| Brock Berlin has gone from goat to team MVP in half of the season. Berlin has thrown 17 touchdowns on the season and hasn’t thrown an interception in the last three games. Thankfully! | QUARTERBACK – UM | The Demon Deacons have two quarterbacks that can start. Cory Randolph is the usual starter but an injured toe cleared the path for red-shirt freshman Ben Mauk. Both quarterbacks have the ability to run but they only have five TDs combined this year. |
| Frank Gore blew up like everyone thought he would last week. Running for 195 yards against one of the best run-defenses in the country was impressive but now Gore needs to show he can perform week-in and week-out at that level. | RUNNING BACK – Wake Forest | Chris Barclay is the leading rusher in the ACC with 850 yards and he could shred UM’s defense if they revert back to their arm-tackling ways. Red-shirt freshman Micah Andrews averages just 32.7 yard-per-game but he has six TDs. |
| This unit has performed well as a whole this season, but the rumor is that it had a large helping of buttered popcorn during the pre-game movie. It dropped seven passes, the most egregious of which was a Lance Leggett sure touchdown. | OFFENSIVE LINE – Even | This unit only returned two starters from last season but Jim Grobe’s teams always run well. Wake leads the ACC in rushing and center Blake Lingruen, the only senior on the line, is a big reason why. |
| D-tackle Orien Harris finally came out of hibernation to make some plays in the past couple of games. Many thought the 300-pounder would be a top NFL prospect at this point but he has disappeared at times this season. | DEFENSIVE LINE – UM | Matt Robinson is only a red-shirt frosh but the defensive end leads the Demon Deacon defense with eight tackles for a loss. This is a young line that has had three freshmen starting at times this season. No player on the line has more than two sacks. |
| Romeo Davis and Jon Beason, two freshmen, have answered the call with Tavares Gooden injured and Leon Williams underperforming. The linebacker corps has a bright future with so many young players already contributing. Williams may return to the MLB position with McIntosh injured. | LINEBACKERS – Wake Forest | Jonathan Abbate has garnered ACC Freshman of the Week honors three times this season and he leads the team in tackles from the middle linebacker position. Two other starters in this group could miss the game because of shoulder injuries. |
| Devin Hester took over injured All-American Antrel Rolle’s cornerback spot and played extremely well. Greg Threat quietly leads the team in tackles and is tied for interceptions with Hester. | SECONDARY – Even | Wake Forest has two playmakers in its secondary with senior cornerbacks Eric King and Marcus McGruder. King was All-ACC last season and McGruder has returned all three of his interceptions for touchdowns. |
| Hey, anyone remember Roscoe Parrish? He used to return punts before Devin Hester came along. Well he’s back and he returned one for a touchdown against Virginia. Meanwhile kicker Jon Peattie has put an ad in the newspaper for his lost confidence. | SPECIAL TEAMS – UM | Punter Ryan Plackemeier is the ACC’s best and he has taken over field goal duties since regular kicker Matt Wisnosky tore his ACL. Plackemeier may be one of the few college punters good enough to successfully kick away from Parrish and Hester. |
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Coral Gables
Saturday, April 27, 2024
April 27 , 2024
ABOUT US
The Miami Hurricane is the student newspaper of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The newspaper is edited and produced by undergraduate students at UM and is published in print every Tuesday and online everyday during the academic year.