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Coral Gables, FL–The No. 25 Miami Hurricanes continued preparations for Florida Atlantic University this Saturday at 6 PM at Hard Rock Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN 3.
Depth is one of the early points of adversity for this Hurricane team. Florida A&M didn’t provide much in the way of on the field play, but the Hurricanes will have to overcome some injury and depth concerns in addition to players being out because of suspension or otherwise dismissed from the team.
Linebacker is the position that’s been hit the hardest. With Jermaine Grace having been dismissed from the team just before the start of the season, the news of Jamie Gordinier suffering a season ending knee injury earlier this week was a tough pill for the Hurricane coaches to swallow.
“We don’t have much left, every body that plays that linebacker position is going to be tested,” said coach Mark Richt on the ACC Teleconference today.
Richt explained that not only depth at the position but also on special teams is affected when you lose key linebackers. Expect safety Jaquan Johnson to play a larger role on defense as he’ll line up as a strongside linebacker (SAM) at times in addition to his current role in nickle packages.
Mark Walton vs. FAMU September 3, 2016
Richt said today that even though the opponent was something the Hurricanes easily handled there were things that his staff could take away that showed the positives signs they were looking for as takeaways from the game.
“We did execute. The bottom line is, no matter who you’re playing…that’s what you kind of judge it by. Same thing on defense. Are you running to the ball?” he said.
Richt expressed his pleasure with how active the defense was and said that at times, the entire defense was in on tackles against the Rattlers.
“Those are the things we want to see fundamentally happen and it looked like we did.”
NEWS AND NOTES
Regarding injuries, Miami doesn’t have to release an injury report until ACC play so it’s kind of a guessing game until then but Coach Richt did say that defensive lineman Courtel Jenkins and Anthony Moten are “questionable” for FAU this weekend. Neither played last weekend. Jamie Gardinier is out for the season with a knee.
Expect defensive lineman Gerald Willis back for this week’s game. He was suspended for the FAMU game for violation of team rules. Fellow lineman Chad Thomas said it would be good to get the redshirt sophomore back this week.
“Gerald hasn’t played in a long time so that’s just like bottled up energy. You might hear his name more than 20 times out there,” said Thomas signaling to the fact that he expects Willis to be in on a lot of tackles and thereby getting his named called on the public address in Hard Rock Stadium frequently.
Sam Bruce will finish serving the rest of his three game suspension this week. He’s scheduled to be back against Georgia Tech on the road in Atlanta on October 1st. Bruce received high praise from his head coach today.
“Sam? Great practice player, works hard. Brings a lot of energy. He looks like a player,” said Richt.
On fellow freshman WR Dionte Mullins who was cleared to enroll at Miami near the end of training camp, Richt says his playing time will grow as the season progresses.
“He’s still learning. He does not know all the plays to the point where I can just call the game and not worry about Him. If he’s in the game, I’ve got to know and take care of him a little bit. Somewhere along the line when we feel comfortable that he knows what to do, he’ll play because he’s got the ability.”
True freshman DL Pat Bethel was backing up LB Jamie Gordinier who went out early in the game with a knee injury and during his first college football play ever, he blocked a punt on special teams against FAMU.
Expect Miami to face an up tempo FAU offense this week. The players are being prepared, even in the brutal heat of practice this week. Coach Richt said he reminded his players that their opponents also practice in South Florida, so they are used to the head.
Richt did say that they are taking care of players and managing running and hitting to keep everyone fresh for Saturday. The Hurricanes will look to improve to 2-0 on the young season as they host Florida Atlantic.
