Mario Cristobal’s latest comments on Bain and Rivers ahead of Miami’s road game vs Cal

Could this week finally be the week the Miami Hurricanes get two of their key starters back? According to coach Mario Cristobal, one is more likely than the other.

Speaking on WQAM’s “The Joe Rose Show” Monday morning, Cristobal said sophomore defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. is “a go” for No. 8 Miami’s road game at the Cal Golden Bears on Saturday, which is scheduled for a 10:30 p.m. kickoff from Berkeley, California. Meanwhile, fifth-year redshirt junior Jalen Rivers is being deemed a gametime decision.

Neither Bain Jr. nor Rivers has played since the team’s season-opening game against the Florida Gators on Aug. 30.

Bain, the reigning ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year, played just three snaps in Miami’s 41-17 win against Florida on Aug. 30 before sustaining what Cristobal called a “soft tissue issue” and initially said would keep him out a couple weeks. Rivers, a fifth-year junior, played the whole game against UF but has not returned since while dealing with an undisclosed injury.

Bain was present during Miami’s early warmups ahead of Miami’s 38-34, come-from-behind victory against Virginia Tech, running full sprints with a Miami staff member watching the whole time, but the team ultimately decided to hold him out another week.

“I’m sure you guys saw him pregame,” Cristobal said of Bain. “He looked great. It was right kind of at the edge there. We chose the route to guarantee his well being and his health as best we could.”

The Hurricanes have primarily used Tyler Baron and Elijah Alston at defensive end over the past three weeks without Bain. Baron has a team-leading seven-and-a-half tackles for loss, while Alston is tied for fifth on the team at three-and-a-half tackles for loss.

On the offensive line, junior Markel Bell has started each of the past four games at left tackle in place of Rivers. While there have been growing pains at times for Bell, the offensive line has still held its own. The offensive line for a fourth consecutive game was Bell at left tackle, Matt McCoy at left guard, Zach Carpenter at center, Anez Cooper at right guard and Francis Mauigoa in right tackle.