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Time 2021-08-31 11:17:49

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It was, for the Miami Hurricanes, one last preseason test of sorts.With two weeks of practice and one scrimmage already behind them, the Hurricanes took the field Saturday for their final scrimmage of camp – one players know coaches will study closely as Miami shifts gears and begins game preparations for its Sept. 4 opener against Alabama.As one might expect, several Hurricanes found ways to deliver, whether they made a key play to extend an eventual scoring drive or whether they got behind the line of scrimmage to stop a quarterback in his tracks.For head coach Manny Diaz, though, one group clearly had the edge.“I saw improvement from scrimmage one, which is what you would’ve expected,” Diaz said. “[Quarterback] D’Eriq [King] got us going again offensively [with] an explosive play and a touchdown drive to get things going. But the night belonged to the defense. From start to finish, the [No.] 1 defense was pretty dominant tonight.”Here, some additional notes on how Miami’s defense performed Saturday and other things the Hurricanes can take from their final scrimmage of camp.1. The defensive line was disruptiveMore than a few members of Miami’s defensive line made their presence known Saturday.For the second straight scrimmage, linebacker-turned-defensive-end Zach McCloud recorded a sack, as did fellow ends Elijah Roberts and Deandre Johnson. Defensive tackle Nesta Jade Silvera notched a sack, too.The group – and the rest of the defensive front – kept a steady pressure on Miami’s trio of quarterbacks and, in Diaz’s opinion, showed improvement from last week’s scrimmage.“I thought our defensive line was excellent. Very disruptive,” Diaz said. “Silvera had a sack. McCloud had a sack, Elijah Roberts had a sack. Deandre Johnson had a sack. I thought [linebacker] Corey Flagg had a great scrimmage. [Linebacker] Keontra Smith [had] a PBU and a bunch of tackles. [Linebacker] Waynmon Steed had four tackles. [They] did some really good things. They made themselves hard to run the ball…[and] put the offense in some long yard situations where you could get in some pressure situations.”2. Miami’s tackling overall was improvedIt wasn’t just the defensive front that earned praise from Diaz.Several of Miami’s strikers and defensive backs recorded multiple tackles on Saturday and that, the coach said, was also key after last week’s scrimmage.“Our tackling was night and day from last week. We tackled much, much better,” Diaz noted. “Very little run after the catch. A lot of guys swarming around the ball. A lot of confidence. Big strides from where we were a week ago.”Click here to read more on the performance of the QBs and Wide receivers:https://miamihurricanes.com/news/2021/08/22/football-takeaways-from-miamis-final-scrimmage-of-camp/After a little more than a week of workouts on Greentree, Sunday marked one of the first significant tests of preseason camp for the Hurricanes: a scrimmage.Full pads were donned. Big plays were made. And, Miami head coach Manny Diaz said, his players had an opportunity to compete in an environment a bit more similar to the ones they’ll face on Saturdays this fall.And for one player in particular, the scrimmage was especially significant.“Guys played hard, but the story is it’s great to see D’Eriq King,” Diaz said of Miami’s veteran quarterback, who continues working his way back from a knee injury suffered in last season’s finale. “I thought he was phenomenal running the offense…Guy’s a tough guy to defend.”Here, some additional notes on King’s performance, along with some of what the Hurricanes can take from their first scrimmage of the 2021 season as they move into the second week of camp.1. King takes another step forwardSince tearing his ACL last December, King – Miami’s unquestioned leader on and off the field – has made it clear he had every intention of being ready to play in the Hurricanes’ season opener against Alabama on Sept. 4.After seven months of intense rehabilitative work, King led the Hurricanes through offensive drills when Miami opened camp earlier this month. Sunday, he took another step forward in his recovery, participating in his first scrimmage since getting hurtThe redshirt senior completed 12 of his 16 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns. During one point in the scrimmage, he had nine straight completions.It was a performance that, of course, energized teammates and coaches – and had the quarterback himself smiling.“It was a good feeling to get back out there in like a real-game situation,” King said. “I felt pretty good…I was so happy driving here today to do the scrimmage, first time we were really live, guys were taken to the ground. We had referees out here. It was a real-game situation. Everything felt good and I felt comfortable again. It’s a really good feeling.”2. The receivers stepped upKing and the rest of Miami’s quarterbacks had plenty of help Sunday from more than a few of their playmakers, including some of the newest faces in the Hurricanes receivers room.Freshman Jacolby George had a big night, catching seven passes for 127 yards with a touchdown, while fellow freshman Romello Brinson had four catches for 73 yards.Charleston Rambo, a transfer from Oklahoma, had one of the biggest plays of the night, a one-handed 27-yard touchdown grab that elicited plenty of cheering from the offense. He finished with 60 receiving yards on the night.