’Canes feel ready after 3week layoff
Technically, the Miami Hurricanes have already played — and won — their season opener.
But after Hurricane Irma threw their season into disarray, this feels like an opener of sorts, too.
Miami hasn’t played a game since Sept. 2, when it beat Bethune-Cookman 41-13. It had a game at Arkansas State canceled. Another game — the annual rivalry matchup against Florida State — was postponed. And the practice schedule has been anything but routine, with the team going 12 days between workouts before the Hurricanes reunited in Orlando late last week.
No wonder coaches and players are anxious about what could happen when No. 14 Miami takes the field Saturday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium against an upset-minded Toledo team that seems to be hitting its stride three games into its season.
For the Hurricanes, there’s uncertainty at a point in the season when they didn’t expect it.
“We’ve tried to treat it like a training camp,” Hurricanes coach Mark Richt said of the four practices his team worked through in Orlando because Miami’s Coral Gables campus has been closed since Sept. 6. “It’s like I told the guys, ‘We’re in Orlando, but we’re not at a bowl game.’ We’re not at Disney World, we’re at Disney property, the Wide World of Sports, but we’re here to focus on football and getting rebooted, getting back on track.”
Added defensive coordinator Manny Diaz: “It’s not just three weeks without playing, it’s three weeks after playing only one game where really, we played very poorly on defense. You almost look at it as an opener again. There are some of the same issues you have with opening games. You’re playing an opponent who is scoring points for fun and has now played a lot of ball, so they’re into their season routine. They’ve improved every week and we have kind of have to be in midseason form Saturday at 3:30, no excuses.”
As much as they might want a chance to try to get their legs under them Saturday, it’s highly unlikely the Hurricanes will get that chance against Toledo. The Rockets (3-0) have proven
“We’re going to explode. Watching [Toledo] … they were definitely explosive.” Jaquan Johnson, UM safety
early in the season to be a high-scoring, fast-moving team led by a veteran quarterback who is already generating NFL buzz.
Last week, while the Hurricanes were scrambling to reunite in Central Florida, Logan Woodside led the Rockets to one of the biggest comebacks in program history, with Toledo rallying from a 21-point deficit to earn a 54-51 win over Tulsa.
In that game, Woodside threw for 458 yards and a school record-tying six touchdowns. Three different offensive players topped the 100-yard mark, with Cody Thompson catching six passes for 178 yards, Diontae Johnson catching four passes for 142 yards and Terry Swanson rushing for 139 yards on 19 carries.
All of that has Toledo feeling confident against a potentially rusty Miami.
“I think when you come to Toledo, everybody kind of feels like they have a little chip on their shoulder,” Woodside told reporters in Ohio this week. “It’ll be good to go down there, play a really great team, really physical, really good defense. It’ll be a big challenge for us. … I don’t think we’ve seen anybody to this point that is as fast, as physical and definitely just [has] speed all over the field.”
The Hurricanes, meanwhile will work to regain the offensive rhythm they showed three weeks ago.
In his first game as Miami’s starting quarterback, Malik Rosier was 17-of-28 for 217 yards and three touchdowns — and that performance came without his top receiver, Ahmmon Richards, who missed the opener with a hamstring injury and is questionable for Saturday’s game.
Rosier got help from a solid rushing attack that had both Mark Walton and Travis Homer gain more than 100 yards each, the first time the Hurricanes have had two single-game 100-yard rushers in more than a year.
The hope now is that Rosier and his playmakers can build on that, layoff and all. And that Miami’s defense can play to the level they’re expected to.
“I think we’ll be ready to play,” Hurricanes safety Jaquan Johnson said. “We’re going to explode. Watching [Toledo] … they were definitely explosive. They could put up points and that’s probably one of the best quarterbacks we’ll see. … We have a lot to prepare for, but we’ll be ready.”