If all goes according to plan, the Miami Hurricanes will be in Texas by this time next week, ready to play the Washington State Cougars next Friday in the Sun Bowl.
The latest surge of COVID-19 cases, however, is throwing a wrench into those plans.
Miami is dealing with double-digit COVID cases among its ranks, forcing the Hurricanes to ditch typical practices in favor of workouts and walkthroughs, and even delay their planned trip to El Paso from Sunday until Thursday.
It’s a fluid situation, and David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Miami Herald’s Hurricanes beat writer, bring the latest on a new episode of the Eye on the U podcast.
What does Miami need to do in order to play next week? How long can everyone wait on the Hurricanes to make a judgment about whether they’ll be able to play in their postseason game? Are there any alternative solutions for Miami? Could organizers maybe even delay the game from New Year’s Eve to make sure the Hurricanes, always a big draw in the bowl game, can play?
These are the questions we try our best to solve, even though Miami, Washington State and the Sun Bowl probably don’t even know the answers.
The second half of the episode is quite a bit cheerier: Coach Mario Cristobal keeps killing it on the recruiting trail.
After a smashing success of a Day 1 to the early signing period, the new coach wrapped up the week in style, getting elite tight end Jaleel Skinner to flip his commitment from the Alabama Crimson Tide to the Hurricanes last Friday. Miami didn’t have a single top-100 prospect orally committed when last week began, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings. In three days, Cristobal got two to sign national letters of intent with the Hurricanes.
He’s not done, either. Signs point to elite wide receiver Kevin Coleman committing to Miami next month and Cristobal has the Hurricanes in play for a handful of other elite recruits ahead of National Signing Day.
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