Miami questions begin with who starts at QB
Coach, key players face the ACC media today as expectations run high.
The annual ACC football kickoff event takes place in Charlotte, N.C., this week, and guess what everyone wants to know.
The start of the football season is close. How close?
Coaches and players from each ACC school will travel to Charlotte this week for the league’s annual kickoff event, held today and Thursday. The Hurricanes will speak to the media this afternoon, with wide receiver Ahmmon Richards, safety Jaquan Johnson and coach Mark Richt representing the program.
Here are five Hurricanes storylines that will be part of their day in Charlotte:
■ Who is the starting quarterback? It sure looks like redshirt senior Malik Rosier will start at quarterback to begin the season against LSU. But Richt insisted in the spring the quarterback race is still open. That could just be to push Rosier to be the best player he can be, as Richt has said in the past that the Alabama native is sharper when someone is trying to take his job.
And there’s certainly competition this year, with quarterbacks N’Kosi Perry and Cade Weldon unable to redshirt after sitting out last season, and true freshman Jarren Williams really impressing in the spring.
■ Ahmmon Richards’ health: One thing the Hurricanes don’t lack on offense is skill-position talent, and Richards has already proven he has the potential to be the best of the bunch.
Injuries derailed his sophomore season, as the former Wellington High standout missed five games last year with various issues — including hamstring, ankle and knee injuries. (He still managed to finish as Miami’s third-leading receiver with 24 catches for 439 yards and three touchdowns.)
Now, Richards is hoping those
injuries are behind him. He revealed in June that he’s been cleared to resume full workouts with the team after seeing limited action in the spring as he rehabbed a knee injury. The hope is that Richards will now be able to dominate defenses like he did in 2016, when he earned freshman All-American honors with 49 catches for 934 yards and three touchdowns.
■ All of the hype: After reaching their first-ever ACC Championship Game last season, the Hurricanes believe they’re ready to take the next step.
But the difference this year is that their fans, media and opponents also believe they can make that leap. The hype surrounding the football program is real, as the Hurricanes are expected to make the conference championship once again as the favorites to win the ACC Coastal Division.
With that now the expectation, winning a conference title and making the College Football Playoff is the next step for the Hurricanes. Are they ready to make the jump?
■ So many talented freshmen: The Hurricanes’ 2018 recruiting class is full of talent and potential, but who can make an immediate impact this upcoming season? Some candidates are five-star running back Lorenzo Lingard, four-star tight end Brevin Jordan, fourstar defensive tackle Nesta Silvera and four-star wide receiver Mark Pope.
Lingard could be too talented to keep off the field, even with Travis Homer and DeeJay Dallas ahead of him on the running back depth chart.
Jordan has a chance to end up as the starting tight end this season, with returning tight ends Michael Irvin II and Brian Polendey still unproven.
Silvera could see meaningful snaps after defensive tackles Kendrick Norton and RJ McIntosh turned pro a year early.
And Pope is just an elite talent who could make the coaches play him despite Miami’s stacked group of wide receivers.
■ LSU: Ready, set, go. There will be no warmup games for the Hurricanes this season. Miami opens things up with an SEC opponent, facing LSU in the season opener in Arlington, Texas, on Sept. 2.
That’s quite the change from the previous three seasons, when the Hurricanes opened with Bethune-Cookman in 2017 and 2015, and Florida A&M in 2016.
Get ready for a lot of LSU talk over the next six weeks.