Miami Hurricanes down another starter, with Keionte Scott out vs. NC State
Another key Miami Hurricanes player is sidelined.
Nickel cornerback Keionte Scott, who has been arguably Miami’s most consistent player on defense this season, has been ruled out for the No. 15 Hurricanes’ home finale against the NC State Wolpack on Saturday, according to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s initial availability report for the game on Thursday.
Additionally, running back Mark Fletcher Jr. and cornerback OJ Frederique are listed as out, as is wide receiver Tony Johnson. Defensive tackle David Blay Jr. is listed as questionable.
Meanwhile, wide receiver CJ Daniels and defensive tackle Ahmad Moten Sr. have no designation, pointing to both playing against NC State.
Fletcher missed his first game of the season last week in Miami’s 38-10 win over the Syracuse Orange. Daniels, Frederique and Moten each missed the past two weeks — the 26-20 overtime loss to SMU on Nov. 1 and the Syracuse game.
Scott, who last week was named a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award given annually to college football’s top defensive back, only played 37 of Miami’s 71 snaps on defense against Syracuse. He entered last week having played 467 of the Hurricanes’ 517 defensive snaps — 90.3%. The Auburn transfer enters this week leading the Hurricanes with 10 tackles for loss and five pass breakups to go along with 43 tackles (second on the team), three sacks (tied for second on the team) and an interception returned for a touchdown in the first half against Syracuse.
While the availability report does not specify why a player’s status is what it is, CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz reported Thursday that Scott is dealing with a “lower extremity” injury and that his status for the rest of the season is up in the air. Miami closes the regular season with road games at Virginia Tech on Nov. 22 and Pittsburgh on Nov. 29.
Isaiah Taylor took over the majority of Miami’s snaps at nickel corner when Scott was sidelined against Syracuse.
With Fletcher sidelined against Syracuse, the trio of Jordan Lyle, CharMar “Marty” Brown and Girard Pringle Jr. split the run-game duties. Pringle provided a spark late, rushing seven times for a team-high 55 yards and a touchdown in the second half.
Without Daniels, Keelan Marion has stepped up in the passing game, catching eight passes for 193 yards and a touchdown the past two weeks.
The trio of Xavier Lucas, Ethan O’Connor and Damari Brown have held down the outside corner spots with Frederique sidelined. Justin Scott, Donta Simpson Jr., Armondo Blount and Herbert Scroggins III have gotten extended reps at defensive tackle during Moten’s absence. That group could continue getting extended time depending on Blay’s status.
Breaking down the ACC’s availability reports
The ACC this season began requiring teams to submit three availability reports before conference football games. The first is released two nights before the game (Thursday in this case), the second the night before the game (Friday in this case) and the third two hours before kickoff (so 1:30 p.m. Saturday in this case).
Reports submitted before game day will have four potential designations: Available, probable, questionable and out. The league defines those four designations as follows...
Available: “Fully available to play in the game.”
Probable: “Likely to play; greater than 50% chance.”
Questionable: “Uncertain to play; less than 50% chance.”
Out: “Will not play in the game.”
The report released on game day have three status designations for players: Available, game time decision and out and are defined as follows
Available: “Fully available to play in the game.”
Game Time Decision: “Final decision will be made closer to the game.”
Out: “Will not play in the game.”
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