Hurricanes running back Mark Fletcher Jr., others out vs. Syracuse
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Miami will be missing a key offensive player against Syracuse on Saturday.
Running back Mark Fletcher Jr. was listed as out for the game on the Hurricanes’ Thursday availability report. He suffered an injury late in the loss to SMU.
Other key players listed as out included cornerback OJ Frederique — who Miami coach Mario Cristobal said will likely miss several weeks. Wide receiver Tony Johnson, who has played sparingly but had a strong performance against Stanford, is also listed as out.
Defensive tackle Ahmad Moten Sr. and wide receiver CJ Daniels, who missed the loss to the Mustangs last week, were listed as questionable.
Miami also listed linebacker Wesley Bissainthe as questionable for the game. Bissainthe, one of the Hurricanes’ starting linebackers, has 32 tackles and an interception this season.
Fletcher is Miami’s leading running back, pacing the team with a career-high 636 yards and nine touchdowns on 125 carries. In his absence, UM will turn to running backs Marty Brown, Jordan Lyle, Girard Pringle Jr. and Chris Wheatley-Humphrey in the ground game.
“Would like to see us continue to improve in the run game,” UM coach Mario Cristobal said Monday. “I think those guys are really good players. We’ve seen them play good football. I think it’s an opportunity for Girard Pringle, Chris Wheatley-Humphrey. I think it’s an opportunity for all those guys. But certainly, you know Mark. Mark is a special player for us. He has set the tone a bunch, but we’ve seen really good play from both Marty and from Jordan, and we expect those guys to play really good football.”
Moten has been a key contributor at defensive tackle this season. He has 16 tackles, three tackles for loss and one sack. Pro Football Focus gives him a 77.6 defensive grade this season, which is 10th-best in the ACC among defensive tackles with 100 or more snaps.
The ACC is mandating its football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball teams report which players are available prior to each conference game. Football teams are required to submit an initial report two days before the game, an updated report one day before the game and a game day report no later than two hours before the game starts. Teams “must act in good faith to comply with this policy,” according to the conference.
The conference mandates teams announce which players meet certain designations.
-Available: Available to play
-Probable: likely to play or greater than 50 percent chance to play
-Questionable: uncertain to play or less than 50 percent chance to play
-Out: will not play or 0 percent chance to play
On game day reports, players can be listed as available, “game time decision” or out.
Here is the Hurricanes’ initial availability report before facing FSU on Saturday:
OUT
-RB Mark Fletcher Jr.
-DB OJ Frederique Jr.
-DE Hayden Lowe
-TE Jackson Carver
-TE Jack Nickel
-WR Chance Robinson
-LB Malik Bryant
-WR Tony Johnson
-TE Brock Schott
QUESTIONABLE
-WR CJ Daniels
-LB Wesley Bissainthe
-DL Ahmad Moten Sr.
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