When Miami tackle Jason Fox went down with an injury last week, it was a case of things not being as bad as they looked.
It only turned out to be an ankle injury that should heal with the Hurricanes in the middle of a bye week. The open date comes at a perfect time with several players nursing minor injuries.
"The only guy really was Jason Fox,"
coach Randy Shannon said. "He's doing fine. He should be walking around [today]. We put him in a soft cast. He should be ready for the game."
The Hurricanes (6-3, 4-2 ACC) play Virginia Tech on Nov. 13 at Dolphin Stadium. The game is pivotal, with both teams still alive in the conference race. While Virginia Tech had recent injuries to its starting and backup quarterbacks, UM should enter healthy because of the week off.
Running back Javarris James tweaked an ankle injury that has bothered him most of the season in last week's 24-17 OT victory at Virginia. James was in the middle of his most productive game before going down late in the first half.
"It's just a little pain. Once I taped it up, I tried to go back out there,"
James said after the game. "I felt I could go, but I wasn't going to be all the way ready for my teammates. I just decided to sit."
The emergence of Graig Cooper has allowed the Hurricanes to handle James' injury-filled season, but they need the offensive line to remain healthy because it lacks depth. Fox and tackle Chris Rutledge both left last week's game and did not return. Fox was hurt when James rolled into his right leg and Rutledge injured his shoulder.
"We're pretty much healthy right now,"
Shannon said. "We've got to make sure we keep dealing with the little nicks and bumps and bruises, which is normal, and make sure we keep them moving a little bit better every week."
The importance of a healthy line showed against Virginia. Without Fox and Rutledge, Shannon had to play Matt Pipho, a seldom-used junior. He was responsible for one of seven false start penalties. The Hurricanes were penalized a season-high 12 times.
"We've got to make sure to correct the mistakes that we had against Virginia,"
Shannon said. "When we play teams down the road, it's going to come down to who can execute the best and also who can make the fewest mistakes. We've got to keep concentrating on doing the little things as a football team."
Still, the Hurricanes already have surpassed last year's win total and are bowl-eligible despite being led mostly by underclassmen. A strong finish could lead to a berth in the ACC Championship Game Dec. 6 in Tampa.
"I think it was a tremendous start for us as a football team,"
Shannon said. "They've worked so hard from the beginning of the season to where we're at right now. We're still a young football team. That's kind of a good situation because they don't know any better than just to listen to what we're doing as a coaching staff and what we're trying to get done as a team."
