Miami Hurricanes land two players on preseason All-ACC team. Here’s who made it
The Miami Hurricanes had two players named to the preseason All-ACC team, as voted on by media during the conference’s football kickoff in Charlotte last week and announced by the league on Thursday.
The duo: Right tackle Francis Mauigoa and defensive end Rueben Bain Jr.
Miami is one of seven teams in the 17-team ACC to have multiple players selected to the preseason team. Clemson led the way with a conference-high 11 selections, including the preseason player of the year in quarterback Cade Klubnik. Pittsburgh had three players named to the 27-player preseason team, while Miami, Duke, Georgia Tech and SMU each had two. Florida State, N.C. State and Syracuse each had one player selected to round out the team.
Mauigoa and Bain, both juniors, are cornerstones in the trenches for the Hurricanes.
Mauigoa has started all 26 games in his UM career at right tackle. He was a freshman All-American in 2023 and was All-ACC second team in 2024 as a sophomore. The right tackle has been named a preseason All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation (first team), Athlon (first team), Lindy’s Sports (second team) and Phil Steele (third team).
According to Pro Football Focus, Mauigoa was the only tackle at the Football Bowl Subdivision level last season with two or fewer knockdowns allowed on 500-plus pass-blocking snaps. He made all-around strides in his game, allowing just one sack last year compared to five as a freshman and allowing fewer quarterback pressures (19 in 2024 compared to 23 in 2023). Mauigoa also committed just five penalties in 2024 compared to nine his freshman season.
As for Bain, the edge rusher was the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2023 after logging 12.5 tackles for loss and seven-and-a-half sacks. He played through injury as a sophomore, but still managed 23 tackles, five-and-a-half tackles for loss and three-and-a-half sacks in nine games.
Additionally, quarterback Carson Beck was one of five players to receive multiple votes for preseason player of the year, being selected on four ballots. Clemson’s Klubnik was the runaway winner, getting 146 of 183 votes. Georgia Tech’s Haynes King (nine), SMU’s Kevin Jennings (five) and Virginia Tech’s Kyron Drones (four) were the others to get multiple votes.
The Hurricanes were voted by the media to finish second in the ACC, as announced by the league on Wednesday. UM went 10-3 and 6-2 in conference action last season.
The full preseason All-ACC team is below, with the total number of votes received in parenthesis.
Offense
QB: Cade Klubnik, Clemson (148)
RB: Isaac Brown, Louisville (99); Jamal Haynes, Georgia Tech (85)
WR: Antonio Williams, Clemson (143); Bryant Wesco Jr., Clemson (66); Chris Bell, Louisville (51)
TE: Justin Joly, NC State (92)
AP: Desmond Reid, Pitt (73)
OT: Francis Mauigoa, Miami (99); Blake Miller, Clemson (99)
OG: Keylan Rutledge, Georgia Tech (93); OG: Walker Parks, Clemson (51)
C: Ryan Linthicum, Clemson (44) Defense
DE: T.J. Parker, Clemson (152); Rueben Bain Jr., Miami (92)
DT: Peter Woods, Clemson (142); Darrell Jackson Jr., Florida State (56)
LB: Kyle Louis, Pitt (98); Wade Woodaz, Clemson (77); Sammy Brown, Clemson (76)
CB: Avieon Terrell, Clemson (129); Chandler Rivers, Duke (106)
S: Isaiah Nwokobia, SMU (86); Terry Moore, Duke (81) Specialists
PK: Collin Rogers, SMU (67)
P: Jack Stonehouse, Syracuse (70)
SP: Desmond Reid, Pitt (68)
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