Miami Hurricanes Spring Practice Report: Day 12, Scrimmage Two
The Miami Hurricanes conducted their second scrimmage of the spring on Saturday afternoon at the Greentree Practice fields. Saturday’s highlight were the alumni in attendance dating back to the 1940’s.
An emphasis on hiring one of your own seems to be a common theme throughout college football and basketball. Fans particularly want someone from the past who can return the school to their past glory.
When Mark Richt was hired as Miami’s coach he had 15 years experience as the Head Coach at Georgia and many years before that working under Bobby Bowden at Florida State.
When he took the head coaching job at Miami after being let go, the former Hurricanes Quarterback and Boca Raton native was “coming home”.
Several former Hurricanes attended Saturday’s scrimmage. Miami’s boss spoke about the importance of the Alumni returning to campus.
"“It’s fun,…We had dinner last night, not only with our football alumni but with our current players. It is just kind of men’s town. And we have the former players there with our current players and they get a chance to get to know each other. We spread our guys around to make sure they are sitting with some of the, I won’t say old guys, but some of the veterans of the program. And I think they had fun.”"
Among Saturday’s attendees was former Hurricanes great and Heisman Trophy winning Quarterback Vinny Testaverde. He was there to watch his son Vicent compete for the starting Quarterback job.
Junior played well. He completed a 65 yard touchdown pass to incoming freshman DeeJay Dallas. Evan Shirreffs and Malik Rosier got to show off their prowess for a second straight week.
"“It was a little route where we make it look like we are running a dig and then we went vertical on it and caught the corner off balance,” Richt said. “And [redshirt junior quarterback] Vincent [Testaverde] laid it in there nice. He had nice protection on that play. It was a really nice throw.”"
Cade Weldon who is the son of former Florida State Quarterback and Richt pupil Casey Weldon got a chance to play in the scrimmage after sitting last week.
Other Miami legends who were in attendance were former Hurricanes running backs Edgerrin James and Clinton Portis and wide receiver Santana Moss. They saw the passing game clicking this afternoon.
Wide receiver Dayall Harris had a touchdown reception and Darrell Langham who has yet to contribute in a game had five catches for 73 yards. Miami’s two deep running backs also contributed. Mark Walton and Travis Homer combined for ten receptions.
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Former defensive stars that attended the scrimmage included Jon Beason, Jonathan Vilma, D.J. Williams and Calais Campbell.
Miami’s defense was the cornerstone of most of their 2016 success. Manny Diaz’ attacking style of defense continued to play that way in the scrimmage.
RJ McIntosh had three sacks. Pat Bethel, Trent Harris, Demetrius Jackson and Mike Smith all had one sack apiece.
Going into the spring and heading into the 2017 season, the biggest question mark defensively is the secondary. They continued to grow and show their prowess in Saturday’s scrimmage. Ryan Mayes, Sheldrick Redwine and Tyler Murphy each had four tackles. Murphy added an interception.
Rising sophomore Malek Young who started four games in an experienced secondary in 2016 made an impact on Saturday. Playing in front of former Hurricanes stars Philip Buchanon and Burgess Owens, Young impressed with an acrobatic end zone interception.
Most importantly, Richt was impressed with Young’s end zone Int.
"“Malek Young made one of the most acrobatic interceptions I have seen on a deep ball where the offensive player really had the advantage of where the ball was coming down…We tried to put the ball where the offensive guy has a better shot, obviously, but Malek just went and jumped and twisted and found it and snatched. I mean, you just don’t see that very often. You might see a guy rake it out, bat it out, something like that, at best. But it looked like a sure touchdown and he found a way to not only break it up, but intercept it. It was probably the most impressive play of the day.”"
Next: New Football Signing Period Will Benefit Miami Hurricanes Immediately
Miami will have Sunday and Monday off before getting back to the practice fields on Tuesday. The emphasis will likely continue to be the Quarterback play and the growth of the secondary.