TE Mallory likely won’t face Duke
CORAL GABLES — The Miami Hurricanes came into the season knowing they had depth issues at tight end, issues that were only exacerbated when both Michael Irvin II and Brian Polendey each suffered knee injuries that required surgery.
The problem has only gotten worse, with coach Mark Richt saying Wednesday that freshman tight end Will Mallory — who did not practice Tuesday or Wednesday — likely won’t play against Duke as he continues dealing with an eye infection.
That means when the Hurricanes take the field Saturday night, they’ll more than likely have just one healthy scholarship tight end available — freshman Brevin Jordan.
Richt also noted the issue won’t get better anytime soon, with both Irvin and Polendey out for the year. When Irvin II was hurt in the preseason, Miami said he’d be sidelined for four months and a return late in the year hadn’t been ruled out. That’s not the case now.
“Polendey and Irvin are out for the year, and Mallory, it doesn't look like he'll play. He has not practiced this week. There's a very good chance that he won't play. We're not counting him out 100 percent yet, but it doesn't look very promising, and so we've got one scholarship tight end, period,” Richt said. “He's a true freshman, Brevin Jordan. Obviously Brevin has done a nice job for us and all. But … we've got Brevin Jordan as I mentioned, and then we have a walk-on tight end named Nick Ducheine. So I'll be honest with you, I'm not even sure what number Ducheine is going to wear. But if you see another tight end in there besides Brevin, that will be who it is. We don't have a lot of depth at all right now.”
Jordan, who arrived at Miami as the nation’s top tight end prospect according to 247Sports.com, has a team-high 26 catches this season. He’s totaled 244 yards and four touchdowns.
Ducheine, meanwhile, a redshirt sophomore out of Dade Christian in Miami, has appeared in one game for the Hurricanes, appearing in Miami’s 77-0 win over Savannah State.
Asked if there could be any help for the tight ends elsewhere, Richt said he didn’t anticipate moving any players the way they have in the past, when defensive end Scott Patchan, for example, played some tight end.
“There's no way they could learn what to do and be functional at tight end. You'd have to just go to different personnel groups if something happened. You'd have to go two backs and three receivers or something like that,” Richt said. “To try to teach a guy what to do at tight end on a week's notice would be literally impossible. You're better off just trying to get into another personnel group that gives you a better shot at guys knowing what to do.
Remembering ‘The Return’
Wednesday marked the three-year anniversary of one of the most memorable plays in recent Hurricanes’ history — Corn Elder’s last-second, 75-yard eightlateral return against Duke that gave Miami a stunning 30-27 win over the Blue Devils in Durham.
Most of the players who were on that 2015 team have moved on, including Elder who is now a cornerback for the Carolina Panthers, but a few current Hurricanes were on the field for that play, including redshirt junior receiver Lawrence Cager and senior safeties Sheldrick Redwine and Jaquan Johnson.
And while the play doesn’t get brought up too often in conversation anymore, Johnson — a preseason All-American for the Hurricanes — smiled Wednesday when remembering it.
“It was a great play back in the day,” Johnson grinned. “It was definitely a moment to remember.”