Mark Wallheiser/Associated Press
Miami had the ability to avoid a distressed against Virginia Tech on Saturday, but head coach Manny Diaz confessed afterward that the video game came close to not taking place at all.
Diaz informed reporters following his group’s 25-24 win that the Hurricanes were “ were on the edge” of not playing and needed to wait on the outcomes of the final COVID-19 tests prior to deciding to go on with the video game:
“( The gamers) wished to play, and we were right on the brink at some position groups whether we might even operate as a team. Some men had to step up. We were actually down on numbers at offensive line. It makes it tough to practice. It makes it tough to do anything, but no one cares? You go play a video game and there’s no reasons. The gamers came here to win the video game. I told them I thought they won the game on Fri with their mindset and their attitude with all the important things we had to go through this week.”
Miami has been announcing players as “unavailable” one hour before video games without offering any particular reason.
Prior to the Hurricanes’ video game against Virginia on Oct. 24, 8 gamers were scratched right prior to kickoff.
” It’s just the reality of 2020,” Diaz stated 2 days later in an interview with 560- AM (h/t David Furones of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel).
Per Susan Miller Degnan and David Wilson of the Miami Herald, the Hurricanes didn’t have 13 players available for Saturday’s video game against Virginia Tech for undisclosed factors. 3 of them– Jakai Clark, Jared Harrison-Hunte and Zach McCloud– are starters.
Miami’s lineup crunch comes as programs throughout the country continue to deal with COVID-19 break outs. There were 15 games this weekend either canceled or delayed
The Hurricanes have actually played all eight of their video games to this point in the season. They have 3 video games remaining in the regular season.