Cryptic tweet follows big drop in production from key UM player. A coach weighs in
A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Monday:
▪ How has Cam’Ron Harris gone from one of college football’s best running backs in the first two games of the season to one of the least productive?
The drop-off has been both puzzling and staggering, and Harris added to the intrigue by tweeting “disrespected” — according to insidetheu.com — after Saturday’s game against Virginia, a game in which he played sparingly in the second half. The tweet has since been deleted.
In the first two games of the season, against UAB and Louisville, Harris had 26 carries for 268 yards, which is a 10.3 per carry average.
In the four games since, he has 40 carries for 78 yards, which is 1.9 per carry.
So is Harris not maximizing what’s available or are there simply aren’t enough holes to run through?
“Probably both; we have in our run game more negative plays than we should,” offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said. “That’s not just on Cam Harris and the running backs. That’s on our offense.... It’s a team deal. Nobody is to blame. There were times earlier in the year we were getting downhill when it wasn’t clean. ... Hopefully we can be more effective down the stretch. If we could just execute at a high level. Sometimes we just need to.. do our job better.”
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Over the past four games, Harris has 12, 8, 12 and 8 carries. He carried only once in the second half of Saturday’s win against Virginia.
Harris had 22 offensive snaps on Saturday - much less than usual. By comparison, freshman running back Jaylon Knighton played 32 snaps on offense, freshman Don Chaney 21 and Robert Burns 7.
Lashlee said he and running backs coach Eric Hickson spoke to Harris after his tweet.
“Kids tweet a lot of things these days,” Lashlee said. “That’s kind of how kids vent, right? I’m not totally sure what Cam really meant other than he’s frustrated last couple weeks. Things haven’t gone as well as he hoped. He’s a passionate kid, will work really hard... You will have to ask Cam what he meant.”
Coaches made clear to the team that the running game must improve, a source said.
Regarding the freshmen Knighton and Chaney, Lashlee said: “Both of the young backs are very comfortable playing. Jaylon Knighton did some really good things in pass protection the other night. That one drive, Don Chaney came in and was a load. They run hard, they run downhill, run behind their pads. The game is slowing down for them. We thought four to six weeks into the season it would slow down for them and it has.”
▪ Some notable “snap decisions” on offense from Saturday’s Hurricanes-Virginia football game, courtesy of Gould and Pro Football Focus:
Though freshman receiver Keyshawn Smith has shown flashes in recent weeks, he played just three offensive snaps on Saturday, one fewer than Marshall Few. Manny Diaz said Smith’s speed is the single best attribute among the four freshmen receivers.
Among the other receivers, Dee Wiggins played 77 offensive snaps, Mike Harley Jr. 65, Mark Pope 57 and Jeremiah Payton 23. Freshman Xavier Restrepo and Michael Redding weren’t available because of reasons related to COVID-19, according to a source. Freshman Daz Worsham didn’t play on offense….
With tight end Brevin Jordan sidelined, Will Mallory played 70 snaps and Larry Hodges and Dominic Mammarelli 11 each.
▪ Some notable snap decisions on defense: Jared Harrison-Hunte, continuing his ascent, played the most of the defensive tackles (36 snaps), with Jon Ford playing 30, Nesta Silvera 27, Jordan Miller 27 and Jason Blissett 5….
Linebacker snaps were allocated this way: Zach McCloud logged 46 snaps, Bradley Jennings Jr. 51, Sam Brooks 25 and Waymon Steed 20.
Avery Huff and freshman Tirek Austin-Cave did not play on defense and Corey Flagg missed the game for reasons related to COVID-19, according to a source.
▪ According to Pro Football Focus, UM’s top performers on offense on Saturday were Harley (10 catches in 12 targets for 170 yards), King, Chaney, left tackle Zion Nelson and Mallory.
PFF said Nelson did not allow a quarterback pressure or sack on 46 pass blocking opportunities.
Guard Jakai Clark and center Corey Gaynor were given poor PFF grades both overall and in pass blocking.
PFF gave its lowest grades on offense to Hodges and Mammarelli.
▪ According to PFF, UM’s top performers on defense on Saturday were safety Gurvan Hall, defensive tackle Jon Ford, defensive end Quincy Roche, cornerback Te’Cory Couch and defensive end Jaelan Phillips.
The lowest grades were given to safety Bubba Bolden and cornerback Al Blades Jr.
▪ In a year that has delivered Tua Tagovailoa, Tyler Herro, Sixto Sanchez and other promising rookies to televisions throughout South Florida, add two more names to the list:
Earl Timberlake and Matt Cross
UM’s two talented freshmen basketball players will debut when the Hurricanes open in late November, against an opponent to be determined.
Timberlake, a 6-5 wing player out of Hyattsville, Maryland, was rated by Rivals as the seventh best small forward and 32nd best overall player in the 2020 recruiting class. He chose UM over North Carolina, Georgetown and the Gators, among others.
Cross, out of Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, was rated by Rivals as the No. 17 power forward and No. 99 overall player in the 2020 class. He chose UM over Butler, UF and Connecticut, among others.
Jim Larranaga said he expects both freshmen “will earn playing time. How much will depend on [performance] when the games begin. They are both still in the thinking stage.”
There’s the possibility that Timberlake could be a one-and-done player, as Lonnie Walker was, but he’ll need to play well this season to justify that.
UM is prepared to use him at both guard spots and small forward; he has been asked to learn all three in the Hurricanes’ system.
“Earl is very competitive guy,” Larranaga said in a phone conversation last week. “He’s very physical for a guard, can play in and around the basket, can rebound the ball, very good at driving the ball to the basket. Very unselfish player, very good at finding the open man. You found that out immediately with Earl. He is very team oriented. He doesn’t have a selfish bone in his body. He’s a joy to be around, smiles a lot, is someone everyone likes playing with.”
As far as his overall game, “he’s kind of like a Jimmy Butler type, makes a three once in a while. He makes a mid range jumper once in a while. He’s very versatile so you’re not going to see a ton of threes or a ton of drives or 15-footers; you will see a little bit of everything. You might see him in post. You might see him on a ball screen and kick out for a three.”
Cross, meanwhile, is a skilled perimeter shooter who also posted big rebounding numbers at Brewster Academy.
“Until we start playing games, you don’t know what kind of shooter a guy will be,” Cross said. “The best compliment Matt Cross gets in practice is everybody throws him the ball when he’s open. He showed very early on in the practices that he was very capable of making a spot up three-point shot. He’s a good three-point shooter.
“Matt can make that shot from that distance 28-to-30 feet but we want him to utilize the college three-point line. DJ Vasiljevic [whose eligibility has expired] is the best open shooter we’ve had. Matt could maybe catch him. We don’t want to create too high of an expectation. He’s going through a growing stage.”
As far as the other aspects of Cross’ game, “his rebounding is very solid,” Larranaga said. “Not afraid of the physicality. Like most freshmen, the challenge is the defensive end of the floor - not so much physical but mental.”
