Miami got a needed break on the injury front Monday, with Mario Cristobal saying Bryce Fitzgerald and Mark Fletcher will be “fine moving forward” and should be back in their starting spots against Pitt on Saturday.
The news comes after both players were banged up in the Florida State game, but Cristobal said on the Joe Rose Radio Show that they pushed through because of what was at stake.
“A lot of those guys got banged up, but they know this is a legacy game, right? I mean, this is bragging rights for the year and really for the rest of your life, and found a way to get back in there and play Hurricane football,” Cristobal said on the Joe Rose Radio Show.
Fitzgerald’s night took a wild turn early. He was hurt on Miami’s first defensive snap, came back, and then was injured again later in the first half.
At one point, there were reports he would not return. Instead, when Florida State had its final play in the second overtime, the former Freshman All-American was back on the field and picked off a Hail Mary to seal the game.
Afterward, Fitzgerald explained the decision to re-enter the game with Cristobal’s green light.
“Coach Cristobal always says, 'if you're injured you can't go, but if you're hurt, you're gonna go,' so I told him I was good to go, and he trusted me to go back into the game," he said in his postgame comments.
Cristobal also addressed Fletcher’s status after the running back left with enough concern to raise questions about his availability. The bigger picture, though, is that Miami has been working through a long stretch of injury trouble, and Cristobal has kept the program focused on the same answer: next man up.
That approach showed up again against the Seminoles. Fletcher had a couple of solid runs and scored in the first half, but the second half belonged to Javian Mallory. After a 108-yard, two-touchdown performance, Mallory may be pushing his way into a bigger role.
“He's finally healthy again,” Cristobal said of Mallory. “He's going to be a big factor.”
Jordan Lyle also gave Miami a little more to work with, putting up a season-high 42 yards on nine carries. If that carries over, the Hurricanes could move back toward a three-back rotation and find more rhythm on the ground.
The secondary is also getting closer to full strength. Xavier Lucas is back in his regular role, though the results were uneven, especially when he was matched up one-on-one with Duce Robinson. Miami was forced into some risky coverages because of injuries and the disqualification of Zecharian Poyser, and Corey Hetherman paid for it at times by leaving the corners isolated.
Even so, Cristobal said there may still be another piece on the way later in the year. He mentioned JaBoree Antonie and suggested a return is possible down the line.
“He's still going to be out for a significant amount of time. We will see more towards the end of this year,” he said.
For a team that has spent much of the season patching holes on the fly, the timing matters. The Hurricanes are finally getting veterans back into the mix, and that gives them more depth than they’ve had all year.
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Samson Okunlola and Matt McCoy had a difficult time sorting out those looks, and coach Mario Cristobal pointed to Florida States twisting maneuvers as the source of some of the breakdowns. Center Ryan Rodriguez said the answer has to come from sharper recognition and better technique, because if Miami keeps leaving that kind of pressure on its quarterback, other defenses will notice the film and come after the same weak spots. [Read more 🡒]