Xavier Restrepo becomes 10th player in Hurricanes history with 2,000 career receiving yards

Another week, another milestone for Miami Hurricanes receiver Xavier Restrepo.

With his 16-yard catch in the third quarter against USF on Saturday, Restrepo became the 10th player in Hurricanes history to eclipse 2,000 career receiving yards.

The other nine: Santana Moss (2,547), Reggie Wayne (2,510), Michael Irvin (2,423), Lamar Thomas (2,271), Stacy Coley (2,222), Leonard Hankerson (2,160), Mike Harley (2,158), Travis Benjamin (2,146) and Phillip Dorsett (2,132). At the rate he’s going, Restrepo easily could surpass Moss for the school record this season.

Restrepo finished the game with six catches for 99 yards and a touchdown to give him 2,079 yards for his Hurricanes career with at least eight more games to play.

The fifth-year wide receiver has mentioned before this season that his focus isn’t on the individual accolades. He’ll reflect on those after the season ends.

But the milestone isn’t lost on his teammates.

“He deserves that for sure,” said fellow wide receiver Isaiah Horton. “He’s humble. He grinds. He works. That’s all I see from him and that’s really where I got it from. When I came in as a freshman, took me under his wing, and he’s a great human being.”

Entering this week, only 26 active college football players had 2,000 career receiving yards. Only seven of those players recorded all of their receiving yards at one school like Restrepo. Oklahoma State’s Brennan Presley, Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan, Wake Forest’s Taylor Morin, Toledo’s Jerjuan Newton, Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka, Utah’s Brant Kuithe and Georgia Southern’s Derwin Burgess Jr. are the others.

With six catches on Saturday, Restrepo now has 151 for his Miami career, putting him in fourth place all-time in Miami history. Only Harley (182), Wayne (173) and Coley (167) have more.

“That dude has shown up every Saturday that I’ve been here,” offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said earlier this season. “He shows up every day at practice. He does the same thing, and he makes plays. Players respect players, and that dude makes plays, and he makes plays in crucial situations. He makes plays when you need him. He’s just there. I can’t say enough about him and his mentality, but he is a guy that’s been extremely steady since I’ve been here.”

Restrepo has steadily been climbing up the Hurricanes’ lists for both receptions and receiving yards through the start of his final season with the Hurricanes.

He entered the season ranked eighth in catches (131) and 15th in receiving yards (1,717).

And then he caught seven passes for 112 yards and a touchdown in Miami’s opener against the Florida Gators which moved him to seventh in catches and 12th in receiving yards.

And then he caught another four passes for 104 yards and a touchdown in the Hurricanes’ home rout of Florida A&M to move to 10th all-time in Hurricanes history in receiving yards.

And then Restrepo had three more catches for 47 yards and two touchdowns in UM’s shutout of Ball State.

And then on Saturday, he eclipsed 2,000 yards and is still well on pace to be able to crack two school records.