“It was spread out throughout a lot of numbers,” Diaz said of the receivers’ productivity. “Charleston Rambo had a touchdown catch, 60 yards receiving, a beautiful catch in the end zone. Jacolby George, [one of] the young guys, seven [catches] for 127 [yards] with a touchdown on a slant. Romello Brinson four [catches] for 73 [yards]. Good to see Pope, three [catches] for 56 [yards]. Brashard [Smith] had a couple catches for 30 [yards] as well and it wouldn’t be a scrimmage without [Xavier] Restrepo making five catches. The guy does it every time we scrimmage.”Added King of the receivers, “I love those guys. They make plays every day in practice. To come out here in a real-game setting and see them make plays, it’s really encouraging. I’m proud of them. I’m happy for them.”Read More Here: https://miamihurricanes.com/news/2021/08/16/football-takeaways-from-miamis-first-scrimmage-of-camp/There were moments, rare though they may have been, when D’Eriq King couldn’t help but wonder if he’d really, truly be ready for the start of Miami’s new season.When the MRI revealed he’d torn his ACL in late December. When he was unable to walk after surgery. When he relied on crutches to help him move. When doctors and physical therapists told him it wasn’t time for him to run just yet.But anytime the questions and doubt crept in, King did his best to refocus.He’d gather his thoughts, put his head down and find a way to hit the next benchmark in his rehabilitation process. Now, less than eight months removed from a knee injury that left him devastated, the quarterback is ready to get back on Greentree.He’ll have his opportunity Friday evening when the Hurricanes finally open preseason camp.“I’ve been working my butt off all summer. I didn’t really have any weeks off. I’ve just been trying to rehab and do the best I can,” King said Wednesday. “I’m still taking it day-by-day. A lot of people don’t understand the rehab process isn’t going to end before camp starts. It’s literally going to be all year…It’s going to be a long process, but I feel awesome right now. I’m ready to go.”That’s news teammates, coaches and Miami’s fans are, understandably, excited to hear.“I want to see him get back to what he loves, but we’ve also seen, inside the program, the work he’s put in since his surgery and what he’s done in his rehab. You can’t forget that,” said Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz. “When our fans get to watch him play, you’ll get to see the end product, but every step along the way, all he’s done to get back on the field, he’s been relentless. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”Last fall, King – a transfer from Houston – wasted little time in emerging as one of Miami’s leaders on and off the field.He helped engineer comeback wins against both North Carolina State and Virginia Tech. He dazzled in both Miami’s 52-10 win over rival Florida State and the Hurricanes’ top-20 road win at Louisville.King finished the year completing 64 percent of his passes, throwing for 2,686 yards and 23 touchdowns, while rushing for another 538 yards and four more scores.He announced just before Miami’s Cheez-it Bowl matchup against Oklahoma State that he would take advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted to student-athletes because of the COVID-19 pandemic and excitement for the 2021 season began brewing quickly.But with 4:06 left in the first half of that game, everything changed.Read more here:https://miamihurricanes.com/news/2021/08/04/football-king-ready-to-start/On one field, Michael Irvin and Lamar Thomas demonstrated how to run routes. On another, Joaquin Gonzalez and Brett Romberg led offensive linemen through drills. Clearly, these current and former UM players were in paradise.And at one point in the evening, as young football players milled about, Calais Campbell pulled Greg Rousseau to the side and showed him some of the moves that helped him earn the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2017. Soon after, Jaelan Phillips joined the conversation.On Saturday night, nearly two dozen former Hurricanes football stars returned to the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility and the Greentree Practice Fields to participate in one of the more well-known events hosted by the Miami program: Paradise Camp.For many of them, whether they are an NFL Hall of Famer or a alum still playing in the league, the opportunity to be part of Paradise Camp was a no-brainer, their chance to give back to the program they believe changed their lives.“You come to The U and you’ll always have support. It’s a deep thing. You will always have support,” Irvin said. “All of us showing up all the time, it’s important to show whatever kid is thinking about coming here…we want them to know, right here, buddy, you will always have that support and I think that’s very important…It’s not like a family. We are a family.”Added Gonzalez, “Any excuse to come back to Coral Gables, even though I live in Miami, is always welcome. It’s always awesome. To do it under these circumstances, such a beautiful backdrop, all about football and talk to the younger generations, to me, I thoroughly enjoy it, maybe more than the kids do. It’s an opportunity.”Irvin, the Hall of Fame receiver who has been at several past Paradise Camps, helped kick off the evening’s festivities by addressing a large crowd that included approximately 300 campers, their families and high school coaches.Behind him, Miami head coach Manny Diaz smiled and an awe-inspiring group of Hurricanes nodded along as Irvin spoke. Among them were Edgerrin James, Lamar Thomas, David Njoku, Calais Campbell, Trent Harris, Ufomba Kamalu, Jon Beason, Sean Spence, Antrel Rolle, Duane Starks, Deon Bush, Kenny Phillips, Sheldrick Redwine, Brian Monroe, Javarris James, Lamar Miller and K.J. Osborn.Also there were the three newest members of the Hurricanes’ NFL fraternity, Jaelan Phillips and Greg Rousseau, who were both first-round picks in this year’s draft and kicker Jose Borregales, who signed a free agent contract with the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.While past Paradise Camp events have primarily featured Miami greats who have already completed their careers, Diaz felt it was important to make sure Hurricanes currently still playing in the NFL could share their perspective with the campers in attendance.