Miami Hurricanes release first depth chart a couple hours before opening kickoff

University of Miami coach Mario Cristobal didn’t release a depth chart during fall camp — or even this week leading to Friday’s 7 p.m. kickoff for the Hurricanes vs. Miami of Ohio season opener at Hard Rock Stadium.

That changed at about 5:15 p.m. Friday, when UM handed out a flip card with the starting lineup and some reserves. Keep in mind that we won’t know for sure until the teams run onto the field for the kickoff.

The starting quarterback, as expected, was returning fourth-year junior Tyler Van Dyke, with true freshman Emory Williams replacing him with about nine minutes left in the game. Van Dyke, who reportedly hit the thumb side of his throwing hand against a helmet in practice early last week, wore some type of black wrap or splint over his right pointer finger.

The starting running back was Henry Parrish, with Mark Fletcher or Ajay Allen (formerly Nebraska) or Don Chaney listed behind him. Allen initially took over on the second drive. All four backs played.

The starting receivers Friday were Colbie Young, Xavier Restrepo, Brashard Smith and Jacolby George.

The starting tight end listed on depth chart was Cam McCormick, with Elijah Arroyo and Jaleel Skinner behind him. Arroyo, however, was on the sideline in street clothes, and no tight end was on the field to start the game.

The offensive linemen, as expected: left tackle Jalen Rivers, left guard Javion Cohen (formerly Alabama), center Matt Lee (formerly UCF), right guard Anez Cooper and true freshman right tackle Francis Mauigoa.

On defense, the starting linemen were Nyjalik Kelly and Akheem Mesidor at the end spots and Leonard Taylor and Branson Deen (formerly Purdue) at tackle.

The starting linebackers were Francisco Mauigoa (formerly Washington State) and K.J. Cloyd (formerly Louisville).

The starting safeties were Kam Kinchens and James Williams.

The starting cornerbacks were Daryl Porter Jr. and Jaden Davis on the outside, with Te’Cory Couch in the slot.

UM lists its specialists as kicker Andy Borregales, punter Dylan Joyce and long snapper Mason Napper. No return specialists are listed for the Hurricanes, but Restrepo returned punts and Brashard Smith returned the opening kickoff 40 yards.

Alabama transfer joins UM

On Wednesday, the Miami Herald confirmed through multiple sources that Alabama defensive tackle transfer Jamil Burroughs has joined the team.

Burroughs is enrolled, sources said, and had two seasons to play in the next three seasons.

Burroughs entered the transfer portal in late June following an altercation between the player and an assistant strength Coach, On3.com reported. The incident, in which police got involved, reportedly involved pellet guns on campus.

Burroughs, according to his former Crimson Tide team bio, is 6-3 and 309 pounds and was a redshirt sophomore in 2022. He is from Powder Springs, Georgia, and went to McEachern High. He was a consensus four-star high school prospect. Last season he played in 11 games and had eight tackles, including two for losses and a sack, In 2020, he played in six games and had five tackles.

New first-down rule

Among the new NCAA rules for this season, one is especially significant in attempting to reduce plays, and thus shorten game times in college that had sometimes approached or exceeded four hours.

That rule: With the exception of the final two minutes of each half, the game clock will no longer stop after first downs.

“There’s a little bit of change with the clock stoppage. For myself and what I’ve been focusing on, I don’t think it plays in too much,’’ UM center Matt Lee said. “There will be little discrepancies here and there, but I don’t think it’s been a big worry. We’re still going out there and playing like normal, just with the clock stopped.

“We just go with the flow and we react.’’

Another rule change is that a team no longer will be allowed to call consecutive timeouts during a dead-ball period. Coaches sometimes had stacked timeouts together to ice opposing kickers before an especially crucial field goal.

Each team still gets three timeouts during a half.

This and that

The UM captains Friday were quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, safety Kam Kinches, linebacker Francisco Mauigoa and center Matt Lee.