Miami’s quarterback future already looks crowded, and Luke Nickel made sure of that with one blistering half against Florida A&M.
The backup stepped in for starter Darian Mensah and was nearly flawless, going 8 for 8 for 144 yards and three touchdowns in the second half. He also tacked on a 13-yard run. Pro Football Focus rewarded the outing with a 93.6 grade, the highest on Miami’s offense.
Through two games, Nickel is 11 of 13 for 171 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. That interception came in limited work at Stanford.
The performance has some around the program wondering what the quarterback picture will look like next spring, especially with Israel Abrams on the way. The five-star Montini Catholic quarterback committed to Miami on April 3 and is the centerpiece of the 2027 class.
Abrams is a dual-threat who just put together a massive night of his own Friday, accounting for all seven of Montini’s touchdowns in a 47-42 win at Nazareth. He passed for 408 yards and four scores and ran for three more.
The expectation is that Abrams will push for the job once he arrives in Miami.
Dereon Coleman is also part of the mix. The true freshman from Orlando Jones got his first extended series against Florida A&M and completed 5 of 6 passes for 30 yards.
Coleman was a four-star recruit and an Elite 11 finalist who signed with Miami over Oklahoma, Texas A&M and others. He sits behind Mensah and Nickel right now, but the staff remains high on him.
After years of quarterback transfers, Miami appears to have real long-term options in place. With another offseason ahead, the battle could include Nickel, Coleman and Abrams - and one of them may eventually head to the transfer portal.
In Other News...
Miami Secondary Suddenly Faces A Bigger Question Before Wake Forest
The early-season picture in Miamis secondary has already changed fast, and not by choice. Injuries to key cornerbacks OJ Frederique, Xavier Lucas and Ja'Boree Antone have forced defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman to reshuffle both personnel and coverage, with safety Bryce Fitzgerald moving to corner and the Hurricanes leaning more heavily on Cover-2 looks as they try to steady the back end.
For a defense still integrating new pieces, the timing matters because the next stretch will keep testing how well those adjustments hold up. Miami is now watching not just who is available, but how the group functions with a different structure in place, and the secondarys response before Wake Forest could say a lot about how much flexibility this unit really has. [Read more 🡒]
Herbstreit Just Framed Clemsons Week 1 Reality In A Brutal Way
After the opening week of the season, Kirk Herbstreits early national read on the sport gave Miami a prominent spot in the conversation, placing the Hurricanes alongside Indiana and LSU in his top three teams. For Miami, the recognition came on the strength of a convincing showing against Stanford, with the new look offense drawing attention as Darian Mensah settled in at quarterback after coming over from Duke.
Herbstreits list also reflected how quickly the playoff picture can start to take shape, with Indiana earning praise for its coaching continuity and Josh Hoovers four touchdown passes, and LSU standing out after a dominant opener with Sam Leavitt at quarterback and Charlie Weis Jr. running the offense. Notre Dame also got a mention as a team to watch, but the bigger takeaway for Miami was simple: one sharp debut was enough to push the Hurricanes into an elite early-season tier. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Just Got An Encouraging Glimpse Of Its Backup QB Future
Luke Nickel got a chance to show Miami what the next layer of its quarterback room could look like, and he made the most of it against an FCS opponent. The backup for the Hurricanes was perfect through the air, completing all eight of his passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns while also adding 13 rushing yards. Pro Football Focus even tagged him as the highest-graded offensive player on the field, a notable sign for a young quarterback who has already seen the field in Miamis Week 1 win over Stanford.
For a program that always has to think about depth behind center, Nickels performance offered more than a clean stat line. A four-star recruit out of Milton High School in Georgia, he is still early in his Miami career, but outings like this are the kind that can tighten the race for future snaps and give the Hurricanes a more comfortable picture of what they have behind the starter. The larger question now is how quickly that confidence translates into a bigger role when the competition stiffens. [Read more 🡒]