Miami Hurricanes beefing up in trenches as two key players return for Louisville game
The No. 6 Miami Hurricanes are expected to receive a significant boost in the trenches on Saturday against Louisville at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium.
Starting left tackle Jalen Rivers is back after missing the past five games with an undisclosed injury. Meanwhile, defensive end Elijah Alston is also slated to return after missing the Cal game. Both went through pregame warmups.
With that, the Hurricanes are essentially at full strength on both lines of scrimmage — the only key contributor from either side still out is Ryan Rodriguez, who rotated at left guard with Matt McCoy in the season-opener against Florida.
With Rivers back, Miami’s offensive line should be Rivers at left tackle, McCoy at left guard, Zach Carpenter at center, Anez Cooper at right guard and Francis Mauigoa at right tackle.
Even in Rivers’ absence, the offensive line held its own. The Hurricanes lead the nation in total offense and scoring while giving up just nine sacks and 23 total tackles for loss.
On the defensive line, Alston, Rueben Bain Jr. (who returned for the Cal game after sitting out four games with injury) and Tyler Baron will be Miami’s primary edge rushers. Simeon Barrow and Akheem Mesidor are the Hurricanes’ primary defensive tackles, with C.J. Clark and Ahmad Moten next in line.
Familiar faces
There will be several familiar faces to Hurricanes fans on the Louisville sideline Saturday.
Seven players on the Cardinals’ roster are South Florida natives: wide receiver Jacorey Brooks (Miami Booker T. Washington), linebacker Stanquan Clark (Miami Central), defensive back Corey Thronton (Miami Booker T. Washington), linebacker T.J. Capers (Miami Columbus), defensive lineman Tramel Logan (Miami Booker T. Washington), running back Don Chaney (Belen Jesuit and former UM player) and running back Isaac Brown (Homestead).
In addition to Chaney, tight end Jaleel Skinner is a player on the Cardinals who transferred from Miami.
And Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough began his college career at Oregon with now-Miami coach Mario Cristobal.
Cristobal on Monday said that the never-ending player movement with the transfer portal doesn’t feel normal yet .
“We’re playing a couple weeks ago, and Kaleb Spencer, who was with us in spring practice, is in on a tackle for loss [for Virginia Tech],” Cristobal said. “We’re preparing this week for a guy who I had the great fortune at a previous stop. And now he’s at a different school, and he’s doing a great, great job. So, man, it’s moving fast. It really is.”
Milestone tracking
▪ Wide receiver Xavier Restrepo is 122 receiving yards away from moving to third on the UM all-time receiving yards list and 246 yards away from breaking Santana Moss’ school record of 2,547 yards. He also needs 20 more catches to break Mike Harley’s school record of 182 receptions.
▪ Quarterback Cam Ward is five touchdowns away from becoming the seventh quarterback in UM history to throw for 25 touchdowns in a season and the first since Tyler Van Dyke in 2021. The school record for a season is 29 by Steve Walsh in the 1988 season.
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