‘We knew Mark’s day was coming’: Miami wide receiver Mark Pope breaks out in blowout win
Mark Pope couldn’t help but smile after he made the most memorable play of his still-young career for the Miami Hurricanes. With Miami’s offense scuffling in the first half against the FCS Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, Pope lined up to the right of the formation, isolated against a cornerback and the Hurricanes asked him to do what he does best.
The wide receiver ran straight ahead and didn’t stop until Jarren Williams let the ball go. Pope burned by his defender and adjusted to make a 54-yard catch in the first quarter of a 63-0 win at Hard Rock Stadium.
The game-long highlight reel for Pope didn’t end until the third quarter when an apparent left leg injury knocked the sophomore from the game after a 21-yard gain on a jet sweep. By then, the best game of his career was in the books. Pope, who entered Saturday with a grand total of three catches for 23 yards in his career, collected 113 all-purpose yards in the blowout win. He caught three passes for 92 yards and added another 21 on the ground before exiting just before the end of the third quarter.
“We knew Mark’s day was coming,” coach Manny Diaz said. “The leg injury, we’ll find out how bad it is. Hopefully it’s not too severe.”
It was all Miami (1-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) expected when he signed with the Hurricanes out of Southridge as one of the centerpieces of their Class of 2018. He was a five-star prospect in the Rivals.com rankings and a four-star recruit in the 247Sports.com composite rankings. He was a U.S. Army All-American, and a high school and seven-on-seven legend. The elite prospect was supposed to be the all-around offensive weapon an often-unstable Miami offense so desperately needed.
As a junior for the Spartans, Pope caught a 72-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of Class 8A state championship game to win the Class 8A title for Southridge. As a senior, the Alabama Crimson Tide, Florida Gators and more wanted to flip his oral commitment from the hometown team because he can do things like he did Saturday in Miami Gardens.
Pope’s first catch easily could have been a touchdown. He got behind the back of Bethune-Cookman’s defense, but Williams slightly underthrew Pope and the sophomore had to come back to make the catch instead of racing into the end zone.
His second catch was another long one. Pope ran a deep curl down the right sideline and sat in a gap in the Wildcats’ defense for a 29-yard catch.
Each of Pope’s first two catches in the first home game of his sophomore year accounted for more yards than he had in his entire career up until this weekend.
“I was ecstatic for him. He’s been wanting the ball. He’s like, ‘Jarren, hey, I’m going to be open this play. Look at me.’ I’m like, ‘Alright,’” Williams said. “It was good to see him get loose a little bit and see what he can do, but I feel like it was a good confidence boost from him, too, so we’re going to be seeing a lot more of him in action in the next games to come.”
Pope’s final catch — a 9-yard gain on a screen pass — was nearly another big play, too. Williams made a quick throw to Pope and the receiver juked past Jamauri Laguerre. He was only barely tripped up by the cornerback’s outstretched arm after picking up a first down.
Before an injury sent him to the sideline for the entire fourth quarter, Pope made one more play. He motioned from the left side of the formation to the right and found a seam to run through again. Bethune-Cookman (1-1) finally brought him down after another chunk play and Pope took some time to get up.
He eventually limped off the field with help from two Miami trainers. It was all that could put a damper on an otherwise spectacular performance.
This story was originally published September 14, 2019 at 7:04 PM.