68 Days Until Miami Hurricanes Football: Top Canes to Wear #68

Current Cane in #68 - Nick Linder - Offensive Line

Nick Linder, the younger brother of former Hurricane and Jaguars starting center Brandon Linder, is also a center for the Miami Hurricanes. Nick 6’3 298 pound senior from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. In high school, Nick was first team All-7A and an Under Armor All-American.

At Miami, Nick has started on the O-Line since his freshman season at Miami where he played guard and center, then in 2015 moved to center. In 2015 he started 13 games and in 2016 he started 8 games before a season-ending injury. Linder took a lot of heat, from me included, for his performance against Notre Dame this past season. Any reasonable fan of The U hopes Nick is fully recovered and ready to be the opening day starting center for Mark Richt’s offense.

Carlos Etheredge Tight End / Offensive Line

Carlos Etheredge was a Miami Hurricane during their most dominant years. Carlos played at Miami from 1988-1992. Carlos started at Miami as a Tight End and at 6’5 235lbs a formidable one. He was a strong blocker in-line and had soft enough hands to be drafted in the 6th round by the Colts in the 1993 draft- after playing the 1992 season predominantly as an Offensive Tackle. Etheredge was worth making this list twice, he made it as #82 as well.

Carlos was quote in the NY Times in 1992 as saying, ''We're going to get better and better as we go along.'' That type of confidence and leadership is the epitome of Hurricane football. Back in those days, you just knew the ‘Canes were going to win and guys did whatever it would take to be starters. Etheredge was behind Coleman Bell at TE, and the move to OL his senior year allowed him to start at Weak Tackle.

Carlos played really well against Penn State in ‘92 both pulling and reach blocking in the run game for Donnell Bennett.

In the GIF below, #68 has a nice pull around to spring Bennett for a TD

Joe Fantigrassi Offensive Line

Joe was a 6’4 285lbs reserve Offensive Lineman and Long Snapper for the ‘Canes. He’s on the list because the big fella helped the Hurricanes to a national championship in 2001. If you know anything about long snappers, they can make or break a season and in ‘01 he took over duties against FSU. Joe was an early enrollee out of Western High School in Florida.

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