Mario Cristobal got the Miami Hurricanes a useful boost coming out of the bye week, and it came on the side of the ball where the No. 3 team in the country can least afford to be shorthanded right now.
Cristobal said Ezekiel Marcelin Jr., Marquise Lightfoot, Xavier Lucas, and Damari Brown are “all the way back,” adding, “The guys that were a little bit dinged up, they feel and look like they’re 100 percent.”
That matters for a defense that already owns the best scoring and rushing marks in the Football Bowl Subdivision and now heads into Saturday’s in-state showdown with Florida State under the lights. Lightfoot exited early in the first half of Miami’s 41-13 win over Clemson at Death Valley (Memorial Stadium), but his early-season production has still been loud: 19 total tackles, 11 solo, eight assists, 5.5 tackles for loss, and a team-high five sacks.
Lucas has been out since Miami’s 45-6 season-opening win over Stanford on Sept. 4, and his absence, along with Romanas “OJ” Frederique Jr.’s, forced the Hurricanes to reshuffle the secondary. That’s part of what pushed rising star Bryce Fitzgerald from safety to cornerback. Getting Lucas and Brown back should help restore some needed depth in the back end.
The update wasn’t nearly as encouraging on the offensive line. Starting right guard Max Buchanan underwent surgery after suffering a left knee injury against Clemson, even though he returned and finished that game. Buchanan has started all five games at right guard on Miami’s rebuilt front, and Cristobal said he hopes to have him back later in the season, though he gave no timetable.
Asked who would step in at right guard, Cristobal didn’t offer a name.
“There are a lot of players that are continuing to compete,” Cristobal added. “I’m not going to label anyone this or that.”
Seuseu “SJ” Alofaituli took over at right guard once Buchanan went down against Clemson, though his 6-foot-2, 298-pound frame may be a concern there. Jamal Meriweather also figures into the mix; he brings experience at every spot on the line except center from three seasons at Georgia.
There’s also a path for Jackson Cantwell to push his way into the picture. The former elite five-star recruit has played only 78 offensive snaps through Miami’s first five games.
Ben Congdon started at left guard against Clemson and appears to have a strong chance to keep that job.
In Other News...
Miami Defense Gets Timely Boost Before FSU With Bigger Questions Ahead
Miamis defense got a welcome lift this week, with Mario Cristobal confirming on the Joe Rose show that Xavier Lucas, Marquise Lightfoot, Ezekiel Marcelin Jr. and Damari Brown are all returning to play. With Florida State on deck, the timing matters for a unit that has spent the bye week trying to get healthier and stabilize its rotation after dealing with a run of injury setbacks.
Some of the players who were hurt before the break are trending in the right direction, while Max Buchanan and JaBoree Antoine remain sidelined. Even with reinforcements coming back, Miami still has to sort out how the depth chart holds up, though the staff has already identified backups who stepped in and helped keep things afloat when the injuries piled up. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Basketball Just Got An Early National Reality Check
KenPoms preseason numbers are in, and they give Miami a pretty solid national starting point after last seasons NCAA tournament exit. The Hurricanes come in at No. 22 overall, with an offense rated 118.4 and a defense sitting at 94.9, a profile that suggests a team with enough balance to hang around the top 25 if it settles in quickly.
The first real test arrives right away on Nov. 2, when Miami opens against Florida, the No. 2 team in KenPoms preseason rankings. It is the kind of early measuring-stick game that can tell a staff plenty about where the Hurricanes stand before the long grind of ACC play really begins. [Read more 🡒]
Miamis FSU Ticket Scramble Put One New Problem Front And Center
The scramble for free student tickets to Miamis rivalry game against Florida State turned into a familiar kind of college-football chaos as the Hurricanes opened access through a new Ticketmaster system. Students ran into long virtual lines and website issues, even though the school had set up the process with the promise of making distribution smoother and more orderly than the old way.
By later in the day, tickets were still available, which took some of the immediate heat off the rush but did little to quiet the questions around the partnership Miami announced in July. The new setup was supposed to streamline the process, but the opening act instead gave students another reminder that a better ticketing experience is still a work in progress. [Read more 🡒]