Plauderkasten^^ » airlifted to a nearby hospital. A l

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Miami has tinkered with its longstanding tradition of having players run through plumes of white smoke onto the field at game time.This year, there are also flames.Fitting, since some Hurricanes are getting thrown into the fire.Having three true freshmen start at linebacker wasnt what Hurricanes coach Mark Richt envisioned even a few weeks ago, but the rental-car access scandal that cost Miami its three leading tacklers from 2015 helped force the teams hand. As such, its Shaquille Quarterman, Zach McCloud and Michael Pinckney -- three guys who were playing high school ball 12 months ago -- who are the first-string linebackers for the 25th-ranked Hurricanes.We have tremendous potential, Quarterman said. The thing I can honestly say, we can take it as far as we want to go. We have tremendous buy-in. Our coaches talk about it all the time, so as long as we continue to press the issue of getting better every day, not taking our gas off the pedal no matter if were up by 63 points or one point. We have to fight every down. As long as we do that, the skys the limit.So far, so good.Miami rolled over an overmatched Florida A&M 70-3 in the opener, returned to the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2013 and now the Hurricanes (1-0) figure to get a bigger test at home on Saturday night against Florida Atlantic (1-0).The tape from such a one-sided game didnt exactly show much, but Owls coach Charlie Partridge is already duly impressed with Miamis teen trio of linebackers -- all of whom arrived on the Hurricanes campus together in January.Theyre fast and they can really run, Partridge said. They come with conviction when they get to the point of contact. Theyre ahead of their years in terms of how they play. I believe all three of them were early enrollees, so you can feel that from them. They play with a lot of confidence. Theyre having fun.They are, but its not exactly fun times at Miami right now on the depth front.Defections and injuries are already taking a toll, and the season has barely started.Two defensive starters were dismissed from the team after an investigation into how they had access to luxury car rentals, and a third player didnt even wait around for the probe to be completed before he left and enrolled elsewhere. And then in the first quarter of the Florida A&M game, redshirt freshman linebacker Jamie Gordinier -- who would have logged plenty of time for this team -- tore a knee ligament and saw his season come to an end.We dont have any choice, defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said. We have to have a bunch of guys play. Weve got to have guys share snaps for us to succeed. Youll ultimately pace yourself if youre playing every snap. We have what we have and just like we said on Saturday, everybodys got a role to play and everybodys got to play.Thing is, there arent very many options left.That puts even more pressure on the freshman starters. Quarterman is the analytic one, Pinckney is the high-energy one and McCloud is the quiet one.We feed off each other a lot, Quarterman said.And teammates say theyre ready to handle whatever comes their way.Theyre mature, Miami wide receiver Braxton Berrios said. I think coming in they all knew they had a chance to start. I dont know if all three of them knew; I dont think anybody would have guessed that with everything going on this offseason. They were ready. They were ready when their number was called and I think all of that is just part of maturity. They really came in with a good mindset.---AP College Football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org Josh Morrissey Jersey . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Laurent Brossoit Jets Jersey . Howard Ganz, an MLB lawyer, said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos that Rodriguezs claims do not come "remotely close" to what is needed to overturn an arbitration decision in federal court. http://www.jetsauthentic.com/authentic-dmitry-kulikov-jets-jersey/ . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Teppo Numminen Jets Jersey . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. Keith Tkachuk Jersey . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. A look at whats happening all around the majors Saturday:---BOUNCING BACK?Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta is 0-2 with a 5.55 ERA in four July starts. He has allowed 20 earned runs in his last five outings after giving up 19 over his first 15 starts. Arrieta (12-4, 2.76 ERA) faces the Mariners at Wrigley Field.TRY AGAINDrew Pomeranz makes another bid for his first win with Boston. The All-Star lefty is 0-1 in two starts since being acquired from San Diego, pitching a total of nine innings and giving up seven runs on 12 hits and four walks. Hell start for the Red Sox on the road vs. the Angels.HAPPY TIMESBlue Jays lefty J.ddddddddddddA. Happ (13-3, 3.27) has won seven straight decisions going into this start vs. visiting Baltimore.LAST CHANCERoyals righty Ian Kennedy and Rangers lefty Martin Perez have one more chance to get a win in July. The opposing pitchers in Texas are both 0-3 in five starts this month. Perez has allowed 29 runs (22 earned) over his last four starts after going 4-0 in five starts in June. Along with his winless month, Kennedy is 0-2 in three career starts against the Rangers. ' ' '