Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Malachi Toney (10) runs with the ball as Indiana Hoosiers defensive back Louis Moore (7) defends in the second half of their College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Hard Rock Stadium on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Photo by Matias J. Ocner
mocner@miamiherald.com
Records are meant to be broken.
And the Miami Hurricanes, with national championship aspirations, have a few milestones that have a chance to fall this season if the team lives up to its potential.
Some are individual marks. Some are team driven.
But if the feats are hit, it will most likely point to a strong 2026 season for the Hurricanes.
Here are five school records that have the potential to be broken this season.
Wins in a season: The Hurricanes are coming off the longest season in school history, one in which they played 16 games to get to the national championship game. As a result, they also won a school-record 13 games despite not winning a national title. That’s the nature of college football nowadays, with expanded seasons for title contenders due to multiple rounds of the College Football Playoff.
Miami could play up to 17 games this season if it makes the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game and goes on a run to the national championship for a second consecutive season. It’s regular-season schedule, on paper, is on the easier side outside of its Nov. 7 matchup at Notre Dame.
If the Hurricanes are indeed national championship contenders, then 14-plus wins when factoring in an ACC title game appearance and the CFP certainly isn’t out of the picture.
Prior to the creation of the playoffs, UM’s record for most wins in a season was 12, done four times. They went a perfect 12-0 in 1987, 1991 and 2001 and 12-1 in 2002.
Miami Hurricanes running back Mark Fletcher Jr. (4) scores during the first half of the College Football Playoff quarterfinal game against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Wednesday, December 31, 2025. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Career rushing yards and touchdowns: Running back Mark Fletcher Jr. enters his senior season with 2,313 rushing yards and 26 rushing touchdowns through his first three seasons with Miami. The Hurricanes’ career marks in both of those categories are 3,519 yards (by Duke Johnson from 2012 to 2014) and 35 rushing touchdowns (by Stephen McGuire from 1989 to 1992).
Fletcher would find himself atop Miami’s record book with 1,207 rushing yards and/or 10 rushing touchdowns. Both are accomplishable feats considering Fletcher had 1,192 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior, including 507 yards across four College Football Playoff games.
Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Malachi Toney (10) ceelbrates as he comes off the field after the Canes defeat Texas A&M Aggies in the first round of the 2025 College Football Playoff at Kyle Field at College Station, Texas, on Saturday, December 20, 2025. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Career receptions: Malachi Toney already set Miami’s single-season records for receptions (109) and receiving yards (1,211) as a freshman last season.
If he builds off that campaign, at least one Hurricanes career mark is available for Toney to take this season.
Miami’s record for career receptions is 200, set by Xavier Restrepo from 2021 to 2024. Toney needs 91 catches to tie that mark.
But let’s go beyond that and see what else is up for grabs should Toney build on his already dominant freshman-year marks.
Toney needs 1,674 receiving yards to break Restrepo’s career receiving yards record of 2,844. He also needs 16 receiving touchdowns to break Michael Irvin’s career mark of 26 set from 1985 to 1987. For what it’s worth, that would be a Miami record of its own since the school record for most touchdowns in a season is 13 set by Leonard Hankerson in 2010 (Toney had 10 last season, the most ever by a UM freshman).
Miami Hurricanes defensive back Bryce Fitzgerald (13) celebrates after intercepting a pass in the first half of the NCAA game against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida, on Saturday, October 4, 2025. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Interceptions in a season: Bryce Fitzgerald was a ball hawk as a freshman for the Hurricanes, intercepting a team-high six passes (tied for the second most in the country) despite not being a full-time starter.
Now that he’s projected to be on the field regularly as one of Miami’s starting safeties opposite Zechariah Poyser, what’s stopping him from potentially setting the Hurricanes’ record for interceptions in a season?
That mark, by the way, is 10, first done by Bennie Blades in 1986 and later matched by Sean Taylor in 2003.
It is worth noting, however, that no player has recorded double-digit interceptions at the Football Bowl Subdivision level since Gerod Holliman had 14 for Louisville and Senquez Golson had 10 for Ole Miss in 2014. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible; rather, it means that it will just be a more challenging road to get there.
Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Ahmad Moten (99) and defensive lineman Justin Scott (5) react after Moten sacks Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Mason Heintschel (6) on the opening play of the game in the first half during their NCAA football game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA, on Saturday, November 29, 2025. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Most team sacks in a season: Defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman preaches wreaking havoc at the line of scrimmage and disrupting the quarterback in the backfield.
That was on display last season, with Miami defenders collectively recording 50 sacks in Hetherman’s first season leading that group. That tied with the 1988 season for the second most in a Hurricanes campaign.
Is it possible they up the ante this season in Year 2 under Hetherman? The school record is 52 sacks, set in the 1989 season.
Miami is replacing a pair of first-round picks on the defensive line in Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor, a duo that combined for 22 of the Hurricanes’ 50 sacks last season. However, the Hurricanes do have quality depth on the edge this season, starting with the trio of Missouri transfer Damon Wilson II plus juniors Armondo Blount and Marquise Lightfoot. A pair of unproven-yet-talented youngsters are behind them in sophomore Herbert Scroggins III and redshirt freshman Hayden Lowe.
The interior of the defensive line will be led by a pair of veterans in redshirt senior Ahmad Moten Sr. and junior Justin Scott, with a pair of transfers in Ohio State’s Jarquez Carter and Nebraska’s Keona Davis set to be part of the rotation as well.
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Miami Herald
Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.