Malachi Toney’s line against Clemson looked ordinary by his standards: five catches, 40 yards. But the number that mattered more was what happened around those catches, because the Tigers clearly made life harder on the Miami Hurricanes star all night in Coral Gables, Fla.
Clemson leaned on Ashton Hampton for much of the game, and the matchup produced a limited stat line for Toney by his usual standard. Hampton and the Tigers disrupted several throws between Toney and Darian Mensah, and Clemson mixed in different coverages to keep the receiver from taking over.
“They played some man,” Cristobal said about what Clemson did to limit Toney. “They played some zone.
I thought Malachi [Toney] played his butt off. Did really well.
They defended some passes. A couple of them, were I know one was behind him.
Another time, I think he drew at least two flags.
“There’s a couple, a chunk plays right there. Had the seam route as well, where he split them for a touchdown.
They got called back. So his production continues to be high, and we feel that he’s a guy.
No matter what coverages are thrown at us, he’s still going to find a way to get open, and he’s going to keep making plays.”
Toney could have had an even bigger night if not for an illegal shift call late in the second quarter that wiped out a touchdown. That sequence denied him what might have been six catches and more than 100 yards.
Even with the quiet finish, there’s a bigger issue lingering here: Toney doesn’t look quite right. His speed and burst have been affected, and over the past few weeks he hasn’t shown the same twitch and quickness he flashed in the first game against Stanford.
Still, the production keeps piling up. Toney now has 39 receptions for 609 yards and six touchdowns, and he has not dropped a pass in his college career.
That’s what makes him such a problem for defenses. Even while banged up, he remains one of the country’s best players and forces teams to account for him on every snap. He also brings value as the best blocking receiver in the country, with his presence helping Miami in plenty of ways that don’t show up in the box score.
The bye week arrived at a good time for the Hurricanes, who are dealing with several players nursing injuries and lingering issues. Toney is among them, but Miami is still expecting another big performance when the Canes return against Florida State.
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