Canes' Freshmen Flashing Ability Every Chance They Get
By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Two-time national champion and Super Bowl champion head coach Pete Carroll once said, “Recruiting is the lifeblood of any program.”
The addition of new players to a roster is always exciting and many of those newcomers can provide a boost to help elevate a team and program.
The Miami Hurricanes saw several of their newest additions step up in the season opener and expect to see even more get the chance this week against Savannah State and beyond.
“The guys that deserve to play, will play – the guys that prove to the coaches that they know what they’re doing, and we can trust them,” head coach Mark Richt said.
One player who made the most of his opportunity against LSU was freshman receiver Brian Hightower, who hauled in a 32-yard touchdown on his first collegiate and bring the Canes within 16 with 8:43 remaining in the game.
“It gave me some confidence going out there, going against such a great team so early in my career,” Hightower said. “It felt a little scary, at first, but after that I got comfortable and continued to play my game.”
Hightower was one of several freshmen on offense that saw playing time at LSU. Tight end Brevin Jordan started for the Hurricanes, while Will Mallory also played at tight end. Hightower and Dee Wiggins both saw snaps at wide receiver, while running back Lorenzo Lingard and offensive lineman DJ Scaife contributed on special teams.
“Brevin played 71 out of, I believe, a potential 78 snaps,” special teams coordinator / tight ends coach Todd Hartley said. “First game, that atmosphere, to be able to go that long without having to come out – we hardly had to [substitute] him – I thought he did excellent, what we asked him to do. He graded out very high. He graded out almost [Chris] Herndon-level, trying to compare some things. Assignment-wise, I think he might have had two plays where he didn’t quite do what he was supposed to do. But two out of 71, I’ll take that all day. What he showed me was, he can handle the atmosphere. He can handle that quality opponent. He can handle the blocking, the protection. He didn’t bust one protection. He finished every play. He put his hat on people, he ran his feet, he competed. He didn’t back down. The moment wasn’t too big for him. So I was very, very impressed.”
Jordan was targeted multiple times by quarterback Malik Rosier, proving that the veteran quarterback trusts the freshman and knows he can be an asset to Miami’s offense.
“He is definitely a weapon in our offense,” Hartley said. “We had some things called for him in the game, [LSU] just did some things defensively that kind of took that away, and took the look elsewhere. I thought he handled it well. I really did. Going forward, he’s going to get his touches. He’ll get his touches.”
Freshman kicker Bubba Baxa also made his Hurricane debut at LSU, converting a 38-yard attempt in his home state of Texas. Hartley was impressed with how his young kicker handled performing in such a big game.
“You don’t know how they’re going to react until they get on that stage, and Bubba comes out, that first [field goal], sticks it,” Hartley said. “Second one was a little longer and it got tipped…that’s why it came off a little like that. I thought Bubba handled it well. He had two kickoffs we asked to kick normal – one was a touchback and one was two or three yards deep [in the end zone] and they actually brought it out. The other two, we were trying to strategically place the ball at the end of the game. One we wanted to kick it high to make them return it and the other one, we tried to get it to where they weren’t and it ended up going out of bounds. He did exactly what we thought he would do. Obviously we’d like him to make all field goals, but that one got tipped and we have to make sure we shore up our protection a little bit better.”
The Canes also had several freshmen impress on defense, but defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was most impressed with a pair of defensive backs who rose to the occasion when their team needed them most.
“The freshman worth highlighting is Al Blades,” Diaz said. “When we lost Trajan [Bandy], which is another whole topic, we lost two players, because not only our starting corner, but we lost our starting nickel on third down. Al came in there and did not blink. It was not too big for him. He covered maybe their best guy, foot for foot. Al was very encouraging, the way he played in there. And then DJ Ivey played the majority of the last third of the game, and we kind of had the same feeling with DJ. It didn’t seem too big for DJ. He did a nice job. He wasn’t challenged with a pass, but kind of did his job and looked like he knew what he was doing.”
Gregory Rousseau has been one of the most productive freshmen throughout spring football and fall camp, but had little to show for his debut. Sophomore defensive lineman Jonathan Garvin was in a similar role a year ago and he made sure to let Rousseau know that he has a lot of good things in front of him.
“I told him, basically he has to know his assignment, but more than anything I’m proud of him,” Garvin said. “He goes out there, gives effort and we’re all one in the same, pretty much all the defensive ends. So he goes out there and gives effort and does what they tell him to do. There’s nothing better than that.”
In addition to Blades, Jr., Ivey and Rousseau, senior defensive tackle Tito Odenigbo made his Miami debut. Canes fans can expect to see more freshmen play as soon as this Saturday against Savannah State, thanks in large part to a change in the redshirt rule.
“The new rule is a great rule,” Richt said. “I’m going to be excited when the moment comes that I can feel comfortable playing a guy, where in the past I was like, ‘if I play him, I can’t redshirt him.’ Not that I’m trying to redshirt a bunch of kids. You can just play them freely and if you get to Game 3, and you think he should be playing in Game 4, then he probably shouldn’t be a redshirt anyways. I really love the rule, and I think it’s going to help.”
The opportunity for early playing time is enticing to any young football player and the new redshirt rule allows them to prove their ability to contribute in game situations. Miami’s freshmen know they can be important factors in how much success their team has this season and they are looking to shine when their number is called.
“We’ve just talked about how we all have to step up,” Hightower said. “Yeah, we’re young, but the older guys need us, too. They can’t do it all on their own.”
