All Aboard the Depth Chart Carousel!

Miami's depth chart is not settled. It may never be settled. Here is how things look heading into tomorrow night's game versus Ohio State.

Quarterback

Jacory Harris will start. We will likely find out very early into the game whether or not this is the right decision. Stephen Morris was very impressive against Maryland, but all indications are that Harris rightfully won the job this off-season.

Running back

No changes here. Lamar Miller will start, and we'll obviously see a lot of Mike James.

Wide reciever

Allen Hurns, who was also impressive against Maryland, keeps his starting job. Travis Benjamin replaces LaRon Byrd, although obviously playing time for receivers is very fluid. In any event, it shows how highly regarded Hurns is that he beat out both Byrd and Tommy Streeter.

Tight ends

No changes expected here, although Blake Ayles is out for the season due to a concussion. It's the third of his career, and I expect that it's up in the air whether or not he'll ever play football again. Otherwise, we'll see the same rotation of John Calhoun, Asante Cleveland, Chase Ford and Clive Walford that we saw in the Maryland game. Theoretically one of these guys will eventually separate himself from the others, but we'll see.

Let's jump for the rest of the depth chart.

Offensive tackles

Either Al Golden has no idea what to make of his offensive tackles, or he's trolling them. Both Joel Figueroa and Brandon Washington played surprisingly well against Maryland, but according to Golden, it's possible that Washington will start against Ohio State at left tackle and never before seen redshirt freshman Jonathon Feliciano will start at right tackle. The only explanation for this would be an injury to Figueroa, and UM is always coy about injuries, so we'll see.

Interior offensive line

The line up of Harland Gunn at left guard, Tyler Horn at center and Brandon Linder at right guard seems unlikely to change (barring injury) until the return of Seantrel Henderson.

Defensive end

Andrew Smith played well against Maryland, and he'll retain his starting job. Golden said that he has yet to decide who, between Adewale Ojomo and Anthony Chickillo, will start at the other defensive line spot. Chickillo played against Maryland though he didn't make much of a tangible impact, and it would be very surprising to see Golden— who has opted for experience in most position battles— not choose Ojomo.

Defensive tackle

Marcus Forston is back and in the starting line up. Micanor Regis will start next to him, but Jalen Grimble, Olsen Pierre and Darius Smith will all play, with Smith likely seeing the most playing time.

Linebacker

Sean Spence is back, and he will start at outside linebacker. Ramon Buchanan retains his spot on the first team opposite Spence, with Jimmy Gaines sliding into the middle. Miami's freshmen linebackers (Gionni Paul and Denzel Perryman) saw substantial time against Maryland, but I expect we'll see a lot less of them with Spence back and the other two positions pretty much settled.

Cornerback

Does it really matter? Mike Williams, who looked positively Van Dyke-ian in all the wrong ways, gets the start. Opposite him is Brandon McGee, who happened to get burned on a crucial 52-yard reception despite being perhaps the fastest player on the entire team. Thomas Finne and Lee Chambers will back them up, but I'm not convinced that they aren't the best options outright.

Safety

No changes here: Both JoJo Nicolas and Vaughn Telemaque will start, although we may see more of Thomas Finnie at safety and Nicolas at corner if Miami's other corners look as bad as they did versus Maryland.

Special Teams

Jake Wieclaw will kick, Dalton Botts will punt. Lamar Miller and Brandon McGee will return kicks. Travis Benjamin will likely replace Phillip Dorsett on punt returns.

Buckeyes vs Hurricanes coverage