle that would rotate in were leading UM entering Saturday before Jaelan Phillips’ 2 sacks — for five on the season — passed him. He made his first start last game at N.C. State, getting the nod over senior Jonathan Ford. Ford was back in the starting lineup on Saturday and made a season-high six tackles.
A starting lineup change that was not made due to player availability on Saturday was sophomore cornerback Te’Cory Couch getting the nod over junior Al Blades Jr. Couch had five tackles, a key interception late, split a sack and had a quarterback hurry as he was effective on the nickel blitz.
Other new additions to the unavailability report were defensive linemen Chantz Williams, Jason Blissett and Jalar Holley, offensive linemen Cleveland Reed and Jalen Rivers, tight end Larry Hodges, and safety Keshawn Washington.
“It’s definitely hard when you don’t have any backups,” said Phillips, a defensive end, who played all but a handful of snaps on Saturday. “You just got to step up when the opportunity is there. We’ll be excited to have our guys back next week, but you just got to play the cards you’re dealt.”