Miami Hurricanes remain without two starters vs. USF, but one starter returns

One starter for the No. 8 Miami Hurricanes who was sidelined by injury appears to be back for their game Saturday against the USF Bulls at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.

But two that appeared close to returning remain out.

Anez Cooper, who left in the first half of Miami’s 62-0 shutout of Ball State last week, was in uniform and warmed up at his usual right guard spot pregame.

Meanwhile, left tackle Jalen Rivers and defensive end Rueben Bain Jr., neither of whom has played since UM’s season-opener at Florida, were in street clothes, signaling they’ll most likely be out for a third consecutive game.

With Rivers out, expect junior Markell Bell to start at left tackle for a third consecutive game. As for the defensive line, Miami has rotated Tyler Baron, Elijah Alston and Akheem Mesidor on the outside without Bain.

UM not worried about Raymond James Stadium crowd

USF anticipated a large crowd for the game against Miami on Saturday.

The school announced Sunday that it had more than 14,500 student tickets claimed for the game against the Hurricanes, which is a school record. The previous record, according to USF, was 12,549 for the Bulls’ home game against the Florida Gators in on Sept. 11, 2021.

It prompted USF to open the west deck of Raymond James Stadium to increase capacity for Saturday’s game from 45,000 to 55,000.

Now, a large crowd on the road isn’t something new for the Hurricanes this season.

Miami’s season opener was in front of an announced crowd of 90,544 and won that game 41-17.

“If people show up, they show up,” linebacker Francisco Mauigoa said. “We won’t let the outside factor get in our head. We practice it every single day when we go to away games so it won’t matter if it’s crowded. If it’s a lot of noise, we’ll just play ball.”