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After Irma disruption, Miami eager to face Toledo

 
Miami coach Mark Richt watches during a victory over B-CU in the Sept. 2 opener. The Hurricanes haven’t played since.
Miami coach Mark Richt watches during a victory over B-CU in the Sept. 2 opener. The Hurricanes haven’t played since.
Published Sept. 19, 2017

LAKE BUENA VISTA — Like thousands of other evacuees, Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz headed north to escape Hurricane Irma with his family, two suitcases and the anxiety of not knowing what would happen to everything he left behind.

"All of a sudden in the back of my mind — this might be everything we have," Diaz said.

Two weeks later, the anxiety is over, and the storm has passed. But things haven't yet returned to normal for Diaz's No. 14 Hurricanes.

The school is out of session until next week. The team is staying at a hotel on Orlando's International Drive. Tuesday's practice was structured the same as any other week, except it was held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, on back fields that often host youth soccer tournaments. With no nearby locker rooms, players laced up their cleats and threw on their shoulder pads just inside the gate, not far from the black and silver buses that brought them.

All for a College Football Playoff dark horse set to host one of the nation's top Group of Five teams (Toledo) Saturday after a 20-day layoff.

"There's no manual for how to deal with that," Diaz said.

How could there be?

While the Gators lost no practice time and rival Florida State missed only one or two sessions, Irma's projected path and aftermath forced the 'Canes to spend nine full days apart. Some players, like defensive back Malek Young, stayed home in south Florida. Others, like receiver Braxton Berrios, left the state. Coach Mark Richt and about 30 players took a 10-hour, late-night bus ride to ride out the storm in Orlando.

"Obviously football was not the most important thing on my mind at the time," offensive coordinator Thomas Brown said. "I was more worried about making sure everybody was safe in south Florida and all throughout Florida."

Eventually, the 'Canes had to think about football again. They got a little more time when last week's FSU game was moved to Oct. 7, but the circumstances have been challenging.

Players did whatever they could to try to stay in shape. A handful of receivers jogged around little children at the hotel's turf field to catch passes from quarterback Malik Rosier. Linebacker Zach McCloud chopped wood and carted away branches, including parts of the downed mango tree in his yard. Young did position drills alone at the park near his Fort Lauderdale home.

If the individual workouts weren't enough, the Rockets will make the 'Canes pay. Toledo averages 46 points per game and can push the tempo to challenge Miami's conditioning in the afternoon heat.

But that's only one of Miami's concerns. The 'Canes haven't tackled an opponent since Sept. 2. Rosier has only two career starts and couldn't even throw for three days, much less fine-tune his timing with receivers. A team with realistic ACC championship expectations is weeks behind schedule.

"You almost look at it as an opener again," Diaz said. "Some of the same issues that you have with opening games, you kind of feel."

Miami hopes its time north of Coral Gables eases some of those issues. The 'Canes have been together here since Friday, when they began watching Toledo film. They practiced Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday and will practice again today before finally returning home.

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Because the ESPN complex is under construction, the 'Canes don't have to share Disney's sprawling facilities with travel lacrosse or softball teams. There's no school, either, so it feels like an odd combination of training camp and bowl preparation.

"For us, it's nice to isolate ourselves and be ready for this game because we haven't played a ball game in about two weeks now," Rosier said. "So it's nice just to get focused on football again."

Contact Matt Baker at mbaker@tampabay.com. Follow @MBakerTBTimes.