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Miami Hurricanes RB Gus Edwards out for season: Joseph Yearby’s time to shine

By William Murphy

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Miami Hurricanes will be without running back Gus Edwards in 2015 after suffering a season-ending foot injury.

The University of Miami will now be without a significant piece of their depth at running back, as the school announced on Sunday junior running back Gus Edwards will miss the 2015 season with a foot injury.

He ran for 349 yards on 61 attempts with six touchdowns last year. Edwards was expected to play a reserve role to Joseph Yearby and Mark Walton in the Canes backfield.

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Head coach Al Golden had originally listed the 6’2″, 235-pound back as “day-to-day” after he was injured in a scrimmage on August 22, believing that Edwards would be back shortly. This would change to something much worse following further diagnosis.

Golden and the staff were very optimistic about Gus and his effort this season, explaining:

"“Gus worked extremely hard for the last nine month to prepare for this moment,” Golden said Sunday night, via the Associated Press. “He set a high standard and did a great job leading and being unselfish. We are tremendously disappointed for him, but we will be there with him on the road to recovery and anxiously await his return.”"

This, of course, is following an offseason that saw Miami lose some of its best offensive weapons, the biggest of those being the departure of Miami’s all-time leading rusher Duke Johnson to the NFL draft.

How much this will hurt the Hurricane offense depends on how much the former top recruit, Yearby does in his first year in a featured role. Despite scoring only one touchdown, Yearby ran 509 yards, averaging 5.92 yards per carry as a freshmen.

With Johnson out of the picture, Yearby was poised for a breakout year. Although Yearby isn’t fully tested and will be receiving a lot more responsibility, putting the team’s rushing duties on his shoulders in the absence of Edwards could actually be a good thing.

If he takes the opportunity head on and his potential is legitimate, then we could see the development of a real offensive talent in Yearby.

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