Safety Williams’ status vs. Virginia Tech uncertain
The Miami Hurricanes may be without one of their defensive starters for their final home game on Saturday against Virginia Tech at Hard Rock Stadium.
Safety James Williams, who left during the second quarter of UM’s 31-28 loss to Florida State this past Saturday in Tallahassee, is dealing with a “soft-tissue” injury, coach Manny Diaz told reporters on Monday.
“He was pretty stiff and sore [Sunday],” Diaz added. “We’ll kind of see how it progresses throughout the week and hopefully loosens up and will be good for Saturday.”
Williams appeared to hurt his groin during an FSU drive midway through the second quarter, but he returned to the game on the Seminoles’ next possession.
He aggravated the groin injury with a couple of minutes left in the second quarter, hobbling toward UM’s sideline before trainers checked him out on the field, with Williams missing the rest of the game after gingerly walking out of bounds.
The true freshman safety remained on UM’s sidelines in full uniform with the hopes he could return for the second half after receiving treatment, but he didn’t play a single snap in the game’s final 30 minutes.
Williams was already banged-up with an apparent upper-body/arm injury entering the matchup with the Seminoles.
He wore a red, non-contact jersey during the portion of last Tuesday’s practice that was open to the media and wore a black sleeve on his left arm against FSU.
Williams, a true freshman who was a five-star prospect out of American
Heritage Plantation, has played in all 10 games this season and has made seven consecutive starts. He’s recorded 30 tackles (20 solo), four passes defended and two interceptions.
Second-year safety Avantae Williams replaced James Williams for the remainder of the game, playing alongside fellow freshman safety Kam Kinchens for most of the second half.
Diaz didn’t rule James Williams, or any other Miami player, out for Saturday’s matchup against the Hokies.
“As we talked about [Sunday] on our injury report, there was nobody right now that would be a for sure out for Saturday,” Diaz said. “It’s going on Week 11, there’s a lot of bumps and bruises.”
Rambo in record books
Lost in the sting of Saturday’s loss to Miami’s in-state rival is that wide receiver Charleston Rambo continued to climb UM’s records books.
Rambo, who had six catches for 95 yards against the Seminoles, now has 64 receptions for 955 yards
on the year with two regular-season games left.
He’s now No. 3 on Miami’s all-time single-season receptions list, behind Willie Smith (66 catches across 12 games in 1984) and Leonard Hankerson (72 catches across 13 games
in 2010). His 955 yards are No. 5 on UM’s all-time single-season receiving yards list, with Allen Hurns (1,162 yards in 2013) at No. 1.
Rambo will likely become the first Hurricane to break the 1,000-receiving-yards threshold since Hurns.
He’s on pace to finish with 77 receptions for 1,146 yards if he plays 12 games, or 83 receptions for 1,241 yards if he plays 13 games, assuming he and Miami play in a bowl game.
“Obviously, when we recruited him here, we had hoped he’d make this kind
of impact, especially on the outside for us,” offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said. “Statistically, he’s probably exceeded that expectation a little bit when you’re talking about the rarified air he’s getting into.
“The great thing about him is he’s gotten stronger as the year went on. He’s been everything we hoped for and probably even
more.”