Miami got a useful night for its younger players, and Luke Nickel made the most of his turn.
With Florida A&M on the other sideline, the back-up quarterback stepped in and put together a sharp showing in the Hurricanes’ 45-6 win. Nickel finished 8-for-8 for 171 yards and three touchdowns, and he also used his legs once, scrambling for 13 yards and a first down.
He distributed the ball to multiple targets, hitting Vance Spafford, Dre Jacobs, and Somourian Wingo for scores. The biggest play in the bunch was a 47-yard touchdown connection with Wingo.
According to Pro Football Focus, Nickel was the highest-graded offensive player on the field at 93.6.
This wasn’t his first action of the season, either. Nickel also played in Miami’s Week 1 win over Stanford, when he completed three of five passes for 27 yards.
The performance offered another look at a quarterback who spent last season learning behind former Miami signal-caller Carson Beck, now the backup for the Arizona Cardinals. Nickel arrived from Milton High School in Georgia, where he helped the Eagles to a 13-2 record and a Georgia AAAAAAA state championship.
He was rated a four-star prospect in the 247Sports Composite Recruiting Rankings. As a senior at Milton, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound quarterback completed 277 of 419 passes for 3,914 yards and 39 touchdowns.
Florida A&M’s defense isn’t what Miami will see in the ACC, but the night still served its purpose: live reps for underclassmen, and a clean glimpse of what Nickel can do when the Hurricanes open the door.
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Israel Abrams is also on the way, and the highly rated recruit is expected to jump into the competition once he enrolls. Add in true freshman Dereon Coleman, who has seen limited playing time but is still in the mix, and Miami suddenly has a quarterback battle that feels more layered than planned, with more than one player making a case for the job. [Read more 🡒]