Posted by Chip Patterson

With the uncertainty of Miami's quarterback situation, the Hurricanes will likely be looking for help from their running game in their season finale against South Florida.   The Hurricanes use a three running back rotation pretty consistently, and their rushing attack is among the best in the ACC.  That committee will be missing their third piece on Saturday with Mike James being listed as out on Miami's injury report.  According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, James has been suffering from an undisclosed illness this week and will not go against the Bulls.

The injury report did not provide any further clarification to the status of starting quarterback Jacory Harris.  Head coach Randy Shannon has been predictably ambiguous about the situation, naming Harris the starter only "if he's ready."  However, sources are reporting that freshman Stephen Morris will continue to start for the Hurricanes, a fact that is not sitting well with Harris.  With a shaky quarterback situation and having finished conference play, Miami will lean on the efforts of running backs Lamar Miller and Damien Berry to avoid being upset by the Bulls in the season finale.          

Posted by Chip Patterson

1.  Seminole redemption is sweet - Wow. What a finish for Florida State. After getting bullied around the field for three quarters, a Florida State interception completely turned all of the momentum in Tallahassee. Clemson was completely dictating the game thanks to the play of Jamie Harper, who finished the game with 143 yards rushing and 54 yards receiving. But as Florida State's defense continued to keep the Tigers out of the end zone in the second half, the offense could not get anything going. Finally, quarterback E.J. Manuel started taking over in the fourth quarter thanks to a potent option attack that delivered the first touchdown drive of the game. But nothing was sweeter than the redemption for kicker Dustin Hopkins. Hopkins missed a game-winning field goal at home a week ago against North Carolina, but absolutely crushed his 55-yard attempt against Clemson as time expired.

2. Clarity will not come this week in the Atlantic - A week ago, the ACC Atlantic Division got flipped upside down with Maryland, Florida State, and N.C. State all dropping games when they had an opportunity to seize the lead in the standings. On Saturday, all three squads shared the same fate again, though this one had a happier ending for the contenders. But with none of the three teams losing, the division is still up for grabs between the Seminoles, Wolfpack, and Terrapins. The team with the most control over the situation is Maryland, who plays the Seminoles and Wolfpack at home for their final two games of the season. N.C. State owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with Florida State, so the Seminoles will need help from the Terrapins and/or North Carolina in order avoid losing the division to the Wolfpack.

3. A strong running game will ease the pressure on a young QB - With Jacory Harris out due to the concussion suffered against Virginia, Miami turned to freshman quarterback Stephen Morris once again to lead the Hurricanes. The greatest thing a young quarterback can have is a good running game, and Morris benefited from one of the best on Saturday. Damien Berry and Lamar Miller both missed practice at the beginning of the week, but showed no signs of being slowed against the Yellow Jackets. Berry, Miller and Mike James combined for 218 yards on 36 rushes to lead Miami in the 35-10 win.

4. All VT does is win - Most of the nation tried to throw away the Hokies after a widely-publicized 0-2 start. But all Frank Beamer has done since joining the ACC is dominate in conference play, and that doesn't appear to be stopping anytime soon. Since joining the conference in 2004, Virginia Tech has a 45-11 conference record with three conference championships on the mantle. The Hokies have matured and gotten stronger as the season has progressed, and despite dealing with injury issues on both sides of the ball, played one of their most complete games of the season against North Carolina. At 6-0, Virginia Tech has nearly clinched their fourth division title. They still need to defeat Miami in Coral Gables to clinch it, but the win in Chapel Hill may have been enough to lock it up eventually.

5. Yates exposed by Hokies secondary - After being the subject of much criticism for the last two seasons, senior quarterback T.J. Yates entered Saturday's game in the midst of one of strongest statistical seasons in recent history at North Carolina. Yates has also been etching himself into Tar Heels history, setting a school record with 439 passing yards against Florida State last week, the first North Carolina win in Tallahassee. Yates also became the school's career leader for pass completions against Virginia Tech. But it was a few of those incompletions that spoiled Yates' strong statistical start. Entering the game with 15 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions, Yates failed to throw a touchdown and tossed four interceptions against the Hokies. One game does not spoil Yates strong 2010 campaign, but it was a credit to the Hokies defense that refused to let North Carolina receivers get open downfield. Only three of Yates' 18 completions were to wide receivers, with the senior being forced to check down virtually all day against the stiff Virginia Tech defense.

