Miami will be without its top RB at bowl game as a new dynamic duo watches hungrily
No coach ever complained about too many spectacular tailbacks, though those tailbacks might have griped about not enough carries.
As the University of Miami (6-6) prepares to face Louisiana Tech (9-3) at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Independence Bowl, no doubt two of the soon-to-be Hurricanes — elite South Florida prep signees Donald Chaney Jr. and Jaylan Knighton — will be watching intently to see where they might fit in the 2020 share-the-carry puzzle.
With current junior standout DeeJay Dallas (693 rushing yards, eight touchdowns, 6-yards-per-carry average) out for the bowl with an injury and his football future still unannounced, the Hurricanes will start fellow talent Cam’ron Harris (545 yards, five touchdowns, 5.3 average), who got injured in the last regular-season game at Duke but is fine now, according to coaches.
UM’s rushing offense ranks among the nation’s worst — No. 120 of 130 FBS teams. The Canes average 121.8 ground yards a game, substantial worse than Boston College’s Atlantic Coast Conference leading 267.8.
Miami’s situation gets fuzzy behind Harris, as redshirt sophomore Robert Burns, who scored his first career touchdown on a reception at Duke, has only 28 carries this season for 115 yards. Beyond that, fans are understandably impatient to see sophomore tailback Lorenzo Lingard, a consensus five-star prospect when he arrived last year from Orange City University High, get his first carry of the season after rehabilitating from major knee surgery in late October 2018.
Lingard has played in only two games this season, but averaged 8 yards a carry in six games last season, rushing 17 times for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
“That’s me and Cam’s boy,’’ Dallas said of Lingard early this season. “We just always tell Lo, ‘Lo, it’s going to come.’ I tell him all the time, ‘It’s going to pop. When your number is called, Bro, you’re going to go ballistic.’ I tell him all the time, ‘Just stay faithful, bro. Just stay faithful.
“And just keep going. Just keep hammering it.’’
When asked if he expected Dallas to return to the Hurricanes for his senior season, UM running backs coach Eric Hickson told the Miami Herald in a one-on-one last week, “We haven’t even spoken about that yet. We’re just trying to get through the season and trying to win a bowl game.’’
Last Wednesday, during the early signing period for the recruiting class of 2020, Miami was thrilled with wrapping up consensus four-star runners Chaney of Miami Belen Jesuit and Knighton of Deerfield Beach. Both will enroll early so they can participate in spring football.
The 6-0, 207-pound Chaney is rated in the 247Sports composite as the nation’s No. 5 tailback. Selected to participate in the 2020 US Army All-American Bowl, he is Belen’s all-time rusher with 4,511 yards and 60 touchdowns on 442 carries over five seasons. He was a two-time Miami-Dade County Player of the Year.
The 5-10, 190-pound Knighton, rated the nation’s No. 5 tailback by Rivals, helped lead Deerfield Beach to the Florida Class 8A state semifinals with 1,414 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns (9.7 yards per carry) this season. An Under Armour All-American, he ended his career as the all-time leading rusher in Broward County with 5,150 yards.
“They’re going to add some value to our running backs room, even more than we have now,’’ Hickson said. “Not only are they great athletes, both of them are great kids. They’re very smart, they take things seriously, they’re business-minded and they’re the type of guys we’re looking for here at Miami.”
Hickson said Knighton is “blessed with elite speed.’’
“He’s a very tough, violent runner,’’ Hickson said. “He’s able to take the corner and make one cut and get to top speed real fast. Not only that, he’s a great pass-catcher out of the backfield.’’
Hickson said Chaney is “a bigger, sturdier back’’ who “runs inside the tackles and also has great hands. He’s very explosive. He’s able to read and set up his blocks and has good vision to go north and south. He has the speed to go the distance.’’
Hickson praised Chaney for encouraging Knighton to sign with the Hurricanes, thereby giving himself more top-notch competition to fight for the eventual starting job.
“It basically tells who he is,’’ Hickson said. “He’s not shying away from competition. Both of those guys realize that competition is going to make them better and prepare them for where they want to go ultimately.
“We have a lot of depth in that room. We have some good backs in there. It’s going to make those guys work harder and stay on their toes and really get after it to compete. That’s what we’re looking forward to this spring.
“Let’s put everybody in the fire and let’s go!’’
This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 2:31 PM.