“It’s really neat. It’s fun to have them share the stories of their first minicamps and things like that,” Diaz said. “The alumni that were here in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s are awesome. But I do think it’s important that our recent alumni feel that you don’t have to be 20 years removed to have the pride of the program. To see guys like K.J. Osborn, [Sheldrick] Redwine, Trent Harris here…the more we can do that, the better we all are.” During my time running this crazy blog I have met some pretty interesting and serious people. And one of those people is my friend Harry Miller.He recently visited Central Florida where we reunited to celebrate our Canespace friendship. Needless to say a good time was had by all. Of all the bloggers I have met, and there are many, few are more impressive, experienced or well traveled as my good friend Harry Miller. This guy has been there and done that many, many times. He is the Clint Eastwood of Canespace.If you could spend four hours with Miller he could spin you some stories that would impress. From growing strawberries in South Florida to supervising crews laying tons of iron to building new homes this all around guy has got it done.We had lunch on the lake in Clermont and he told me some stories that would make your head spin. Tales of fist fights, flame outs and the success of the american dream come to life. All true and an amazing history to experience.Harry Miller, I appreciate your friendship and our shared moments together.You are an American icon, a patriot and a Canespace Legend to the end. On this Memorial Day 2021 we would like to offer a sincere THANK U to all of the incredibly brave men and women who have risked their lives in combat or have been killed in the defense of our freedom.For all of those men and women who have served in the U.S armed forces and who have literally put their lives on the line to protect and defend the United States of America this blog is for U.For all of the courageous men and women who recognized that freedom isn t free and found it necessary to put themselves in harms way we thank U.For all of those Army soldiers who have fearlessly risked their lives to defend our Country in World Wars, regional conflicts and in battles against the war on terrorism, we honor U.For all of those Navy sailors, who save the free world on the open seas, without concern for their own safety to defend the world s oceans we recognize U.For all of those highly skilled Air Force pilots and their support crews who defend our airspace with their incredible talent and ability we salute U.And for all of those who served as a Marine like my father who faught in Korea and served as a Staff Sargent in Camp LeJune, NC may God bless you and keep you safe and well. It s not easy being first in and last out.We wish all American defense personnel and all U.S. citizens across our great Nation the peace, freedom and security that all sovereign Nations deserve.We would like to take this opporuntity to recognize all who served and all who paid the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedom. And we wish all of our bloggers, their families and friends a safe and happy Memorial Day.Miami Hurricane fans salute the armed forces and ask that God Bless America!Whether you’re an athlete or a professional, few people ever have their focus on the finality of their career. But eight Miami Hurricanes will be honored this Saturday as part of Senior Day festivities recognizing their contributions to the Hurricanes baseball program.Spencer Bodanza, Christian Del Castillo, Daniel Federman, Raymond Gil, Tony Jenkins, Gabe Rivera, Alex Toral and Ben Wanger make up the first senior class in head coach Gino DiMare’s tenure leading the Hurricanes and they’re a group he will never forget.“It flies by so fast,” DiMare said. “These guys come and they go. You turn your head and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh! He was just a freshman here and now he’s getting ready to go.’ It’s certainly a class that I appreciate. It’s guys that I’m certainly happy that they came back.”Much like DiMare will remember his players, the eight Canes have a bond with each other and their teammates that will last a lifetime.“The bond we all share as Miami baseball players is special,” first baseman Alex Toral said. “There are guys that played here six or seven years before I even arrived here and I’ve been fortunate to connect with and build relationships with. Whether you played here a long time ago or just a few years ago, we all have great love and pride for The U and we all connect because of that.”Federman, Gil, Jenkins, Rivera and Toral are four-year players that arrived at Miami together ahead of the 2018 season. The quintet has been through some highs and lows in their four seasons with the Canes and they hope to punctuate their fourth season on a high note.“It means a lot to be part of that group,” Rivera said. “We came from our freshman year dealing with that adversity and bounced back in 2019 and obviously last year with the whole COVID situation, we’ve been through a lot. We’re a core group of guys and we’ve known each other even before we stepped on campus. Our relationships with each other have just gotten stronger and it’s been a joy to play with each other here after growing up playing with each other to now finishing our college career here. It’s been a blessing to play with those guys and they’ll be my close friends for the rest of my life.”