Defense in charge as offensive line struggles
MIAMI GARDENS — In many ways, it looked very much like a real football game.
They were on their home field at Hard Rock Stadium, the marching band played, fans had the chance to cheer and, yes, even the famed Turnover Chain made an appearance.
But there’s no doubt the Hurricanes, who head into 2018 looking to defend their ACC Coastal Division crown and improve on last year’s 10-win season, know there is much work to be done before they take the field for their Sept. 2 opener against LSU.
For the second straight week, Miami’s starting offensive line — which was facing the Hurricanes’ secondstring defensive line — struggled, giving quarterback Malik Rosier little time to work.
In all, Miami’s defense had nine sacks in Saturday’s spring game, with Greg Rousseau and Jonathan Garvin each notching three. Joe Jackson, Gilbert Frierson and Scott Patchan, who moved back to defensive end after a stint at tight end, had a sack each.
Meanwhile Rosier, who is hoping to hold off underclassmen N’Kosi Perry and Jarren Williams in order to keep his starting job, was just 9-of-14 for 105 yards with no touchdowns.
But his coach didn’t seem inclined to be too critical of Rosier, saying he didn’t think any one of the Hurricanes quarterbacks could have done much better given the way Miami’s edge rushers were able to penetrate.
“I like how the younger guys are competing and they’re making some plays. I think all of them, given the right amount of time in the pocket and open receivers, can do pretty good,” Hurricanes coach Mark Richt responded when asked to assess the quarterback race after four weeks of practice and two scrimmages. “It’s hard to say until I watch the film, but to me, I was standing back there and whoever the No. 1 quarterback was tonight was going to have a hard time. I can’t sit there and downgrade Malik for a lot of things that happened because there wasn’t an opportunity a lot of times to show what he could do.”
Saturday’s spring game marked just the second time, Richt said, that Miami’s offensive line featured Tyree St. Louis at left tackle, Jahair Jones at left guard, Tyler Gauthier at center, Hayden Mahoney at right guard and Navaughn Donaldson at right tackle.
Mahoney, who had been with the second unit for much of the spring, was bumped up to the first group after last week’s scrimmage where the line struggled against the rush.
“Do we have any true tackles out there right now? I don’t know. Is Tyree a true left tackle? He’s there now and he gives us our best shot right now and I think he can and I think he is,” Richt said. “Is Navaughn going to be? I think so. … He’s energized to play that position. … I think he’ll end up being just fine. If we run into guys we’re just struggling protecting, we’ll find ways to help them out, but I really don’t like doing that in the spring because I just want to see what those guys can do without the help. … We’ve just got to make sure we get the right five, work them all this summer and in fall camp, we’ve got to go do it.”
While the first offense did struggle, the second unit managed a few highlights and, as they did last week, some of the youngest Hurricanes took advantage of their opportunities.
Early enrollee Brian Hightower had four catches for a game-high 100 yards and two touchdowns, catching one from Perry and another from Williams. Williams, who also arrived on campus in January, was 9-of-14 for 107 yards, while redshirt freshman Perry was 11-of-25 for 166 yards.
Frierson, another one of the early enrollees, finished with two tackles and had an interception, giving him the chance to don the Turnover Chain for the first time in his Miami career.