No. 7 Miami walks into its next stretch with a familiar problem staring it in the face: the Hurricanes have talent, but they need bodies in the secondary right now.
That’s the central issue after Week 1 of an already lively college football season. Miami opened at 1-0, 1-0 in the ACC, and the offense still looks like one of the best in the country. The defense, though, is dealing with the kind of early-season damage that can force a staff to reshuffle on the fly.
Head coach Mario Cristobal said star corner OJ Frederique Jr. will "be out for quite a while," though he has not been ruled out for the season. That leaves Miami with at least a little hope that Frederique Jr. could return later if the Hurricanes are still making a deep College Football Playoff push.
For now, though, the focus is much more immediate. Miami hosts Florida A&M on Thursday in its home season opener, and the game has the feel of a test drive for the next wave of defensive backs. The Hurricanes are expecting junior Dylan Day back either this week or next, but Frederique Jr. and Ja'Boree Antoine will not be available.
That means the workload shifts to Damari Brown, Ethan O'Connor and Xavier Lucas on the outside, with Zechariah Poyser and Omar Thornton working inside. Beyond that, Miami is looking for answers.
"Yeah, obviously OJ is a very talented player," Defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said. "For us, I think we have a lot of really talented players, and, we'll change things up.
Different things coverage-wise, different things in different areas, but, I think we're going to continue to attack offensively the way we do. So I think we have a lot of really talented players that will step up.
The opportunity has already started to open up for the younger group. Freshmen Camdin Portis and JJ Dunnigan logged meaningful snaps against Stanford, and both should get more chances over the next two weeks against Florida A&M and then Wake Forest in another important conference game.
That kind of depth is where Miami’s recruiting starts to matter. Dunnigan has been turning heads since arriving on campus, and Portis is still climbing, but now he’s in line for more playing time. If he can match the promise tied to the Hurricanes name, the back end has a chance to hold together.
It also puts Hetherman in the spotlight. He’s still on the younger side for a defensive coordinator, but with a contract extension already in hand, he’s the kind of coach who can draw attention for a head coaching job if he keeps showing he can adapt and keep Miami moving.
In Other News...
Miami Secondary Suddenly Faces A Bigger Xavier Lucas Concern
Miamis secondary had already been leaning on youth, and the home opener only sharpened that reality. Xavier Lucas, who started in Week 1, did not play against Florida A&M, and the program offered no injury details for the absence. With the Hurricanes dealing with multiple injuries and absences in the back end, underclassmen like Bryce Fitzgerald and freshman JJ Dunnigan have been pushed into bigger roles sooner than planned.
Mario Cristobal has pointed to the groups versatility as a way to absorb those hits, but the situation also underscores how quickly depth can be tested in the secondary. Miami has spent plenty of time talking about recruiting and development as the foundation for surviving stretches like this, and Lucas status adds another layer of concern for a defense already asking younger players to hold more responsibility. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Fans Still Havent Forgotten The One Florida A&M Shocker
Before Florida A&M and Miami met again in the late 2000s, the series had already built up a long memory for Hurricanes fans, and most of it was not especially kind to the underdog. The two programs first tangled in 1979 and then again over the years in matchups that usually followed the same familiar script: Miami controlling the game, leaning on its talent and depth, and coming away with another win. By the time the teams played through the 2009 meeting, the Hurricanes had turned the series into one of those old nonconference histories that can be retold almost by habit.
Still, the reason this one lingers is that not every chapter fit the pattern, and Miami followers have never entirely let go of the one result that broke through the routine. Even with the Hurricanes holding the clear edge across the series, the trip through those games from 1979 to 2009 shows why certain opponents stick in the memory longer than the record alone would suggest. For Miami, the larger story is dominance, but for fans, it is the shock that kept one Florida A&M afternoon from blending into the rest. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Secondary Injuries Just Forced A Defensive Shuffle Fans Need To Watch
Miami was forced to improvise in the secondary against Florida A&M, and the adjustment offered a clear look at how thin the Hurricanes have become at cornerback. Bryce Fitzgerald slid over from safety to cornerback, while true freshman JJ Dunnigan was pressed into a starting role at safety, a reminder that this defense is already having to lean on flexibility early in the season.
The injury list at cornerback is what created the shuffle in the first place, with OJ Frederique, Xavier Lucas and Ja'Boree Antoine all sidelined. Some of those players are expected back later in the season, but for now Miami has to keep finding workable combinations on the back end, and the way it handles that stretch will be worth monitoring once the schedule gets heavier. [Read more 🡒]