Camp Report: Miami Wrapping Up Week Two of Camp

CORAL GABLES, Fla.-Two weeks down, one more to go at Canes Camp.

The Hurricanes held their 17th practice of fall camp Friday morning under typically warm conditions on the Greentree Practice Fields. With its 2011 season at Maryland in 17 days, Miami now has six practices remaining before the team moves into “game week” mode.

On Friday, the Canes practiced in full pads but limited contact in most drills as the team is set to hold its final two-a-day of camp on Saturday.

HORN, JAMES TALK BEFORE PRACTICE
Senior center Tyler Horn and junior running back Mike James met with members of the media prior to Friday’s practice. The message from both players was about the importance of the team staying focused and not letting outside distractions affect their preparation for the upcoming season.

“We’re here from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., so we don’t have time to focus on anything but football,” James said. “Football is like a soothing sport. It keeps us going, keeps our mind off everything.”

Horn echoed his teammates’ sentiments…

“Honestly, I think it’s going to be us against the world,” Horn said. “That’s all we can focus on. All that matters are the people inside that Hecht, the people on this football field playing every day. Those are my brothers, and we’re going to stick together.”

HIGH PERFORMANCE PLAYERS
Throughout camp, HurricaneSports.com will highlight some of the best performers in each day’s practice. While there are certainly other players who stood out throughout the course of the session, these student-athletes in particular caught our eye.

Offense
RB Lamar Miller– The Miami native has been breaking off big runs throughout fall camp and Friday was no different. Miller was finding even the smallest holes up front and getting to the second level where he would pick up big chunks of yardage in 11-on-11 action.

OL Joel Figueroa – Playing at both guard and tackle, Figueroa was arguably the most productive lineman in both the running and passing games. He was consistently staying in front of his man and late in practice, made a key block for Miller on a screen to the left side. The big block even drew praises from offensive line coach Art Kehoe, who shouted “nice job Fig, nice job” after the play.

Defense
LB Ramon Buchanan– One of the more underrated performers this fall, Buchanan had another solid day with several “tackles” in the limited contact practice. The Melbourne, Fla. native has been a vocal presence throughout camp, a sign that he appears ready to take on more of a leadership role in his final season at Miami.

LB Kelvin Cain – Cain collected a number of stops on Friday, including solid support on rush defense. With good pursuit on the outside, Cain had stops against Eduardo Clements and Mike James and was in on several other stops on intermediate passes up the middle.

CANES NAMED TO SOUTHERNPIGSKIN.COM ALL-ACC TEAM
Brandon Washington, Marcus Forston, Sean Spence and Ray-Ray Armstrong have been named to SouthernPigskin.com’s Preseason All-ACC Team. The honor adds to the ever-growing list of preseason accolades for all four Canes.

Last week, Armstrong, Washington and Spence were named to ESPN.com’s All-ACC squad. Last month, those three, along with center Tyler Horn, were voted by media members to the conference’s preseason team.

Click HERE for the full SouthernPigskin ACC Team.

PHOTO GALLERY: FRIDAY MORNING
Click HERE for a photo gallery of some of the action from Greentree today.

PRE-PRACTICE INTERVIEWS
C Tyler Horn…

RB Mike James….

REVISITING BEHIND THE FACEMASK
Throughout camp, we will revisit some of our favorite Behind the Facemask stories that have been running throughout the summer. Today, we’ll take a look back at Lee Chambers’ story…

“Competition is like fuel to me. When you play football, you enjoy competition. That’s what the game is mostly about. At the end of the day, you want to see who the best is. We come to practice every day and compete, because one thing about it, you can’t get hurt, you can’t get tired, or any of that, because the man behind you is just as good as you.”

Behind the Facemask: Lee Chambers

NEXT PRACTICE
Miami will return to Greentree Saturday for its fifth and final two-a-day of fall camp. The first practice is slated for 8:20 a.m.

SEASON TIX
Season Tickets for the start of the CLICKING HERE.