Miami is hopeful about Mesidor’s status for Texas A&M after he surprisingly misses Week 2

After breaking out in his debut for the Miami Hurricanes last week, Akheem Mesidor missed Game 2 on Saturday — and Miami missed him.

The Hurricanes are optimistic they won’t miss him too much longer.

The defensive lineman sat out Miami’s 30-7 win against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles with a lower-leg injury, WQAM reported, and Mario Cristobal said he believes he’ll be ready for next Saturday, when the Hurricanes go on the road to face the Texas A&M Aggies in College Station, Texas.

“We feel he is,” the coach said. “He got nicked up midweek in practice, and we felt we could get to game day and have a full-speed player, and he wasn’t there yet, so hopefully by tomorrow, by Monday, Tuesday he will be.”

Mesidor watched No. 15 Miami’s win from the sidelines at Hard Rock Stadium, wearing a boot on his right foot. Fellow defensive lineman Elijah Roberts started in the sophomore’s place and the Hurricanes (2-0) struggled to generate pressure early in Miami Gardens, going into halftime with just one sack and two tackles for loss.

Although the Hurricanes finished with three sacks and six tackles for loss, Mesidor’s presence was missed after he had four tackles, a sack and a pass defended — leading to Gilbert Frierson’s interception, which he returned for a touchdown — in Miami’s season-opening rout of the FCS Bethune-Cookman Wildcats last weekend.

It was Mesidor’s debut for the Hurricanes — he transferred to Miami from the West Virginia Mountaineers in April — and Cristobal said he “really was the defensive player on the field for us.”

His encore performance, though, had to wait.

Nelson, Knighton return for Miami

While the Hurricanes’ defense took a hit with Mesidor’s absence, the their offense was back whole this weekend in South Florida.

Star tackle Zion Nelson and running back Jaylan Knighton — both starters at the end of last season — returned to the lineup after missing Week 1 with injuries, although they were both on a “play count,” quarterback Tyler Van Dyke said.

Still, both contributed early, even though they didn’t start.

Knighton, after dealing with a soft-tissue injury late in training camp, ran for 17 yards on five carries. Nelson, who underwent surgery on his left knee in July and missed nearly all of fall camp, played both left tackle and right tackle.

Running back Henry Parrish Jr. and offensive lineman John Campbell Jr. both started their second straight games with those two working their way back from injuries. Parrish and Campbell were two of Miami’s top performers last week, with Parrish scoring three touchdowns and Campbell receiving the highest Pro Football Focus grade of any of the Hurricanes’ starting offensive linemen.

Campbell’s play will leave Cristobal and Co. with a decision to make next week about which five offensive linemen to start at No. 6 Texas A&M. Nelson — who was a preseason All-American, according to The Athletic, College Football News and Athlon — might be too talented to keep on the bench, which means Cristobal might have to sort through some moving pieces on his line.

On Saturday, it was just important for Nelson to see some live action.

“Zion had a great spring and he’s missed all the time leading up to about two weeks ago,” Cristobal said. “When you’re an offensive lineman, you need those reps. ... He knocked a lot of the rust out today.”

This and that

▪ Star defensive tackle and offensive lineman Jakai Clark both played after leaving Game 1 early due to injuries. Clark started his second straight game at center and Taylor, who made his first career start against the Bethune-Cookman, rotated in along the defensive line and finished with two solo tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack.

▪ Logan Sagapolu was fully dressed after missing the opener. Fellow offensive lineman Laurence Seymore did not dress for undisclosed reasons.

▪ Cristobal heaped praise upon Anez Cooper for his debut performance against Wildcats and carved out a role for the offensive lineman against Southern Miss (0-2) in Week 2. The freshman mostly wore No. 37 and lined up as a jumbo-sized tight end — really, a sixth offensive lineman — for about a dozen plays against the Golden Eagles.

▪ Freshman Isaiah Horton suited up for the Hurricanes after serving a one-game suspension to start his career. Fellow wide receiver Jacolby George and safety Jalen Harrell remained inactive, serving the final game of their two-game suspensions.