Miami’s latest weekly award winner is a freshman who keeps making his case the hard way - by running through people.
Javian Mallory picked up the first honor of his college career after going off for 142 yards and two touchdowns in Miami’s 77-7 win over Florida A&M, earning ACC Freshman of the Week recognition. It was the kind of performance that fit right in with a No. 5 team that has already stacked up plenty of attention, with Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney drawing Heisman buzz and the roster full of young talent making noise.
Mallory’s rise also keeps a recent Miami trend rolling. The Hurricanes have now had Freshman All-Americans in three straight seasons, a sign of how much young talent has been flowing through the program. Mallory looks like another name who could be in that conversation by season’s end.
Mario Cristobal didn’t hide how much he liked what he saw from the freshman against the Rattlers, pointing back to the traits Miami noticed long before he arrived on campus.
"We saw it in high school from him," Cristobal said during his Monday press conference. "I mean, they ran every scheme.
They do a great job out there at West Boca. They run power, counter, inside zone, ISO, might split zone, wide zone.
They run it all. And he was also heavily involved in protection, which is a must, right, as a running back here.
"There was never any flinch in his game. He's he's very intelligent and he is very invested.
Like it means a lot to him, and he has a mature mentality. So I think it showed since the day he got here.
I think when we were running the scout teams during the postseason, he had like a very minor soft tissue injury, but before that, I think his first carry, like he sent a message with how downhill, how physical, how explosive he was. So we saw that pretty early.
We saw it in high school, but we saw it early in the practices."
Miami now turns to Wake Forest for a Friday night game on Sept. 20, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Mallory’s role could matter even more there, especially with injuries starting to mount. Girard Pringle was hobbled against Florida A&M, and Jordan Lyle’s status remains unavailable.
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For the Hurricanes, this is the kind of game that can sharpen the conversation around where they stand and how far they have to go. Road games always bring a different level of scrutiny, and with standings and perception both still in flux, Miami has a chance to make an early statement while the season is still young and the margin for error is thin. [Read more 🡒]