Even In Just Several Games, Bubba Bolden Showed Star Potential For Miami In 2019

While the Hurricanes are enjoying a three game winning streak and have much to be excited about as they try and finish off the 2019 season with a bang, it hasn’t all been great news for Miami. One of the more devastating things to happen was when safety Bubba Bolden was lost for the year after he suffered an injury against Florida State on November 2nd.

A grad transfer from USC who came over to Miami in January, Bolden excited me more than any other player in the transfer portal. I remember watching him play in high school, where he was teammates with Brevin Jordan and Tate Martell at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas.

Though he didn’t play much for the Trojans, what he did show on the field, you could see that he has NFL potential.

He arrived to Coral Gables in the middle of fall camp, and the anticipation for his arrival was palpable, you could tell that people were excited to see him in a Hurricanes uniform. In the very limited reps he got in practice and scrimmages before the season started, Bolden was already impressing.

Because he was still waiting for approval from the NCAA, Bolden wasn’t able to see the field until Miami’s fifth game of the year against Virginia Tech. You could tell he was a little rusty when it came time to game reps, but he was able to get accustomed as the weeks went by and quickly gave the Canes defense a boost.

Even in the finite action he saw in 2019, his potential was clear as day. For a safety, Bolden is an incredible tackler and does well in the open field, like here against Georgia Tech where he delivers the solid hit.

In less than a month, Bolden was already cracking the starting lineup for the Hurricanes when they traveled to Pittsburgh on October 26th. Bubba immediately made an impact, forcing a fumble which Gurvan Hall Jr. recovered.

The following week against Florida State, Bolden continued to showcase his playmaking skills. In the third quarter, he intercepted a pass deflected by cornerback DJ Ivey for his first pick as a Hurricane. Unfortunately, it was after this play where he suffered his injury while celebrating the interception with Hall.

In the five games he appeared in for the Canes, Bolden totaled 11 tackles, one pass break-up, one forced fumble and one interception. While it’s unfortunate that Miami lost Bolden for the remainder of 2019, it should be noted that he is just a redshirt sophomore, so UM will have at least two more years of this future star.

Looking ahead to 2020 and thinking that Bolden will hopefully be healthy for the start of the season, you have to believe that he’ll be one of Miami’s starting safeties. Many are excited for what they saw of the duo of Bolden and Hall together, so expect to see plenty of those two.