The Miami Hurricanes concluded their second to last spring practice for 2017 on Tuesday. The Hurricanes will have their last practice on Thursday at Greentree and their third and final scrimmage at Boca Raton High School Saturday.
The majority of the praise from Head Coach Mark Richt and his coaching staff after Saturday’s second scrimmage was for the defense. Junior Defensive Tackle R.J. McIntosh saw progress on both sides of the ball.
“All of us had a really good scrimmage…And I think if we keep doing that every day, like next scrimmage, I think it is going to help the offensive line and the offense become better every day. If we keep putting pressure on them and making them better, I think we are going to be alright.”
McIntosh’s partner at defensive tackle rising Junior Kendrick Norton has also been impressed with performances on both sides of the ball.
"“[No.] 55 [offensive lineman Navaughn Donaldson] the freshman, he has been doing well, he has been holding his own…He is running with I believe the ones [first string] or twos [second]. He has been holding his own out there. Also, Tyler Gauthier is stepping up at the center spot. He has been doing really well this season.“But you know everybody has been coming out here attacking the days; everybody is trying to get better.”"
McIntosh stressed the importance of the defense working hard and getting better. Miami returns their front seven in tact on defense, but has to rebuild their secondary.
"“I think the defense is a big part of it, “McIntosh said. “We have a lot of players coming back Everybody is coming back. I think we are a big part of this team, so we have to become better. There’s a lot of things we got to work on and I think we are getting better at it.”"
Saturday’s upcoming scrimmage is a home coming for Richt. He is a 1977 graduate of Boca Raton High School. He discussed the importance of the personal meaning for him with the scrimmage being held there.
"“It’s my alma mater, and they do have a nice facility,” he said. “I’m excited about going over there. If Hard Rock [Stadium] was ready for us to play the game, we’d play there. We’d probably have TV there and all that kind of thing. Knowing we couldn’t do that, I didn’t want to go back to where we were. I felt like, let’s have a small venue, let’s make it kind of a homecoming of sorts for me, to tell the people in Boca I love them kind of deal. Hopefully we’ll have a good day.”"
Saturday’s scrimmage is closed to the public. The teams will break down in White and Orange Saturday. Richt broke down how the rosters will take shape:
"“It’s going to look like a game, but it’ll mostly be all ones [first string] versus ones and twos [second string] versus twos,” he explained. “They’ll just be having different color jerseys on them. It’ll play like a game, because if it’s a three-and-out, it’ll be a three-and-out.”"
Richt was asked if he was planning on heading to any of his old hangouts when the game concludes.
"“Now whenever I was in Boca, I would always go to Jerry’s Pizzeria and Fran’s Chicken Haven,” he said. “I don’t even know if Jerry’s is still open, but I hope Fran’s is because I do hope to go back for some fried chicken.”"
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Richt and his staff have gotten a good idea where their players stand with the month of spring practice. They still have a long way to go to determine many of the starting spots. The primary of those is quarterback. The Hurricanes are still awaiting the arrival of star freshman N’Kosi Perry.