CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Willis McGahee was surrounded by television cameras, microphones and tape recorders Friday, answering question after question about the Miami Hurricanes and the upcoming season.

When he was done, the sophomore running back walked out of the interview room with teammate Kellen Winslow Jr.

"It's your time,'' Winslow said as the two embraced.

Not even quarterback Ken Dorsey could have been more precise.

With Clinton Portis gone, and Frank Gore and Jarrett Payton injured, Miami is undoubtedly thin at running back as it begins defense of the national title. Because the Hurricanes lack depth at the position, they will rely primarily on one back for the first time in years.

"I used to feel pressure, but now I've accepted it and I just have to go out there and perform,'' McGahee said at the team's annual media day. "Everybody is counting on me to step up and fill the shoes of Clinton Portis, which I know I'm going to do.''

Running back has been Miami's deepest position in recent years. There was James Jackson running behind Edgerrin James in 1997 and 1998, Portis running behind Jackson in 1999 and 2000, and Gore running behind Portis last season.

But the seemingly endless string of backs started to unravel this spring.

J.R. Mounts, the only running back the Hurricanes recruited last season, arrived at Miami early, enrolling in January, but quit after two days of spring practice.

Gore, who ran 64 times for 565 yards (9.1 yards per carry) and five touchdowns last year, tore the anterior cruciate ligament and some meniscus in his right knee in March. Gore hopes to return this season, but doctors and coaches are making no guarantees.

Then Payton's back started bothering him a few weeks ago, a recurring injury he traced to a car accident that threw him out of his convertible and onto the pavement last summer. He will miss at least the first week of practice but expects to be ready when the season starts.

It is the latest in a long list of injuries that have kept Walter Payton's son from reaching his potential.

"Everybody should understand that we're going to be OK,'' Payton said. "We're going to be fine. ... I know in my heart that there are only good things ahead.''

Making matters worse, recruit Devin Hester -- a Parade All-American the team planned to moved from receiver to running back to help ease the losses -- has not been academically cleared to enroll at Miami.

The Hurricanes are so lean in the backfield that second-year head coach Larry Coker is considering converting wide receiver Jason Geathers to tailback.

"We can't be the same team we were a year ago,'' said Coker, whose team has won 22 consecutive games. "We're different. We have different personalities. We've got to establish ourselves differently. It may be a little more passing and a little less running.''

Nonetheless, the 6-foot-1, 224-pound McGahee will get plenty of carries. He ran 69 times for 321 yards as a freshman last season, most of which came early in the year, then missed several games with a knee injury.

Gore was so impressive in his place that McGahee was moved to fullback to fill in for an injured Najeh Davenport. McGahee didn't like his new position, but he didn't complain, either. How could he? The Hurricanes were winning, and that's all that really mattered.

Even after Miami beat Nebraska in the Rose Bowl, McGahee refused to celebrate the national championship. He didn't feel like he had done enough during the season.

He expects so much more.

"I feel it's my time now,'' he said, echoing Winslow's words. "My first two years I wasn't too much feeling it. But when I was in here (Thursday) and the coaches were talking, I was getting some sort of feeling in my body. I was getting goose bumps.

"I just know the season's going to be mine.''