Miami Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Bethune-Cookman
1. A freshman will lead the team in receiving
With top receiver Ahmmon Richards likely to miss the season opener with a hamstring injury, some of Miami’s talented freshmen should see more playing time this week. The Hurricanes have three highly recruited first year receivers in Jeff Thomas, Mike Harley, and DeeJay Dallas.
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The depth chart for this game was released earlier in the week with Harley being listed as a starter along with sophomore Lawrence Cager and senior Braxton Berrios. Thomas and Dallas are going to be the backups from the slot position.
Given that it is the first game of the season and in the middle of the day in Miami, the Hurricanes will definitely substitute often. There should be plenty of opportunities for big plays against the Bethune-Cookman secondary, they simply don’t have the talent to match up.
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Thomas and Harley are both burners who can turn a short pass across the middle into a long touchdown instantly. Malik Rosier can use his arm strength to take shots outside and should have plenty of time to throw behind the Canes’ offensive line. Berrios is consistent but not nearly the game breaker that Thomas or Harley is. One of them could easily make several chunk plays down the field, and with Richards being out they should see plenty of action in their college debuts.