‘He’s that guy’: Hurricanes freshman Bryce Fitzgerald has risen to the occasion
Defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor was rattling off the list of key contributors from the Miami Hurricanes’ defense in their first-round College Football Playoff victory over the Texas A&M Aggies — there were a lot — until he finally got to Bryce Fitzgerald. It was at that point when edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. and nickel cornerback Keionte Scott, sitting alongside Mesidor, chimed in.
“Bryyyyyyce!” Bain Jr. and Scott shouted in unison.
A few minutes earlier, as Fitzgerald was being interviewed on the field by UM radio sideline reporter Josh Darrow, that linebacker Wesley Bissainthe voiced his opinion on Miami’s star freshman defensive back.
“He’s that dawg!” Bissainthe shouted.
And in a game filled with plenty of big moments, Fitzgerald came up with arguably the biggest at the most important time.
With Texas A&M at the Miami 5-yard line and 28 seconds left on the clock, Fitzgerald jumped Theo Melin Ohrstrom’s route and intercepted Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed in the end zone to seal Miami’s 10-3 win at Kyle Field.
It was Fitzgerald’s second interception of the game and sixth of the season, tied for the second-most nationally.
“I saw a formation that they normally don’t run, so I knew something was coming up,” Fitzgerald told MiamiHurricanes.com. “I told my linebacker, ‘Just stay right here. I’m going to play his outside shoulder,’ and as soon as he threw it, I just broke on it.”
Fitzgerald, who has not been made available to local media since a postgame session on Sept. 6 following Miami’s win over Bethune-Cookman, told Darrow postgame that he had dreamed of this moment playing out the night before the game.
Given how clutch Fitzgerald has been all season for the Hurricanes, him coming up when it mattered the most didn’t surprise anyone on the team.
“He’s a quick study,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “He’s never flinched. He spends every waking minute studying, but when the lights come on, some guys just kind of have ‘it.’ He’s that guy. He just knows what to do and how to do it.”
Fitzgerald, a former standout at Miami’s Christopher Columbus High, is just the 10th UM player over the past 50 years to have at least six interceptions in a season. The group he joins (starting with the most recent to do so) includes Kamren Kinchens (six in 2022), Artie Burns (six in 2015), Sean Taylor (10 in 2003), Ed Reed (nine in 2001 and eight in 2000), Roland Smith (six in 1989), Bennie Blades (10 in 1986), Fred Marion (six in 1981 and seven in 1980), Gene Coleman (nine in 1979) and Bryan Ferguson (seven in 1977).
Nationally, Fitzgerald is just the fifth true freshmen over the past 10 years with at least six interceptions, joining Purdue’s Dillon Thieneman in 2023, Notre Dame’s Benjamin Morrison in 2022, LSU’s Derek Stingley Jr. in 2019 and Syracuse’s Andre Cisco in 2018.
“He continues to have a way of finding the football,” Hurricanes defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said. “And I think the way that he competes, and the way he goes about practice and studying film and constantly improving, is why you see him every single week continue to take the next step and get better as he develops.”
That development, at least in-person with the Hurricanes, was delayed compared to his teammates. He was the only true freshman not with the team for spring practices so he spent the summer and fall playing catch up. Once he finally got to campus, Fitzgerald put in extra time memorizing the playbook, making sure he was as prepared as possible to make a push for playing time.
Fitzgerald began the season with limited reps, playing in select pass coverage packages. He capitalized in those moments, logging interceptions in three of his first five games (Bethune-Cookman, USF and Florida State).
Then, when Scott sustained a lower-body injury that sidelined him for Miami’s final three regular-season games, it was Fitzgerald who found his way into the starting lineup. The uptick in reps didn’t faze him.
Scott returned from his injury for the Texas A&M game and was stellar — a career-high 10 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble — but Fitzgerald got the start and still played 38 of Miami’s 75 defensive reps.
“It was a great situation for us as a team to get Bryce some reps and see him blossoming,” Scott said of Fitzgerald filling in for him. “He’s the type of guy that he has to be on the field. Coach Hetherman and [Hurricanes safeties coach Will] Harris are doing a good job finding ways to get him on because he’s explosive and can change the game.”
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