Miami Hurricanes at Boston College Five things to watch
Where is Jeff Thomas?
Over the first three weeks of the Miami Hurricanes 2018 season, Thomas was on pace to set the team records for receiving yards and All-purpose yards in a season. Since then, Thomas has five receptions for 97 yards, 70 yards in kick returns and 62 yards in punt returns over the past four games.
With Ahmmon Richards career over and Freshman Brian Hightower out Friday night with an injury, the Hurricanes need Thomas to return to being the dominant receiver and kick and punt returner he was in the first four games.
The game against FIU Thomas was off to a good start in returns before getting hurt. The other three games Miami has not utilized Thomas enough. Thomas is third nationally with 23.59 YPC, but the Hurricanes need to look for him more often.
They should have a chance to do that against a very mediocre Boston College defense. The Eagles are 69th in the country allowing 227.1 passing yards per game. The Eagles have been much better about limiting big plays. Opponents average 6.4 yards per passing attempt. That’s 35th in the country.
Thomas is one of the fastest and most explosive players in the country. The Hurricanes need him to regain that for their offense to become more functional. The Sophomore is 18th in the country in receptions for 30 or more yards and first in punt returns of 30 or more yards and third in all-purpose plays of 30 or more yards.
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Miami has often been on the wrong side of hidden yards this season. If Thomas can make a few big plays on offense and special teams on Friday night its going to help the Hurricanes chances of winning.