Manny Diaz provides injury update on Miami running back Cam'Ron Harris

Miami head coach Manny Diaz on Monday said on his weekly radio show that the Hurricanes have lost starting running back Cam’Ron Harris, a redshirt junior out of Miami Carol City High School, to a season-ending injury.

Diaz did not specify the injury or its severity. However, it appeared on Saturday that Harris tweaked his right leg, possibly his knee. Early in the third quarter of Miami’s loss to North Carolina, Harris suffered the injury and did not return to the contest. He was helped off the field, unable to walk on his own accord, and Miami officials said Harris’ day was over after a “lower extremity” injury.

Harris finished the came with six carries for 26 yards prior to his injury. In his absence, freshman Jaylan Knighton led all rushers with 17 carries for 92 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while also adding two receptions for 73 yards and a receiving touchdown.

“We’ll miss Cam for the rest of the year,’’ Diaz said on the WQAM radio show, via the Miami Herald. “Cam had been one of the guys who had really stepped up as a leader, had been named captain in the two weeks since the Virginia game, and just another tough blow to the team — not just because who he was as a player but because who he was as a person.

“It’ll [now] be up to [Jaylan] Knighton, Cody Brown and Thad Franklin, just sort of what we’ve been doing this year. You’ve got to be the next man up.’’

Harris played in all six Miami games this season, taking 71 carries for 409 yards — good for an average of 5.8 yards per rush — plus five touchdown carries. He was efficient in the air, too, needing just 11 receptions to rack up 119 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Harris was a consensus four-star recruit out of high school, considered a top-10 running back in the 2018 recruiting class. He did not make his first start until 2019, logging just three, and took over as the featured back in 2020, leading Miami with 643 rushing yards on 126 carries, ten rushing touchdowns, 18 receptions, 131 receiving yards and ten receiving touchdowns.

Miami’s rushing attack was already operating at a loss, and the injury to Harris may only make matters worse. Second-year freshman Donald Chaney Jr., who was also four-star recruit out of high school, sustained a season-ending injury against Appalachian State in Week 2. He had just 11 carries for 44 yards and a touchdown before his year ended.

Miami is just 2-4 and has already exhausted its bye through seven weeks. The Hurricanes have two consecutive ranked opponents coming up on their schedule, first at home against No. 18 NC State, then on the road against No. 23 Pittsburgh.