Podcast: The U is back (in action)! Miami returns from COVID and who knows what to expect

David Wilson
·2 min read

The wait is finally over. The Miami Hurricanes are going to play a football game.

For the first time in 20 days, Miami will take the field Saturday against the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, North Carolina. It’s anyone’s guess what it’s going to look like.

On the Eye on the U podcast this week, David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Hurricanes beat writer for the Miami Herald, take their guesses about how it might look.

The Hurricanes (7-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast) last played in mid-November and, shorthanded, rallied to beat the Virginia Tech Hokies, 25-24, in Virginia. They returned to Coral Gables, sneaked in one day of activity as a team and then got shut down. Those COVID-19 cases, which left Miami without three starters and close to a dozen contributors in Blacksburg, forced the Hurricanes to miss two full weeks of practice before they finally got back out on to Greentree Practice Fields on Monday.

Coach Manny Diaz said things are looking a lot better. Coordinators Rhett Lashlee and Blake Baker both said Miami is as healthy as it has been all season. At least as of Wednesday, quarterback D’Eriq King, wide receiver Mike Harley and defensive lineman Jaelan Phillips were all set to suit up at Wallace Wade Stadium.

Still, no one outside the program has seen practice all season, so the exact number of available players is a mystery. Even those who can play, Diaz said, might be on “a pitch count” this weekend as they work back into shape following two weeks off. The only thing we know is we don’t know much.

One thing we do know is No. 9 Miami remains in good shape to to make a New Year’s Six bowl. Some ACC decisions this week narrowed the Hurricanes’ path to the 2020 ACC Championship Game even more, but there does remain a slim chance for Miami to get to Charlotte if it wins its next two and the No. 4 Clemson Tigers lose to Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Diaz is keeping it simple, though. Before the Hurricanes can start thinking about title games or Orange Bowls, they’ve got to get through this week and all the hellish weeks which have preceded it: “Beat Duke.”