{"id":418292,"date":"2026-08-27T15:24:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T15:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/418292\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T15:24:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T15:24:42","slug":"why-the-hurricanes-are-a-legitimate-national-title-contender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/418292\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Hurricanes are a legitimate national title contender"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Hurricanes\u2019 2025 College Football Playoff run was a memorable one. