Miami football dealt with three week layoff in 2017
The Miami football team is more prepared than others for a three-week layoff with a similar situation in 2017.
The Miami football team has dealt with a three-week layoff before. In 2017, Hurricane Irma caused Miami to cancel its game at Arkansas State and move their game against Florida State back three weeks. Miami is currently on a three-week break now after having their November 21 and 28 games postponed.
Miami was scheduled to play Georgia Tech this past Saturday and Wake Forest this coming Saturday. The game against the Yellow Jackets has been tentatively rescheduled for December 19 and the Hurricanes and Demon Deacons has been moved to December 5. Neither Miami nor Wake Forest will play this weekend.
The Demon Deacons had their game against Duke last weekend canceled and they were not scheduled to play this weekend. Wake Forest will have the same layoff that Miami has had. The Demon Deacons last played when they lost 59-53 to North Carolina on November 14. Wake Forest is 4-3 overall, 3-3 in the ACC.
Miami will play North Carolina a week after Wake Forest on December 12. The Tar Heels host Notre Dame on Friday. North Carolina will be only the second opponent that Miami has played who is ranked in the top 25 in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Hurricanes lost at number three Clemson last month.
Manny Diaz was the defensive coordinator for the Miami football team when the Hurricanes went through their last three-week layoff. He spoke today in his first press conference since testing positive for COVID-19. Diaz spoke about the differences between the 2017 and 2020 layoffs and the challenges each brought.
Miami was able to stay together as a team in 2017. The Hurricanes went to Orlando and stayed in a hotel. Miami began the 2017 season with a 41-13 victory over FCS Bethune-Cookman. Irma threatened South Florida after the season-opening victory. Miami ultimately felt it was best to cancel its game at Arkansas State.
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Miami finally resumed play on September 23 with a 52-30 victory against Toledo. Miami won 10 straight games to start the season including ending a seven-game losing streak in the re-scheduled game against Florida State. Just like this season, Miami entered the first 2017 College Football Playoff rankings 10th.
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Diaz mentioned in his weekly press conference on Wednesday that the challenge when they get back to practice next week will be integrating the players who return at different times. When he compared 2017, Diaz stated the difference between having the team practice together in Orlando and the entire team missing equal time.