‘Freak safety’ Bolden finally shows his stuff
The game was out of Louie Rodriguez’s hands, but the offensive coordinator for Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman wasn’t worried when St. Thomas Aquinas lined up for the potential game-winning field goal in double overtime of a high-profile high school showdown in 2016
“I was in the press box and told the coaches, ‘Don’t worry,’ ” Rodriguez recalled Wednesday. “We are going to block it.”
It was, he figured, the only way Bubba Bolden’s night could have ended. He already had two interceptions, including one against future teammate Mike Harley, and he had conditioned the coordinator to expect the incredible. As usual, he delivered, leaping over the line in Vegas to block the 25-yard attempt. The Gaels wound up winning in triple overtime.
“Bubba turned that switch on,” said Rodriguez, who’s now the coach at Bishop in Texas. “Don’t know how he jumped that high.”
The Miami Hurricanes never really got to see this side of Bolden in his first year with the program in 2019. The safety, who started his career with USC, had not played in a real game since 2017 because the university suspended him in 2018 and the NCAA didn’t clear him to play until Miami’s fifth game. After a little more than a month, an injury cut Bolden’s season immediately after he grabbed his first interception as a Hurricane.
It was Bolden’s first time playing against rival Florida State and he picked off a deflected pass. He leaped to celebrate with fellow safety Gurvan Hall and landed awkwardly on his right ankle. It was dislocated. His first season at Miami was done after just five games, one start, 11 tackles and one interception.
“It’s a freak accident,” said Bolden, who got another crack at Florida State on Saturday. “I can’t get mad at nobody. It happened. It’s not like I can fix my leg in the middle of the play or anything, so I live and learn, and move on.”
A little less than a year removed from the injury, he has. Bolden finally got back on the field for training camp in July — he said he would have been ready for the end of spring practice, but the COVID-19 pandemic cut it short after just four sessions — and seized a starting job.Last week in the win at Louisville, he played probably the best game of his career, finally reminding the
No. 12 Hurricanes why he was a top-60 overall prospect in the 247Sports.com composite rankings when he enrolled at USC.
Bolden led the Hurricanes (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) with a career-high 11 tackles, recorded a tackle for loss and forced a fumble, which was picked up by fellow safety Amari Carter.
At one point in the second quarter of Miami’s 47-34 win, he made a second-down tackle along the left sideline, then a third-down tackle on the right sideline on the very next play. The then-No. 18 Cardinals turned the ball over on downs on the following play.
“When I am on the sideline and I’m watching the defense, I’m watching Bubba Bolden,” said tight end Brevin Jordan, who played with Bolden at Bishop Gorman. “That is my dude. He is long, he is fast, he knows how to come down and tackle and backpedal and get interceptions. He is a freak safety.”
Bolden wasn’t pleased, though. On Sunday, he texted coach Manny Diaz, defensive coordinator Blake Bakers and safeties coach Ephraim Banda to tell them all he wasn’t happy with the way he played at Louisville. Some of his 11 tackles came down the field because a receiver caught a pass in his vicinity.
The Cardinals’ motionheavy offense forced Bolden to match up against Tutu Atwell too often, and the wide receiver gashed the Hurricanes for eight catches, 114 yards and two touchdowns.
Still, he was the ACC Defensive Back of the Week and the Jim Thorpe Award Player of the Week. Diaz has spent his entire tenure preaching a culture change and Bolden’s approach fit exactly what the coach is looking for.
“He was like, I love to hear it,” Bolden said. “I love that you’re taking accountability for what you did.”