One hour before kickoff, the No. 11 Miami Hurricanes announced eight players as “unavailable” for Saturday night’s game against Virginia. During the 2020 season, Miami has adopted the policy of adopting the policy of releasing an “unavailability report” one hour prior to the kickoff. Miami announced the following players would be out vs. Virginia: TE Brevin Jordan, DB Brian Balom, LB Corey Flagg, WR Michael Redding III, WR Xavier Restrepo, DL Elijah Roberts, and QB Tyler Van Dyke.
Jordan is the biggest name of the bunch. This is the second straight game that Jordan has been held out after sustaining a shoulder injury at Clemson.
Flagg was starting to get rotated in for snaps as the back-up linebacker. Now Bradley Jennings Jr. will likely get the bulk of the snaps.
Restrepo was emerging as Miami’s primary punt returner.
Balom, Redding, Roberts, and Van Dyke are freshmen with minimal roles on offense or defense.
Washington, a transfer from Florida, has not been available all season.
The following players have opted out for the 2020 season or are out for the season due to an injury:
· DE Greg Rousseau (opt out)
· OL Kai-Leon Herbert (opt out)
· OL Zalon’tae Hillery (opt out)
· QB Tate Martell (opt out)
· DB Avantae Williams (season ending medical condition)
Rousseau, who projects as a first round NFL Draft pick, opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns before the start of fall camp.
Williams is out for the season due to “chronic and lingering medical issues” that were discovered during the fall. The UM medical staff believes it is best for Williams to rest this fall and be re-evaluated after the season.
Herbert and Hillery decided to opt out of the 2020 season roughly one week before the season opener against UAB. With them not available this season, the Hurricanes have true freshman right tackle Chris Washington listed as the back-up right tackle on the official depth chart.
Martell opted out of the 2020 season prior to the Louisville game.
Wide receiver Jeremiah Payton and tight end Larry Hodges were both unavailable for the Louisville game. That was the only game those players were unavailable for.
Jordan was held out of action last week against Pittsburgh.
Miami (4-1, 3-1) enters the game coming off a 31-19 win over Pittsburgh.
Virginia (1-3) enters the game having lost three straight games, dropping contests to Clemson, N.C. State, and Wake Forest.
As of Saturday morning, the William Hill Sports book viewed the Hurricanes as a 13.5 point favorite.
