Making a Big Impression

By Christy Cabrera Chirinos
HurricaneSports.com
 
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – For Greg Rousseau, playing both sides of the ball was never an issue.
 
A former standout at Champagnat Catholic in Hialeah, he logged time – and garnered plenty of attention – at both safety and receiver his junior year of high school. He was a first-team All-Dade selection on defense that year and a second-team All-Dade selection on offense.
 
But as his frame continued to grow and his wingspan increased, Rousseau realized maybe there was a future for him at another position: defensive end.
 
He made the transition to an entirely new spot on the field as a senior and now, three years later, the 6-foot-6, 260-pound Rousseau has been one of the Hurricanes’ breakout performers through the first third of the season.
 
In Miami’s first four games, Rousseau has totaled a team-high 4.5 tackles for loss. He’s one of 18 players across the ACC with three sacks. And he’s coming off one of the best performances of his young career, his strip-sack and fumble recovery in the Hurricanes’ 17-12 win over Central Michigan earning him the right to wear the Turnover Chain for the first time.
 
Not bad for a player who missed all but two games of his freshman year after being sidelined by a season-ending ankle injury.
 
“I feel great right now and my mindset is just to keep pushing, work hard every single day, have a great attitude and just be grateful and know that I’m blessed to be out here,” Rousseau said. “I know that in one play it can all be taken away from me.”
 
As well as Rousseau has played this season, his performance hasn’t come as a surprise to those who have been paying attention to his progress since he arrived in Coral Gables as an early enrollee in the Hurricanes’ 2018 recruiting class.
 
The defensive end totaled 5.5 tackles, four tackles for loss and three sacks in Miami’s spring game. In another scrimmage a week later, he’d add another four tackles and two sacks to his spring total.
 
Every expectation was he’d work his way into the rotation, even with veterans like Joe Jackson and Jonathan Garvin playing ahead of him. Rousseau saw time in last year’s opener against LSU and then was on the field by the fourth series of Miami’s home opener against Savannah State, where he notched a career-best five tackles.
  
But Rousseau’s season ended that night when he fractured his right ankle. Suddenly, he was little more than an observer during the first year of his college career.
 
He tried to stay positive and focus on learning from Garvin and Jackson, but it wasn’t easy.
 
“It was pretty tough, but I know everything happens for a reason,” Rousseau said. “I’m a really faithful person, so I had faith. I had faith in God. I knew I would get back to where I was. I just kept working every single day, took my rehab super seriously and I’m going to keep pushing, even now.”
  
These days, he’s pushing teammates his teammates on the practice field on a day-to-day basis. In games, he’s continuing to state his case for more playing time, time that defensive coordinator Blake Baker says will come if he continues to play at a high level.
 
“I feel like a broken record because his name comes up every week, but he’s continuing to get more comfortable with what we’re asking him to do. He continues to produce when he’s out there, so he’s going to continue to play,” Baker said this week as the Hurricanes continue preparing for their crucial Coastal Division showdown against Virginia Tech. “Competition makes everybody better, I say that all the time. I think he’s really pushing [defensive end] Scott Patchan. I think he’s pushing [Garvin].”
 
Added Garvin, “On third down, outside, inside, he can play anywhere. He’s going to be an effective rusher regardless of what you have him doing. And on the other downs, the dude is just dominating all over the board. I would love to have him in there. I’m pretty sure everybody loves when he’s in there. He plays super well.”
 
For his part, Rousseau says at this point, he’s not concerned with anything other than earning his teammates’ and coaches’ respect and helping the Hurricanes do well as they enter the most critical portion of their schedule.
 
Perspective has changed, especially after he learned what it was like to be without football.
 
“I know that I’m blessed. I never get down if I have a bad day or anything. I know I could not be playing at all and that would be horrible,” Rousseau said. “I’m just grateful and I’m going to keep working hard. A big part of it for me is earning those guys’ trust. To see that my teammates and coaches are respecting me means a lot, for sure.”