How Canes’ cornerback collection helped. And news, thoughts on eve of game
A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on the eve of Thursday’s UM-Mississippi national semifinal playoff game in Glendale, Arizona (7:30 p.m, ESPN).
▪ The Hurricanes, neither good enough nor deep enough in their defensive backfield last season, collected cornerbacks like Christmas ornaments last offseason.
It was a decision that served them well, and should serve them well again Thursday, with one cornerback coming off an injury and another in question because of an injury.
After being spotted on crutches after the Ohio State game, OJ Frederique has been cleared to play and will be available Thursday, UM said.
Damari Brown, who has been dealing with a foot injury, remains questionable.
Frederique, Ethan O’Connor, Xavier Lucas and slot cornerback Keionte Scott have given UM as solid a cornerback quartet as any team in the playoffs. Brown has played well when available.
UM’s depth has left only a limited role for freshman cornerback Ja’Boree Antoine and practically no defensive snaps for veterans Jadais Richard and Charles Brantley and freshman Chris Ewald. This season, Antoine has played the most defensive snaps of those four players (70).
Of their four portal pickups at cornerback, Miami hit the jackpot with Scott and made smart additions with O’Connor and Lucas. Brantley, who led the nation in passer rating against at Michigan State last season, was the one miss and he decided to return to Michigan State on Wednesday, per CBS.
Brantley logged just 31 defensive snaps this season and allowed both targets in his coverage area to be caught for 12 yards.
When Frederique was injured late in the third quarter against Ohio State, Antoine got the nod over Brantley, Ewald or Richard, a cornerback/safety who’s back after a major November 2024 knee injury. Antoine allowed a 14-yard touchdown on his one target.
Defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said Antoine has his “best week of practice” leading up to the Ohio State game. “His technique, how he wins 1-on-1s, his awareness has gotten better every single week.”
O’Connor, the Washington State transfer, has had a very solid season, allowing an 88.4 passer rating in his coverage area (17 for 31 for 222 yards, a 13.1 average) and one touchdown.
“O’Connor has consistently gotten better every week,” Hetherman said. “It shows in practice. He’s becoming a better player in practice every day. Early in the year, there were some plays in practice he was beat on a 1-on-1. Now he’s competing and making those plays, especially in the minute drill right before the half [against Ohio State], when he makes a really good play. His game is getting better every week.”
O’Connor, who was rated the 10th-best cornerback in the portal by 247 last winter, did a good job defending likely first-round pick Carnell Tate against Ohio State and overall permitted just three of six targets against him to be caught, for 29 yards.
Lucas, the Wisconsin transfer, has allowed just a 65.9 passer rating in his coverage area this season (27 for 49, 311 yards, 11.5 per catch, one interception, no touchdowns).
Scott has been a godsend; his pick six that gave UM a 14-0 lead against Ohio State also lowered his passer rating against to 65.7.
Of the 42 players who have taken defensive snaps for Miami this season, Pro Football Focus ranks five corners in the top 17 – Scott (third), Brown (ninth), O’Connor (12th), Lucas (14th) and seldom-used Brantley (17th).
Frederique is just 34th, with a bloated 101.9 passer rating against him, but two receivers — Louisville’s Chris Bell and all-world Jeremiah Smith — are responsible for more than half of the 299 passing yards against Frederique this season. He was otherwise very good.
▪ Receiver Malachi Toney, safety Bryce Fitzgerald and running back Gerard Pringle Jr. aren’t the only freshman Canes contributing during this playoff run.
Four others have been getting modest playing time: Antoine (four snaps against OSU), edge player Herbert Scroggins (one defensive snap vs. FSU), receiver Joshua Moore (eight offensive snaps vs. Buckeyes) and center SJ Alofaituli (three).
‘Scroggins made a play down the stretch vs. A&M,” Hetherman said. “He’s there [in the UM film room] every night with Rueben Bain. No surprise he made the play.”
And some of the freshmen who don’t enroll until next week already are on campus and helping in practice.
“We feel like we hit home runs with these guys,” Cristobal said. “It’s like, they got dropped off in the middle of December, and you’re practicing with that level of a football team, and it’s everything’s like, ‘Go, go, go.’
“There’s no time to explain. ‘Hey, you have to do this. You have to jump in on scout team there. You got to run this route. You got to cover this guy.’ It’s not the easiest thing in the world. And I’ll tell you a big reason, I think, I believe, we believe that why our defense had success this past week is because we had guys like [safety] JJ Dunnigan and [cornerback] Camdin Portis and [receiver] Somourian Wingo simulating their offense, wearing number 4, wearing number 17, wearing number 1.
“And those guys are fast. These young guys are all 21 plus mile per hour guys. So the fact that they get to experience what we do and how we do it, even though it’s later in the season, they get to be around some of these older, really good leader guys, is phenomenal for them. It’s invaluable.”
Cristobal said incoming freshmen “like Jackson Cantwell get to jump in on how we game plan, how we prepare guys, technique, fundamentals. JJ Sparks. Got a couple other guys coming in [this past weekend] as well.
“Javian Mallory’s in here now. Brody Jennings just got here as well. It’s an invaluable piece from a development standpoint. They provide the right type of body types to help us prepare for this game.”
▪ ABC assigned lead team Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstriet to the UM-Mississippi semifinal on Thursday and No. 2 team Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy to he Oregon-Indiana semifinal om Friday.
Pat McAfee will do a Field Pass alternate presentation of the UM game on ESPN2, and a Skycam overhead view will be offered on ESPNU. SEC and ACC Network will use their own broadcast crews on the game.
▪ Quick things: Hetherman told ESPN that he expected defensive tackle Ahmad Moten (who is listed as questionable) to play Thursday...
Mark Fletcher Jr. said Ohio State standout Brandon Inniss, his former Plantation American Heritage teammate, “told me to go win it all.” He said Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith and Tate — also products of the South Florida prep pipeline — also had encouraging words afterward….
UM center James Brockermeyer on Toney: “He’s not just mature for his age. He’s one of the most mature guys on the team. Just an insanely competitive player, an absolute warrior.”...
▪ Portal news: Former Tennessee edge rusher Caleb Herring told InsideTheU that he will visit UM next weekend. He had four sacks and six tackles for loss in 369 snaps last season, playing as a rotational defensive end.
He has 25 tackles, eight sacks and a forced fumble in 34 games with the Volunteers.
Pittsburgh defensive tackle Francis Brewu told multiple outlets that he will visit UM next week after three visits in the coming days. The 6-1, 280-pounder had 20 quarterback pressures and seven tackles for loss last season.
UM’s two portal visitors over the weekend - Boston College defensive back Omar Thornton and South Carolina receiver Vandrevius Jacobs — told recruiting-oriented web sites that they came away impressed.
Jacobs caught 39 passes for 548 yards (17.1 per reception) and four touchdowns in 2025. The 6-0 receiver from Fort Pierce played his freshman season at FSU in 2023 and has 44 catches for 729 yards for the Gamecocks over the past two seasons.
Thornton, who attended Plantation American Heritage, had two sacks, an interception and four forced fumbles as a BC sophomore last season. His 56 solo tackles were third in the ACC. 247 Sports has made Miami the favorite to acquire him.
This story was originally published January 7, 2026 at 1:37 PM.
