CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -Miami coach Randy Shannon abhors distractions, which he loosely defines as any negative issue that can invade the psyche of his team. And his decision to suspend seven players, including starting quarterback Robert Marve, for Thursday’s opener against Charleston Southern would seem to qualify as a distraction.
Only he doesn’t see it that way.
“It’s about how you handle adverse situations,” Shannon said. “You deal with them, you stay focused on the biggest product which is what you’re trying to get done, and then you move forward.”
Shannon announced the one-game suspensions Sunday night. Marve’s issue stemmed from a misdemeanor arrest last Oct. 31; the two charges he faced were subsequently dropped, but he now faces a university-imposed sanction. The other issues are for various reasons, none of which Shannon would specifically reveal, but at least some of the suspensions were for academic issues.
The other suspended players are running backs Damien Berry and Eric Houston, defensive end Adewale Ojomo, defensive back Randy Phillips, wide receiver Kayne Farquaharson and long snapper Chris Ivory.
In theory, Miami shouldn’t need any of the seven against Charleston Southern, a Football Championship Subdivision school that had a losing record last season. But the bigger issue might be getting those players, especially Marve, ready for the remainder of the season – including a Week 2 test at No. 5 Florida.
“To be honest, I believe it might be a distraction,” defensive back Chavez Grant said. “I believe a couple of guys may take it as a distraction, may take it as, ‘Man, they should have told us a little earlier.’ But the more mature guys are like, ‘OK, whatever.’ We’ll move on.”
Many other Miami players, however, said the suspensions shouldn’t be much of an issue by Thursday night’s kickoff.
“I don’t think it is, because we haven’t really been talking about it,” linebacker Glenn Cook said. “We haven’t really been thinking about it. It’s things that happened, those guys are handling it well, and I think we’ll be all right.”
The decision to suspend Marve means that true freshman Jacory Harris will be Miami’s starting quarterback – for this game only, Shannon says. Even if Harris has a strong game against Charleston Southern, Marve will be the starter when the Hurricanes head north to play Florida.
The suspension will not, Shannon insisted, lead to a quarterback controversy.
“I’m not too much worried about all that because eventually things will fall in place,” Harris said. “I’m just worried about going out there and having a good Game 1. As long as I’m worried about that, things will happen.”
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