Miami’s offensive line left Saturday night with more questions than answers, but also with something it badly needed: movement.
In a 52-3 rout of Central Michigan, the Hurricanes didn’t exactly get a championship test up front. What they did get was a clear sign that Mario Cristobal and Alex Mirabal are still searching for the right mix, and willing to shuffle pieces to find it.
The night opened rough. Miami punted on its first series, took a sack, and picked up a couple of pre-snap penalties.
For a brief stretch, the Hurricanes were actually trailing 3-0, their first deficit of the season. Cristobal pointed directly at the mess after the game.
“We did have some holding calls tonight, and a couple of them down the field, which we got to clean that up,” Mario Cristobal said postgame.
“You know, we got to do a better job coaching it. We've got to do a better job running our feet through contact, keeping our hands inside, and being, again, less guilty of penalties.”
After that, Miami settled in and ripped off eight straight scoring drives. Darian Mensah finished 23-of-27 for 338 yards and three passing touchdowns, along with a rushing score, and he credited the protection for helping him have that kind of night.
The bigger story was who was blocking in front of him.
Miami opened with the same five it had used for the first three weeks: Samson Okunlola at left tackle, SJ Alofaituli at left guard, Ryan Rodriguez at center, Max Buchanan at right guard, and Matthew McCoy at right tackle. But by the second drive, true freshman Ben Congdon had replaced Alofaituli at left guard, and the tone changed fast. The run game looked more physical, the offense moved the ball, and Miami scored.
From there, Congdon and Alofaituli traded series, but Congdon ended up with 46 snaps, all at left guard, and turned in his best game of the season. He had struggled against Stanford and FAMU so badly that he didn’t even play against Wake Forest. This time, the effort was different, the tape was better, and the freshman may have played his way into the starting job.
Alofaituli’s night also mattered. He played 41 snaps, with 26 at left guard and 15 at center once the backups entered. That’s a notable change, especially with him taking reps at center, and it came after a start to the season that had already raised eyebrows.
Jamal Meriweather got his chance too. The Georgia transfer logged 28 snaps, including 17 at right guard and 10 at right tackle, and he ended up with the game’s most memorable touchdown moment by falling on Jordan Lyle’s goal-line fumble. Cristobal said the staff liked what it saw from the reshuffled group.
“Ben and Jamal both tonight got reps with the ones. They were alternating every other series,” he said. “I thought S.J., Max, Ben, and Jamal, at least out there just seeing it with the naked eye, it was a lot of- created a lot of movement up front, created some vertical push.”
That leaves the coaching staff with real decisions to make heading into Clemson. Buchanan has had the right guard spot to himself, and he played well Saturday, but Meriweather’s first action at right guard this season gives that position some life. He had only worked at left tackle in the first two games before this shift, and he looked better than he has all year.
McCoy’s night was the ugliest of the bunch. The most experienced returning starter, and the player who moved from left guard to right tackle this offseason, was flagged for two false starts and a hold in the first half. He has earned the staff’s trust, so this may wind up as a one-game blip, but it also means right tackle is no longer a spot Miami can just ignore.
There’s still a bigger test ahead. Pass protection can look tidy when Mensah is hitting 85 percent of his throws against a MAC defense, but that picture changes fast on the road against a Power Conference edge group.
One more name to watch is Jackson Cantwell. The highly touted true freshman entered Miami with plenty of hype, and Cristobal and Mirabal continue to work through how best to develop him. Against Central Michigan, Cantwell played 16 snaps and posted an 83.9 PFF grade, including a 78.1 pass-blocking grade and an 81.2 run-blocking grade.
Cristobal’s usual postgame message is that there’s still work to do. In this case, that wasn’t just routine coach-speak. Miami’s line is still being built, still being sorted out, and still being tested for the right combination.
The Hurricanes can pile up points when Mensah and the receivers are rolling. The offensive line is what decides whether that keeps working when the other team can fight back.
Saturday didn’t prove the rebuild is finished. It showed Miami is finally using the players it brought in to keep pushing it forward.
Clemson should tell the next part of the story.
In Other News...
Clemson Just Got A Tougher Miami Test Than Expected
Miami got a welcome update heading into its matchup with Clemson, with coach Mario Cristobal saying running back Mark Fletcher Jr. and defensive tackle Ahmad Moten Sr. are expected to be available. Both had been held out of the previous game after picking up minor injuries against Wake Forest, leaving the Hurricanes a little thinner than usual in two important spots.
Now, those absences appear to be short-lived, and that matters in a game where Miami will want as much stability as possible on both sides of the ball. Fletcher gives the Hurricanes another option in the backfield, while Motens presence up front helps a defense that will be tested in a big way, even as Cristobal says both players are healthy and ready to go. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Suddenly Has A Real RB2 Debate Before Clemson
Chris Wheatley-Humphrey gave Miami something to think about in the win over Central Michigan, turning 11 carries into more than 100 yards and a touchdown while Mark Fletcher Jr. was held out to get ready for Clemson. The timing matters because the Hurricanes have been searching for clarity behind their feature back, and the latest outing only sharpened the conversation. When a reserve back puts together that kind of performance, it changes how a depth chart looks heading into a much bigger stage.
Mario Cristobal said Fletcher was rested with Clemson in mind, and Miami appears headed toward a committee approach for the RB2 role anyway. Wheatley-Humphrey, Girard Pringle and Jordan Lyle are all in the mix, which gives the Hurricanes options but also leaves the pecking order unsettled. Against a defense like Clemsons, the question is not just who gets the next carry, but who can earn the staffs trust when the game gets tight. [Read more 🡒]
Cristobal Put Miamis Clemson Focus On Two Issues After Blowout Win
After Miamis 52-3 rout of Central Michigan, the focus inside the program quickly shifted from the lopsided final to the details that matter next. The Hurricanes piled up 572 yards and forced three turnovers, with Darian Mensah sharp through the air and Malachi Toney continuing to give the offense a big-play presence, but head coach Mario Cristobal spent his media time zeroing in on how the game was managed and how the roster was rotated.
Clemson is the real measuring stick ahead, and Cristobals message after the win centered on two issues that will shape how prepared Miami looks when that one arrives. The matchup is already looming as a major test for a team that handled Central Michigan with ease, and the attention now is on whether the Canes can keep the same edge while tightening the pieces that matter most in a bigger game. [Read more 🡒]