“It’s definitely incredible being with some of these guys for four years and knowing some of them even before that,” Jenkins added. “We’re obviously going to go our separate ways after our careers end here, but I know we are all going to keep in touch. These are my brothers and I’ll always stay close to them.”Read more here: Senior Sendoff It was a conversation Marshall Few knew he had to have.What the receiver didn’t know was how his message would be received. After all, not many coaches want to hear a veteran player say they’re stepping away from the game – even if their reason for doing so is to pursue a lifelong dream.“To be honest, I was expecting a little bit different reaction,” Few said of the heart-to-heart he had with head coach Manny Diaz in early April. “I was expecting him to be upset and be like ‘Oh, man, are you sure?’ But he realized how big it was for me and he just said, ‘Dude, that’s freaking awesome.’”For Few – a former walk-on who was put on scholarship shortly after Diaz was named coach – there aren’t very many good reasons to walk away from the game he’s loved all his life and the team he’s been a part of for four years.The opportunity to join the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command program, though, is one of those reasons.Becoming an elite Airman has been one of Few’s goals for as long as he can remember. His father, Marshall Sr., is a 30-year Army veteran and Few grew up with a deep respect and appreciation for the military.He considered attending one of the service academies after graduating from Ponte Vedra High School in 2017, but he landed at Miami, where he joined both the football team and UM’s Air Force ROTC program.With help from his coaches and his commander, Few has been able to balance the demands of both playing high-level college football with his ROTC responsibilities. He is set to graduate next month as an Air Force officer and had expected to start graduate school and play one more season with the Hurricanes before truly beginning his military career.But in March, Few took some time away from football to attend a special training session at Hurlburt Field, the home of Air Force Special Operations Command near Fort Walton Beach, Florida.There, Few was one of 31 aspiring officers who went through a demanding one-week program that challenged participants both physically and mentally.Of the 31 trainees who started the Phase II program, only 18 finished the week, which included everything from water confidence exercises to IQ testing and psychiatric evaluations. Only a handful of the applicants were selected for the special tactics officer program.Few was among them. The time to start his military career had officially arrived. Read more here: Ready To ServeWalk-off wins are always fun, but even better when they clinch a series sweep.Sunday’s hero was Tony Jenkins, delivering the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the ninth to push the Canes past Clemson, 3-2, before a sold-out crowd of 620 fans inside Alex Rodriguez Park.“Getting sweeps is not easy,” head coach Gino DiMare said. “We’ve had it done to us a few times and we need to obviously run some off ourselves here to make up [for it], but more importantly, just play good baseball. The last two games were obviously a little bit different where we opened the games up and had much bigger margins. Winning one-run games, those are very, very important. Those are going to be more the type of games you’re going to play later on in tournament time, so it was good to see.”After a pair of lopsided losses in the first two games, the Tigers had built some momentum against the Canes by tying the game against Miami’s closer, Carson Palmquist. But Miami got some timely hitting to earn its second walk-off win of the week.CJ Kayfus, who entered the game as a pinch runner in the bottom of the sixth, led off the ninth with a base hit up the middle. Two batters later, Dominic Pitelli ripped a double to right that put runners on second and third with one out, setting the stage for Jenkins to be a hero.“It was just great to be in that position and that situation at the time and an even better feeling to get that done for the team,” Jenkins said. “I’ve just got to stay ready whenever my name gets called and I felt like I did that today. It felt really great celebrating with the guys. Everyone seemed very proud of me and I’m just thankful for my team.”The fourth-year outfielder, which entered the game as a defensive replacement in the top of the seventh, lifted the first pitch he saw from Clemson closer Geoffrey Gilbert deep to center field, allowing Kayfus to tag up and score the winning run and set off a raucous celebration on Mark Light Field.“I was so proud of him just being aggressive there,” DiMare said. “Come up first pitch, got a pitch he can drive to the outfield. He hasn’t done a very good job of being aggressive and in that situation, you’ve got to be aggressive, and he got a good pitch to drive.”The victory was Miami’s eighth home win in a row over the Tigers. It also marked Miami’s second consecutive sweep of Clemson in Coral Gables and its fifth straight series win over the Tigers.While it was a sacrifice fly that clinch the win, Miami got a major boost from the home run all weekend. Seven different players combined for nine homers against Clemson this weekend, with Yohandy Morales getting the bats going for the Hurricanes in the bottom of the first when he hit an opposite-field homer for the second consecutive day. The true freshman’s solo blast extended Miami’s home run streak to nine straight games dating back to April 4. Here is a link to the photos from the UM web site hurricanesports.com from today s final Spring scrimmage:https://miamihurricanes.com/news/2021/04/17/spring-game-photo-gallery/Go Canes!

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