Another injury blow for Miami: DT Leonard Taylor out, wearing boot for second half at GT
The injury bug bit the Miami Hurricanes once again in Atlanta as Leonard Taylor III missed the entire second half of Miami’s 35-14 win against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets with an apparent foot injury.
The star defensive tackle made his seventh straight start Saturday, but was no longer dressed in full uniform when he came out of the locker room for the second half. Instead, Taylor wore a boot on his left foot and watched as Miami tried to finish off a win.
Taylor recorded one tackle and a half a tackle for loss before leaving. He entered the day with eight tackles for loss and 3 1/2 sacks.
The 6-foot-3, 305-pound sophomore is one of two former five-star recruits on the roster, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.
Van Dyke, Parrish sit out
Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke wasn’t the only starter to miss the Hurricanes’ game at Georgia Tech (4-6, 3-4) on Saturday.
Running back Henry Parrish Jr. did not travel to Georgia this weekend, leaving Miami (4-4, 3-3 Atlantic Coast) without its top rusher for the second time in five games.
The sophomore exited early from the Hurricanes’ blowout loss to the Florida State Seminoles last Saturday with an unspecified injury. He also missed Miami’s win against the Virginia Tech Hokies with an injury last month.
Parrish leads the Hurricanes with 119 carries and 568 rushing yards.
With Van Dyke injured, freshman quarterback Jacurri Brown made his first career start and wide receiver Brashard Smith lined up next to him on the first play, starting as a running back with Parrish out.
Miami was also without one part-time starter on defense: Jared Harrison-Hunte did not make the trip for unspecified reasons and neither did fellow defensive lineman Jacob Lichtenstein.
Harrison-Hunte started two games in September and has four tackles for loss this season.
Miami true freshmen make starts
In all, the Hurricanes started four freshmen at Bobby Dodd Stadium, including three true freshman.
In front of Brown, offensive lineman Anez Cooper and Laurence Seymore — a redshirt freshman — started at right guard and left, guard respectively. On defense, Wesley Bissainthe made his first career start next to fellow linebacker Corey Flagg Jr.
Seymore also started last month against the Duke Blue Devils and Cooper started in each of the last two weeks, solidifying the right guard spot with fellow offensive lineman Justice Oluwaseun injured.
Seymore started in place of offensive lineman Jalen Rivers, who left the Florida State game with an apparent lower-body injury.
They weren’t the only freshmen to get involved, either. In the second quarter, Brown faked a handoff to Knighton, rolled to his left and threw an easy touchdown pass to Jaleel Skinner, another freshman, to give Miami an early 14-point lead.
Restrepo remembers late teammate Gowdy
The life of late former Deerfield Beach star Bryce Gowdy, who was a teammate and close friend of Xavier Restrepo, is still honored at by the Yellow Jackets, even though he never got a chance to play for them.
Gowdy, who died just days after signing with Georgia Tech in the Class of 2020, was set to wear No. 7 and the Yellow Jackets still have the name on their roster, with an asterisk noting, “in memoriam; died Dec. 31, 2019.”
Gowdy’s death was ruled a suicide by the medical examiner after he stepped in front of a train in Deerfield Beach in December of 2019.
Restrepo wears No. 7 to honor Gowdy and Tuesday said Gowdy is always with him.
“Oh, yeah, for sure,’’ Restrepo said. “You know the quote, ‘Gone but not forgotten.’ He’ll always be on my mind every time I step on the field, even in practice, I’ll say a little prayer asking that he watches over me. But yeah, this week is definitely going to be an emotional one. Every single time we play Georgia Tech it’s been emotional at the beginning of the game because I know I’m supposed to have my brother out on the field with me. I’m glad his name is still on their roster. It means a lot.’’
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Elite quarterback flips from Miami
A bad few weeks for the Hurricanes culminated early Friday — just a few minutes after midnight — when Jaden Rashada, an elite quarterback in the Class of 2023, flipped his oral commitment from Miami to the Florida Gators.
The news, shared by Rashada on Twitter, sent shockwaves across college football world, as first-year coach Mario Cristobal until then had done an impressive job of holding the class together despite a depressing season.
The 6-4, 185-pound senior from Pittsburg in California is the No. 7 quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class. His tweet included a video of Rashada in a Florida jacket, doing a Gator chop, with lots of footage of packed Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville.
The Hurricanes still have 19 players committed to their 2023 class, including 10 blue-chip prospects and three-star quarterback Emory Williams from Milton.
Williams, like Rashada, was an Elite 11 finalist, meaning he’s considered one of the top quarterbacks in his class.
This story was originally published November 12, 2022 at 6:06 PM.
