Duke Johnson knows he is days away from likely making Hurricanes history.
What the star running back is still unsure of is whether Miami’s regular-season finale against Pittsburgh on Saturday at Sun Life Stadium will be his final home game as a Hurricane. That decision, he said, will be made soon enough, when he and his mother, Cassandra Mitchell, have time to weigh their options.
Johnson, a draft-eligible junior, needs just 34 yards to pass Hurricanes great Ottis Anderson to become Miami’s all-time leading rusher. Earlier this season, he became the school’s career leader in all-purpose yards, a number that now stands at 5,238. His 1,431 rushing yards are the second most ever put together by a Hurricane in a single season. And if he manages 322 yards between Saturday and Miami’s bowl game, he’ll pass Willis McGahee to own that mark, too.
So it’s no wonder Johnson feels he’s accomplished plenty during his three-year Miami career.
“I don’t think there’s much more I need to prove on the field. I’m not saying there’s no room to get better. There’s always room to get better in my aspects of the game,” Johnson said. “But as far as, I guess stats and things of that sort, there’s not much I need to prove.”
So what are the biggest factors Johnson and his family will evaluate when they sit down to talk about the future, a conversation that could happen before Miami’s bowl game?
For one, there’s the matter of his degree, something Johnson and his mother have said multiple times is a priority for them both. Johnson is studying sports administration and said Monday that no matter his decision, he plans to be on Miami’s campus next summer earning credits toward that degree.
He’s also thought about the Hurricanes’ potential next season, thanks, in part, to the performance put together this year by Miami freshman quarterback Brad Kaaya, who has emerged as one of the nation’s top young signal callers and is the ACC leader in passing touchdowns (23), passing efficiency (152.6), passing yards per attempt (8.9) and passing yards per completion (14.8).
“The kid’s coming along well,” Johnson said with a smile. “I’m anxious to see what he’d be able to do.”
For his part, Kaaya said Monday he’s appreciated the opportunity to play alongside Johnson, who he called “a last-year guy,” as he, like the rest of the Hurricanes, wait for the running back’s decision.
“In the last game, there were several plays where Duke was solid,” Kaaya said. “The touchdown I threw to Phillip [Dorsett] . . . there was a linebacker who came free. If Duke hadn’t cut him, saw him out of the corner of his eye, the guy would have taken my legs out.”
Johnson said Monday he plans to ask the NFL Draft Advisory Panel for input as he thinks about his future. CBSSports.com currently has Johnson projected as a second-round pick, while NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks wrote earlier this month that Johnson “could be a better pro prospect than some of the bigger names garnering the headlines at the position.”
And Miami coach Al Golden said Monday his running back has proven his worth.
“He’s had a terrific year, unselfish in pass protection, catching the ball out of the backfield. . . . He’s got a lot of tools and he’s playing at a high level right now,” Golden said. “We didn’t possess the ball well enough to give him more opportunities the other night [at Virginia]…we have to keep giving him touches.”
Saturday, one of those touches will likely push him past Anderson’s record and although what happens after that remains uncertain, Johnson’s mother is expecting Saturday to be an emotional night, for her son, for her and for their family.
“I’m tearing up just thinking about it. It’s overwhelming. The doubts, the hard work, it goes back to his injury, the things he’s said he wanted to do,” Mitchell told the Sun Sentinel. “I don’t even know how I’m going to have a dry eye through the whole game.”
ccabrera@tribpub.com; On Twitter @ChristyChirinos.
