A No. 8 Miami Hurricanes starter who sat out due to injury appears to be back for Saturday’s game against the USF Bulls at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

But two who were about to return are still outside.

Anez Cooper, who left the field in the first half of Miami’s 62-0 win over Ball State last week, wore his uniform and warmed up before the game at his usual position of right guard.

Meanwhile, left tackle Jalen Rivers and defensive end Rueben Bain Jr., who have not played since UM’s season opener at Florida, wore civilian clothes, indicating they will most likely miss a third straight game.

With Rivers out, junior Markell Bell is expected to start at left tackle for the third consecutive year. As for the defensive line, Miami has rotated Tyler Baron, Elijah Alston and Akheem Mesidor on the outside without Bain.

UM is not concerned about crowds at Raymond James Stadium

USF was expecting a large crowd for its game against Miami on Saturday.

The school announced Sunday that it had claimed more than 14,500 student tickets for the game against the Hurricanes, which is a school record. The previous record was 12,549 for the Bulls’ home game against the Florida Gators on Sept. 11, 2021, according to USF.

This prompted USF to open the west section of Raymond James Stadium to increase capacity from 45,000 to 55,000 for Saturday’s game.

Large away crowds are nothing new for the Hurricanes this season.

Miami’s season opener was played in front of 90,544 spectators and the team won 41-17.

“If people come, they come,” said linebacker Francisco Mauigoa. “We don’t let the outside factors bother us. We practice this every day when we go to away games, so it doesn’t matter if it’s crowded. If there’s a lot of noise, we just keep playing.”