ESPN College Football analyst Kirk Herbstreit held a conference call earlier this week to preview the 2018 College Football season. One of the questions he was asked was if the Miami football team’s ranking of eighth in the AP was about right.
Herbstreit also had a show that aired prior to his teleconference handing out his own version of preseason college football awards appropriately called the Herbies. The Miami football team appeared in the Herbies multiple times.
Linebackers Shaq Quarterman and Michael Pinckney were named one of College Football’s five best duos. ESPN named the Junior tandem to their True Freshman All-America team in 2016. Quarterman was second and Pinckney third on the Miami football team in tackles last season.
One of the surprises from the Hurricanes on Herbstreit’s list was three-star Freshman Defensive End Gregory Rousseau being named as one of the five best Freshmen in the country. Rousseau isn’t even ranked as one of the top five in the 2018 Miami recruiting class.
Other players named to the list include Alabama Freshman cornerback Patrick Surtain from American Heritage High School and USC wide receiver Amon Ra St. Brown. St. Brown’s brother Equiminous played wide receiver at Notre Dame.
The other mentions for the Miami football program in the Herbies including Alex Rodriguez as a celebrity fan and Clemson over the Hurricanes in the ACC Championship game.
In his analysis on the ESPN conference call, Herbstreit denounces the notion from the media member asking his take on if Miami is ranked right or if it’s too high. It is clear that the person asking the question believes that the Hurricanes are ranked too high.
The draft departures that the Miami football team has will primarily hinder the Hurricanes at defensive tackle and on the offensive line. The other positions are deep enough to replace.
Herbstreit’s biggest concern like many is can Malik Rosier be more consistent. Those that follow the team more closely and listen to what Mark Richt has been saying throughout the offseason, spring and in training camp is the offensive line is a bigger concern.
After some constant shuffling around the line has gained consistency during training camp. The same five that ended Spring practice as a unit has been the first team offensive line throughout August. There is no reason to believe the starting five against LSU.
Herbstreit closes out his answer about the Hurricanes discussing the Miami defense. With eight starters back and graduated cornerback Dee Delaney, not a big concern to replace, the Miami defense should continue to be dominant.
"Q. Hi, Kirk. So you have Miami (eighth) in the AP season poll. Does that to you seem about right? Or is it too high in light of losing three straight at the end of last season, had several draft departures, as you know, and how would you assess their team?KIRK HERBSTREIT: I would say top 10, top 12 would probably be about right. I don’t think necessarily you can look at the way the season ended and say, okay, let’s put them down at 15 or 18 because they lost their last three.We know that Mark Richt, based on what we’ve seen his first couple years, he’s building this program back up, and I think he’s getting the local talent to stay around, as you know.If you look at the backfield, if you look at the depth they now have at receiver, which they didn’t have a year ago, you look at offensive line, every return to believe that this is going to come down, I hate to say it, to Malik Rosier, and his development from where he was a year ago.There were times, let’s face it, he looked really good, and there were times, let’s face it, he didn’t look so good. So how far has he improved from last year to this year, I think will tell you, as we sit here in August, what kind of year Miami’s going to end up having.Let’s face it, I know they lost a few guys on defense, but for the most part, most of that leadership group is back. Manny Diaz is going to be aggressive. The gold chain is going to be out. The defense will keep him in every game they play.Until we see it, the question will be how far along has the offense come, and can they win the games that are going to be pretty tough for them this year? Starting with LSU, their first game. They’ve got Florida State, which will be a tough game. So let’s see where Rosier is to really dictate what kind of year the Canes end up having.”"
Herbstreit saw the Miami football team play three times in 2017. Rosier was excellent in the ABC Prime victories over Virginia Tech and Notre Dame that Herbstreit and Chris Fowler called. He completed 56.5 percent of his passes for 339 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions in the games at Hard Rock Stadium.
Rosier also ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns in Miami’s biggest wins of 2017. He also added one reception for 17 yards.
In the loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship game Rosier was 14 of 29 for 110 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. On the ground, Rosier managed only 19 yards on ten carries.
The depth that Miami has this season should be greater than 2017. That will help Rosier if the Hurricanes suffer disabling injuries to their offense this season. Miami is far more equipped to handle losses on either side of the ball in 2018 than they were in 2017.