As Miami awaits its playoff fate, these players defined the Hurricanes’ season
The Miami Hurricanes will know soon enough if they are a College Football Playoff team.
The 12-team playoff field will be announced starting at noon Sunday, with the 12-person selection committee unveiling its final rankings that determine which teams advance at that time. The five highest-ranked conference champions and the next seven highest-ranked teams will comprise the dozen schools in the bracket, which will culminate in the national championship game Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium.
Whether Miami makes it or not — the Hurricanes were just on the outside looking in entering conference championship weekend after going 10-2 in the regular season — UM can point to a slew of key players that were pivotal in them being in this position.
Here’s a look at those players and their contributions this season.
Quarterback Carson Beck
The Hurricanes are where they are — for better or worse — because of Beck.
The sixth-year senior transferred to Miami looking for a reset after a rough final season at Georgia, one in which he threw 12 interceptions and sustained a UCL tear in his right elbow that required reconstruction surgery. He was tasked with following up Cam Ward, who had just reset Miami’s record book and led the top-rated offense in the country but couldn’t single-handedly carry UM to the playoffs.
Beck’s overall numbers in the regular season were solid — 74.7% completion rate (on pace to shatter UM’s single season record) for 3,072 yards and 25 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. He finished on a stellar note, completing 79.4% of his passes (89 for 112) for 1,125 yards and 11 touchdowns with one interception over Miami’s four-game win streak to end the season.
But he carries a heavy share of the blame for the Hurricanes’ two losses to Louisville and SMU in a three-week stretch that put them on the playoff bubble. Beck threw six interceptions in those games — four against Louisville, two against SMU — including picks on each of Miami’s final drives.
Wide receiver Malachi Toney
The freshman phenom was a revelation for the Hurricanes. Toney reclassified to enroll at Miami early and instantly became the offense’s biggest threat.
Through the regular season, Toney caught 84 passes for 970 yards and seven touchdowns while also throwing two touchdown passes and running for another. He has set or tied all of the school’s freshman receiving records and is one catch shy of tying Xavier Restrepo’s overall school record for most catches in a season.
The Francis Mauigoa-led offensive line
Winning in the trenches is mandatory for Mario Cristobal-led teams, and Miami’s offensive line was one of the best in the country.
Anchored by right tackle Francis Mauigoa, who has a case to be an All-American this season and will most likely be a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Miami had the country’s second-highest pass blocking grade (88.2) according to Pro Football Focus and was tied for the ninth-highest run blocking grade (87.6). Beck was pressured on just 57 of 387 dropbacks (14.7%) and sacked eight times. UM also allowed just 42 total tackles for loss, tied for the sixth-fewest nationally.
Edge rushers Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor
The Hurricanes waited three seasons to finally see the one-two punch of Bain and Mesidor at full strength. Mesidor was injured most of Bain’s freshman season in 2023 and Bain wasn’t 100% last season after sustaining an injury on the first drive of Miami’s season-opener at Florida.
This year, the duo proved to be one of the best in college football. They combined for 101 quarterback pressures, 11.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss. Mesidor also forced four fumbles.
Their efforts set the stage for so much that went right in the first year under new defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman.
The transfer portal additions to the secondary
The secondary was one of Miami’s biggest weaknesses last season, especially as injuries took a hit on the group’s limited depth.
So Cristobal and Co. attacked the transfer portal, adding multiple players who proved to be integral to the Hurricanes’ success.
The duo of Xavier Lucas and Ethan O’Connor were part of a four-person rotation at outside cornerback with OJ Frederique (who didn’t play the final five games due to injury) and Damari Brown. Keionte Scott was arguably college football’s top nickel cornerback before a lower-body injury sidelined him down the stretch. And Jakobe Thomas and Zechariah Poyser held down Miami’s starting safety spots.
Kicker Carter Davis
Kickers don’t get much love, but Davis stepped into what could have been a tough position. He was replacing the Hurricanes’ all-time best kicker in Andres Borregales and didn’t have the pedigree Borregales had.
The FAU transfer more than held his own and came up clutch throughout the season. Davis connected on 14 of his 16 field goal attempts, including going 6 for 8 from at least 40 yards out. The highlight was his 47-yard go-ahead make in the final minutes of Miami’s season-opening win over Notre Dame.
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