Posted by Chip Patterson

Earlier this week, it looked as though Miami might be missing the team's top two rushers for Saturday's crucial division matchup with Georgia Tech.  Hurricanes fans got good news on Wednesday, with both Damien Berry and Lamar Miller back fully participating in practice.  Miller sat out Tuesday with a stomach virus, and Berry hasn't practiced since injuring his leg against Virginia on October 30.  

"To me, he looked like he's 100 percent, like he's ready to go this week," Miller said of Berry after practice.

The news of getting more than half of the season rushing production back on the field for Saturday gives the Hurricanes offense a lift heading into Atlanta.  The thought of entering the game without Berry, Miller, or starting quarterback Jacory Harris made Miami's ACC Championship Game chances look bleak.  A Miami loss with a Virginia Tech win would eliminate the Hurricanes from contention for the ACC Coastal Division title.  Miami needs to stay alive in the hunt until November 20, when the Hokies visit Coral Gables.  

Even if the the Hurricanes do defeat Virginia Tech, they will still need some help from North Carolina or Virginia in order to win the division in a tie-breaker, not to mention taking care of business this week against the Yellow Jackets.  With Stephen Morris under center for his second career start, first on the road, getting Berry and Miller back in the lineup will ease the pressure on the true freshman.          

Posted by Tom Fornelli

So when you've already made the announcement that you'll be starting a freshman at quarterback in this week's game thanks to the concussion suffered by your starter, odds are that you're going to want to lean a bit more on your ground game.  Which is probably what Randy Shannon had been hoping to do to help out Stephen Morris against Maryland when he fills in for Jacory Harris. 

Which is a pretty solid plan to have, if it weren't for one small problem.  That running back you were hoping to lean on a bit more this week?  Well, he can't play either.  After practice on Wednesday Shannon said that Damien Berry will miss this week's game as well, saying that he's been banged up for the last few weeks.

“You  just can’t keep going and going and going. It gets tough on him,” Shannon said. “We’re not going to make it get worse than what he is when he’s already kind of nicked up. We’ve got backs right now, so the numbers are OK.”

The 'Canes do have other backs, and Lamar Miller and Mike James will have to team up to account for Berry's absence.  Berry had a bad game against Virginia, but had rushed for 100 yards in Miami's previous four games, and leads the team with 690 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Posted by Chip Patterson

With their 30-21 victory over Clemson on Saturday, the Miami Hurricanes will finally return home after a brutal three game road swing against the Tigers, Pittsburgh, and the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes.  Only falling 36-24 to the Buckeyes, the Hurricanes return home 3-1, No. 13 in the AP Poll, and 1st place in the Coastal Division.  But they are also returning home a little banged up at the running back position.  

Senior running back Graig Cooper has not played since re-injuring his new in the season opener, with the rushing duties being handled primarily by senior Damien Berry and freshman Lamar Miller.  Miller has seen his workload increase in the last two weeks, but an injured shoulder may keep him out of Miami's in-state showdown with Florida State.

Miller was wearing a a large ice pack on his shoulder following the Clemson game, and was not on the field when practice began on Tuesday.  He later joined the team, but was wearing a green, non-contact jersey.  Miller's limited action in practice suggests that he may sit against Florida State, unless his shoulder sees rapid improvement as the week progresses.

If Miller sits his carries will likely be picked up by sophomore Mike James, who had his most productive game of the season against Clemson.  Susan Miller Degan of the Miami Herald also suggests that Miller's absence might lead to the first appearance of Storm Johnson, a true freshman who enrolled in January and has been impressing the coaching staff since Spring Practice.

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