Defensive standouts return to practice
CORAL GABLES As the 17th-ranked Miami Hurricanes continue moving closer to Saturday’s showdown against rival Florida State, it appears one of their top defensive players will be back on the field.
Preseason All-American safety Jaquan Johnson, who has been dealing with a hamstring injury since Miami’s Sept. 15 win at Toledo, was working with the defense during the media viewing portion of Tuesday’s practice. That was a noticeable change from the last two weeks where he’s been seen conditioning with members of the training staff ahead of games against FIU and North Carolina.
Johnson missed both of those games, but the expectation is that he’ll be ready to go against the Seminoles.
“He’s a great player. He was preseason All-American for good reason. Mostly, because of his production. Just tremendous production as a tackler, got great ball skills and just a super competitor who loves his team and loves football. Just a fun guy to be around,” said Hurricanes coach Mark Richt. “He’s kind of a heart and soul type of guy. We’ve got more than him that has that type of attribute, but there aren’t many that are better than him in all those categories.”
Also practicing early Tuesday were linebackers Shaq Quarterman (ankle) and Mike Smith, neither of whom finished last Thursday’s game against North Carolina as they dealt with minor injuries.
Having all three back will be key for the Hurricanes (4-1, 1-0 ACC) as they prepare to face FSU quarterback Deondre Francois.
While the Seminoles (3-2, 1-2) have struggled at times this season, they enter Saturday’s game riding a two-game win streak, including a 28-24 comefrom-behind road victory at Louisville last week.
In that game, Francois — who has earned praise from Richt throughout the week — helped the Seminoles rally from a 14-point halftime deficit. His 58-yard touchdown pass to Nyqwan Murray with 1:13 remaining lifted Florida State to the win.
It marked the fifth time in his career that he has helped FSU rally for a victory after the Seminoles trailed at halftime. He also leads the ACC in both completions (110) and yards (1,377).
Johnson’s return will give the Hurricanes an edge in trying to contain the Seminoles’ passing game. Johnson is still among Miami’s defensive leaders in tackles with 22 despite missing the second half against Toledo and the games against both North Carolina and FIU.
Quarterman, meanwhile, is coming off one of the best performances of his Hurricanes career in Miami’s 47-10 win over North Carolina.
Despite missing most of the second half because of his ankle injury, Quarterman notched five tackles, including a career-high three tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.
His play earned him CoACC Linebacker of the Week honors on Monday.
out, could During his weekly radio appearance with WQAM’s Joe Rose on Monday, Richt hinted that it would be a while before the Hurricanes got receiver Ahmmon Richards back on the field.
Tuesday, Richards was still working with members of the training staff as the rest of the team practiced.
The former Wellington High standout and freshman All-American has not played since sustaining what Richt described as a bone bruise on his knee in Miami’s Sept. 2 seasonopening loss to LSU.
With Richards appearing in only one game this season and the NCAA adjusting its rules to allow a player to retain a redshirt if they play in four games or less, Richt said it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Richards could redshirt this season — and still contribute later in the year.
“I guess if things don’t get better, it could happen,” Richt said. “Depends on how long this thing goes. That’s a possibility. He’s not able [to play] this week.”