Podcast: Handing out midseason awards for the No. 12 Miami Hurricanes at the bye week
The Miami Hurricanes are more than halfway through the 2020 season, and it has truly been defined by ups and downs.
The season began with overwhelming promise. Rhett Lashlee’s offense was humming, quarterback D’Eriq King was in the Heisman Trophy conversation and Miami blew out the rival Florida State Seminoles to end September. October has not been as rosy. It began with a blowout loss to the Clemson Tigers and the shine has come off a bit for King, Lashlee and the Hurricanes’ revamped offense after a series of defensive struggles to finish the month.
Now another bye week is here, the season is more than half over and it’s time to look back on the first six games of the year by handing out some awards and superlatives. Yes, it’s a midseason awards episode of the Eye on the U podcast with David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Hurricanes beat writer for the Miami Herald.
There are some obvious ones to hand out — King is the no-brainer offensive player of the year and defensive tackle Jared Harrison-Hunte is really the only reasonable option for defensive freshman of the year — but there are also some debates to be had. Who’s No. 12 Miami’s top defensive player: safety Bubba Bolden or star edge rusher Quincy Roche? The offensive freshman of the year debate is a good one, too, with running backs Donald Chaney Jr. and Jaylan Knighton putting up incredibly similar rushing numbers, while also complementing each other perfectly.
We also some big questions. Is the Hurricanes’ offense living up to the expectations we had for it in the preseason? Which comeback stories have been most impressive? Can Miami (5-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast) get back to the ACC Championship Game for the first time since 2017?
No matter what, the first half of this season has been the most fun for the Hurricanes since 2017, probably, so why not relive it with this new episode.
