Details on UM’s new veteran football additions at key spot. And injuries in Cane backcourt

Watching Rutgers steamroll through the Miami Hurricanes’ defensive line — to the tune of 208 rushing yards on 4.6 per carry — had to be disconcerting for Miami Hurricanes coaches during last week’s dreary Pinstripe Bowl loss.

While the Hurricanes added three exceptional defensive tackle prospects in the 2024 recruiting class, it’s unclear if any will be ready to help immediately.

That makes it vital that two defensive tackle portal pickups — North Carolina State transfer CJ Clark and Middle Tennessee State transfer Marley Cook — play very well next season, especially after the loss of Leonard Taylor III to the NFL and Branson Deen’s eligibility expiring.

As veteran players with a four-year body of work, Clark and Cook both drew significant interest in the transfer portal. And both have done good work as run defenders.

Lance Guidry-coached units have played well against the run for years, and it’s critical that continues for UM to have a chance to make a big jump next season.

Even with the Pinstripe Bowl stats factored in, Guidry’s UM defense finished 12th best in the country in yards rushing allowed per game (105.6) and tied for 15th best in yards permitted per carry (3.3).

Clark, who’s 6-3 and 305 pounds, started at defensive end in the final five games of 2022 but played nose tackle this past season and had 22 tackles and one sack. He helped anchor an NC State defense that held opponents to 3.7 yards per rush, which was 31st best in the country.

“We all know CJ has a high motor,” NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said during the season. “He’s very athletic and can do a lot of things for us. He’s good against the run and good in pass rush.”

In his five seasons with the Wolfpack, Clark played in 42 games, producing 72 tackles, including 7.5 for loss, and four sacks.

PFF rated Clark only 675th of 878 interior defenders this past season, but that might not do him justice.

“He is really a guy who gets off the football,... really quick,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said.

▪ Cook, who’s 6-1 and 298 pounds, had 22 tackles, 18 pressures and a sack in 12 games for Middle Tennessee State this past season.

He has 10.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss in 39 career games. That includes a sack and three pressures in Middle Tennessee’s win at UM in 2022. That 2022 season was exceptional for Cook; he had 49 quarterback pressures that season, per PFF.

It’s a good sign that Ohio State wanted to bring Cook in for a visit before he committed to Miami.

“What I really liked about Miami is the culture there,” Cook told InsideTheU. “Everybody there is good people. You don’t have to worry about bad culture... I like the campus, too. It’s not too big and it’s not too small. It’s just the right size for everybody to get around and get to class.”

Cook told 247’s Gaby Urrutia that either Taylor or co-defensive line coach Joe Salave’a or UM senior football advisor Todd Stroud “hit me up every morning and every evening” and that’s another reason why he picked UM.

“I’m not talking about every other day. I’m talking about every single day. They were calling me every single morning to see how I’m doing. They do that better than any coach that I had throughout this whole recruiting process.”

Pro Football Focus rated Cook 207th among 878 defensive tackles this past season, compared with 146 for Taylor, 273 for Deen and 627 for Jared Harrison-Hunte, UM’s top returning defensive tackle.

PFF rated Cook 68th among the 878 players as a run defender.

A feature by Anthony Fiorella, on the Middle Tennessee State web site, noted that Cook became interested in football while watching tape of NFL great Lawrence Taylor:

“My dad and I would watch Lawrence Taylor highlights all the time,” Cook said in the piece. “My dad told me that if I wanted to, I could be like him, so one day in middle school I finally decided to give football a try.”

UM could play Rueben Bain some at defensive tackle next season.

If Bain stays at primarily at defense end, UM could open next season with a top four defensive tackle group — in whatever order — of Harrison-Hunte, Clark and Cooke, with former Georgia State player Thomas Gore (who played 151 defensive snaps for UM this past season), former Louisiana-Monroe player Anthony Campbell (8), Ahmad Moten (129) and Joshua Horton (32) pushing for the fourth rotation spot.

And three highly regarded freshman tackles could make a case for playing time at some point next season.

Those tackles are five-star prospects Justin Scott and Armondo Blount (who could end up at defensive end or tackle), and four-star defensive tackle Artavius Jones. 247 Sports rated them the 3rd, 9th and 30 defensive linemen in this class.

But those three will need at least some time to develop. Keep in mind that Blount doesn’t turn 17 until February.

So it’s not always realistic to expect immediate impact from freshman interior players, who often are working on sculpting their bodies in the weight room. The good news is those three and Bain could anchor a potentially elite defensive line in 2025.

Next season, UM’s run defense also should get a lift from the return of defensive end Akheem Mesidor, who played in just three games before a season-ending foot injury.

HOOPS TALK

The Miami Hurricanes move into conference play exclusively when they play host to No. 16 Clemson (11-1) at 8 p.m. on Wednesday on ESPN.

Coach Jim Larranaga addressed several issues about his unranked 10-2 team during a Tuesday midday Zoom session with local media:

▪ Guard Wooga Poplar’s status is very much in question because of a left ankle injury sustained in UM’s win against North Florida on Dec. 29.

“Wooga didn’t practice [Monday],” Larranaga said. “I don’t know if he will be available [against Clemson]. It’s day to day. We will see.”

Point guard Nijel Pack missed the past two games with a back injury and Larranaga said he’s “not sure” if Pack will play Wednesday. He practiced a bit on Monday.

“We are going to have to make some decisions who starts and who rotates in,” Larranaga said. “We are not going to be at 100 percent.”

▪ Larranaga made clear that UM needs more defense and rebounding from its bench.

“Christian Watson is 6-7, Kyshawn George is 6-8, Michael Nwoko is 6-10, AJ Casey is 6-8. A lot of size comes in off our bench. What we need them to do is defend and rebound. If they don’t defend and rebound, they’re not helping us in areas we need the most help.”

▪ On FSU transfer Matthew Cleveland, who is averaging 14.9 points and 5.4 rebounds and shooting 55.6 percent overall and 43.3 percent on threes in his first dozen games with UM:

He “has made a smooth transition. Up until the last game, he has been shooting incredibly well... He has [an] advantage because he has been in the league already. He’s a very, very good All Conference caliber player.”

▪ On highly regarded freshman George: “Kyshawn is off to a good start. We are encouraging him to be more and more aggressive. He’s a talented young man but very young. If you look at his body, he’s not physically mature.

“He can shoot the three, handle the ball, good passer, high basketball IQ, and he’s a very good teammate. When he’s on the court, he shares the ball and guys like playing with him.”

▪ Larranaga said at times, “we look like a young team trying to find itself.”

UM has good wins against Georgia and Kansas State and Notre Dame but the two losses were lopsided - a 22-point defeat at Kentucky and the 27-point defeat against Colorado in Brooklyn.

“When we played Kentucky and Colorado, we played a decent first half and lost it in the second half,” Larranaga said. “Defense and rebounding are going to be a huge difference in all these conference games. Guys are understanding these are areas we have to pay close attention to.”