FanHouse RobertMarve

Robert Marve, the former University of Miami quarterback who transferred to Purdue, will miss the entire season with a knee injury, specifically a torn ACL.

Marve suffered the injury three days after announcing his plan to join Danny Hope's squad in West Lafayette. (He had been widely expected to walk on at Tennessee.) He underwent surgery and hopes to be medically cleared by the end of December.

Okay, so Danny Hope isn't the only hope in West Lafayette, Ind., this spring. Former Miami Hurricanes quarterback Robert Marve (pictured at right) ended the speculation about his next address Thursday, confirming that he will transfer to Purdue for his final two seasons of eligibility. Marve will have to sit out this coming season but will be eligible in 2010 and 2011.

Marve was Florida's Mr. Football in 2006 but missed all of his freshman season due to a car accident. His numbers from 2008 were not stunning, and when Jacory Harris was named the starter, Marve decided he wanted out.

There's nothing wrong with that, of course. Football players play football, and if Marve didn't want to stand around holding a clipboard, it's his right to walk away. Your head knows this and agrees with it. Your heart, however, is saying something like "Yeah, but ... Purdue?" O ye of little knowledge.

As a high school senior in Tampa, Fla., in 2007, Robert Marve passed for 48 touchdowns and over 4,000 yards. The final pass of his prep career was a touchdown with 17 seconds remaining in the state title game. With big numbers and clutch performances, Marve was one of the top quarterback recruits in the country, fielding scholarship offers from Alabama, Purdue, Miami and Michigan State and a host of others. Initially Marve committed to the Crimson Tide, but after Mike Shula's firing, he reopened his recruitment and ended up signing with Miami.

Less than six months later, Marve was a passenger in a car driven by one of his Miami teammates. The car slammed into a guardrail on I-95 after the driver fell asleep, and Marve's left hand was badly injured, leading him to redshirt his freshman season. This past season, Marve returned to start 11 games for the Hurricanes, throwing for nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions. But in December he decided to transfer. Which leads to an interesting question, how often have college football quarterbacks transferred and actually been successful at their new destination?

Those with even a passing familiarity with Miami football last year know full well what an absolute horror show the offense was, especially at quarterback. As listless as the offense was under departing senior Kyle Wright, co-starter Kirby Freeman was absolutely brutal. We're relatively sure that had Freeman not transferred to Baylor, they would have locked them in the Orange Bowl before its demolition.

So this leaves head coach Randy Shannon with something of a quandary: Miami has three quarterbacks, all of whom are freshmen (Robert Marve a redshirt, Jacory Harris and Cannon Smith true). Of them, Harris and Marve are the only real threats to start; while Cannon Smith has a legendary name for a quarterback (topped only by, like, "Rocketarm Throwball-Manning"), the three-star prospect from Hargrave isn't "there" yet. So the question to Randy Shannon is, who's it going to be: Marve or Harris?

Shannon's answer, it seems, is "yes."

Miami (FL) freshman quarterback Robert Marve survived an auto accident but sustained several injuries. He was a passenger in a vehicle driven by teammates that "flipped over on Interstate 75".

Marve, who was in the back seat sleeping when the accident happened, sustained lacerations on both his left hand and wrist and disfigurement of his left ring finger, according to [Marve's high school coach Robert] Weiner, who was with Marve in the emergency room of Naples Community Hospital on Monday.

Weiner said Marve was set to have surgery on the hand later Monday afternoon but that doctors were uncertain if he had ligament or tendon damage. Marve suffered no injuries to his throwing hand or any other injuries, aside from stiffness in his body, the coach said.

Kid's lucky to be alive. The "disfigurement" sounds kind of gruesome though. He's expected to miss about a month of workouts before he can return to the team. Freshman receiver Jermaine McKenzie and sophomore linebacker Colin McCarthy were also in the vehicle and are reported safe.

The late night/early morning cause of the accident is unclear, with differing accounts between police documents and the players. No arrests were made, and there was no intimation of alcohol use or abuse.

(Via: FanNation)