As Miami was pouring it on against Notre Dame Saturday night to loudly proclaim the return of the Hurricanes to the national championship hunt, they ended up taking a hit on the depth chart. Linebacker Charles Perry suffered a season-ending “left lower extremity injury,” the school announced on Sunday.
The junior from West Palm Beach had recorded 15 tackles and an interception in nine games this season for the undefeated Hurricanes. He had been listed second on the depth chart at strongside linebacker behind starter Zach McCloud, and he had split backup duty with freshman De’Andre Wilder.
Fortunately for Miami, after an impressive defensive performance against the Irish, the loss of Perry will be a mild loss in the bigger picture and probably will not come back to cause too many issues on the roster in the coming weeks. While losing any player this time of year is certainly far from ideal, Miami should be OK so long as it keeps the starters in good shape during this push for an ACC championship and perhaps a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Miami has already clinched a spot in the ACC Championship Game for the first time in school history, and the Hurricanes rose to No. 2 in the coaches and AP polls.