Hurricanes’ offensive line has held up amid injuries — and appears to be getting healthy
The Miami Hurricanes appear to be receiving some good news on the injury front in regards to their offensive line.
Coach Mario Cristobal on Monday said both left tackle Jalen Rivers and right guard Anez Cooper should be ready to play Saturday when the No. 8 Hurricanes travel to play USF at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.
This would have the Hurricanes’ offensive line almost back to full strength.
Rivers has not played the past two games due to an undisclosed injury. Cooper exited in the first half of the Ball State game with an apparent leg/foot injury. Left guard Ryan Rodriguez, who started the season opener against Florida but had split reps in the game with Matt McCoy, has also missed the past two games.
Center Zach Carpenter and right tackle Francis Mauigoa have started all three games.
Even with the turnover and patching together of the starting unit, Miami’s offensive line has more than held its own over the first three weeks of the season — a 41-17 road win over the Florida Gators, a 56-9 home blowout of the Florida A&M Rattlers and most recently a 62-0 shutout against Ball State on Saturday.
In the win against Ball State, Miami set a single-game school record with 750 yards of total offense. The 62 points were the most in a shutout of a Football Bowl Subdivision team in program history as well.
“They’ve been doing good and solid in spurts,” Cristobal said of the offensive line. “Pleased with the way that they work and the way they get after it. We’ve gotta continue to ride them because they’re such an important part of our team. They are culture driven, hard working, just real-deal guys that now, along with the defensive line and our trenches in general, they just get after it and drive our football team.”
Miami is averaging a staggering 8.66 yards per play, which ranks third nationally behind only Louisville (8.88) and Ole Miss (8.87). This includes an average of 11.2 yards per pass attempt (fourth nationally) and 6 yards per rush (23rd nationally).
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have allowed just eight tackles for loss, tied with Missouri and Western Michigan for the fourth fewest nationally among teams that have played at least three games. Only Texas A&M (six), Coastal Carolina (seven) and Liberty (seven) have allowed fewer. That includes just three sacks allowed.
Without Rivers, Markel Bell has started the past two games at left tackle. McCoy has fully taken over at left guard in Rogriguez’s absence. And sixth-year redshirt senior Luis Cristobal Jr. played with the starting offensive line against Ball State after Cooper’s injury.
“That’s part of the competitive depth that everybody talks about wanting and not always having,” offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said, “but our O-line room is extremely talented. Those guys step in and you really don’t even notice it because they just do their job.”
Running back rotation
Through three games this season, the Hurricanes have continued their running-back-by-committee approach that they showcased last season.
Four players have between 14 and 29 carries so far, with Damien Martinez’s 29 carries and 159 yards leading the team. He’s followed in terms of carries by true freshman Jordan Lyle (23 carries, 118 yards), sophomore Mark Fletcher Jr. (18 carries for 118 yards) and redshirt sophomore Ajay Allen (14 carries for 134 yards). All four have at least one rushing touchdown, with Fletcher leading the way with three.
“We have a very talented room,” Dawson said, “so we’re trying to get people involved, but we don’t want to disrupt one person’s ability to get going. There has to be a flow to it, and [running backs coach] Matt [Merritt] does a great job of having his finger on that flow through the course of the game. I just trust him about the rotation of running backs.”
Akheem Mesidor still progressing
Defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor, who played just three games last season before needing surgery on both of his feet, has played in every game so far this season but is still building up his stamina, according to defensive coordinator Lance Guidry.
“I still don’t think he’s in game shape yet,” Guidry said. “Through fall camp, I don’t know how many snaps he took, but he didn’t take a lot of snaps each day. Now that we’re getting through a couple games, he started getting in game shape. I think his best football will probably be midway [through the season]. I think we’ll see the old Mesidor, but he’s getting really, really close to where he was.”
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