Miami Football: Let's Not Forget the Missing Pieces to the Hurricanes Puzzle

A lot of people are bringing down the Miami Hurricanes these days even after a convincing 24-6 win over a ranked Ohio State team a couple weeks ago.

Maybe it's because they lost to Maryland, who isn't that good after all and an undefeated Kansas State team?

The Hurricanes lost both games by a combined total of 12 points.

In the Maryland game the Hurricanes were without Seantrel Henderson, Olivier Vernon, Sean Spence, Travis Benjamin, Aldarius Johnson, Ray Ray Armstrong, Marcus Forston and Adewale Ojomo.

In my eyes that's the main reason they lost that game.

Against Kansas State it was more of the same.  Granted, they got everyone back except Henderson, Vernon, Johnson and Armstrong, but let's not forgot how good those missing pieces are.

Going into the season Armstrong was considered the best junior safety in the country if not the best safety period.

What it did was move their best cornerback, JoJo Nicolas, back to safety until Armstrong is able to come back on October 8.

On the defensive line they are missing, in my opinion, their best player in Vernon.

Vernon was second on the team in sacks last year and fourth on the team in tackles for loss in just his sophomore season.

You can obviously tell that missing two of their best defensive players has caused Miami to be less than stellar on defense so far this year.

On the offensive side, due to a back injury to Henderson, they are missing one of the best linemen in the country.

The preseason Playboy All-American was moved to left tackle earlier this year and although his position has been filled admirably by Brandon Washington, it forced a backup to take over Washington's spot.

Now add up the talent that is missing and you would see the No. 15 ranked team in the country playing Bethune-Cookman this weekend, not the non-ranked 1-2 team that we see now.

Things will get better Hurricane fans, I can promise you that.

It may be as soon as this week as Henderson has started practice and head coach Al Golden has stated that he will see playing time as a backup and gradually move into his starting role.

On October 8, Armstrong will be back, thank God, as Miami heads to Virginia Tech for a very key matchup with the 11th ranked Hokies.

Vernon is scheduled to come back on October 22 against 21st ranked Georgia Tech, which will be a blessing considering the Yellow Jackets have the best running game in the country.

So keep the faith alive Hurricane fans, the team should be able to turn it around just in time for Florida State.