The first ACC availability report for Friday’s game at Wake Forest gives No. 5 Miami a short list of absences, and all four names were already expected to be on it.
The Hurricanes, 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the ACC, ruled out cornerbacks OJ Frederique Jr. and Xavier Lucas, defensive back Ja'Boree Antoine and tight end Luka Gilbert.
Frederique’s absence traces back to the second snap of the Stanford opener, when he made an open-field tackle, suffered a significant left shoulder injury and did not return. Mario Cristobal said the St. Thomas Aquinas product will be out for quite a while.
Lucas played 39 snaps at Stanford, finishing with two tackles and two pass breakups, but Cristobal said he is likely to miss about a month.
Antoine has not played this season after being ruled out before the Stanford game. Cristobal said he suffered an injury that is expected to keep him out until the latter part of the year.
Gilbert is out for the season after an injury sustained before fall camp.
There was at least one encouraging note for Miami on the report: defensive back Dylan Day had no designation after missing the first two games.
Wake Forest, meanwhile, listed quarterback Gio Lopez as probable, and he is expected to start Friday after helping the Demon Deacons edge Purdue 38-36 in double overtime. Lopez finished that game 16 of 27 for 225 yards and a touchdown, and he also ran for 59 yards and two scores. Through two games, he has thrown for 575 yards with four touchdown passes and no interceptions.
In Other News...
Dolphins Draft Outlook Got Real Ugly After Just One Game
A rough opening weekend has already pushed the Dolphins into an unexpected spot in the early draft conversation. After their loss to the Raiders, ESPNs Football Power Index now gives Miami the highest chance of landing a top-10 pick in next springs draft, a jarring development for a team that entered the season with much different expectations. The projections are bleak enough to make the conversation feel less like a slow-burn concern and more like an immediate reality check.
ESPNs simulations have Miami with a 38% shot at the No. 1 overall pick and an average draft position of 2.9, while the betting market is essentially treating this as a team in danger of finishing with only a handful of wins. The road ahead does little to ease the pressure, with matchups coming against the 49ers, Chiefs, Vikings and Bengals. For a club that still has plenty of football left, the bigger question now is whether the season can stabilize before the draft picture gets even uglier. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Run Defense Is Becoming A Bigger Problem Than Fans Expected
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Defensive coordinator Mike Hafley pointed to early tentative play and a few misalignments, though he did say the group settled in better after halftime. Even with that adjustment, Miami sits 23rd against the run, and the next stretch will go a long way in showing whether this was a bad afternoon or the start of a more stubborn problem. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Face A Week 2 Test They Cant Keep Avoiding
The Dolphins came out of Week 1 looking like a team still trying to find its offensive balance. Against the Raiders, Miami ran the ball only 18 times and never really settled into the kind of rhythm that has made this offense dangerous when it is at its best. For a team built around speed and spacing, the ground game still matters, and getting De'Von Achane going behind a sturdier interior front feels like a necessary step rather than a luxury.
Week 2 offers a clearer chance to clean that up, with San Francisco's interior defensive line coming in banged up and not nearly as imposing as it usually is. Miami's next test is not just about whether the Dolphins can create more efficient rushing lanes, but whether the offensive line can help them avoid another one-dimensional afternoon. The Niners still have pass rushers who can tilt a game, but the more immediate question for Miami is whether this is the week the run game finally gets treated like a real part of the plan. [Read more 🡒]