One hour before kickoff, the No. 11 Miami Hurricanes football program announced 11 players as “unavailable” for Friday 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. NC State: OL John Campbell, Jr., LB Corey Flagg, TE Brevin Jordan, TE Dominic Mammarelli, WR Michael Redding, WR Xavier Restrepo, DL Elijah Roberts, WR Keyshawn Smith, OL Ousman Traore, QB Tyler Van Dyke, and OL Issiah Walker Jr.
The big name on the unavailability report is Jordan, who is Miami’s star tight end. This is the third straight game that Jordan has missed for the Hurricanes. With Jordan out, Will Mallory will assume the starting job. Mallory has caught four passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns over the past two games.
Campbell is an offensive lineman that has started four games at left tackle this season. With Campbell out, Zion Nelson is expected to get the start at left tackle. Nelson started there during UM’s previous game against Virginia.
The rest of the group that is out for the NC State game is comprised of true freshmen that have assumed back-up roles this season.
Miami had eight players out for their last game against Virginia on October 24th: TE Brevin Jordan, DB Brian Balom, LB Corey Flagg, WR Michael Redding III, WR Xavier Restrepo, DL Elijah Roberts, QB Tyler Van Dyke, and OL Issiah Walker. Balom is the only one of that group that is available for the NC State game.
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 against Pittsburgh and Virginia due to a shoulder injury he sustained against Clemson.
Miami (5-1, 4-1) is coming off a bye week after defeating Virginia 19-14 at Hard Rock Stadium.
NC State (4-2) is also coming off a bye after losing to North Carolina, 48-21.
At the time of publishing this article, Miami was viewed as a 10.5 point favorite, according to the William Hill Sportsbook.
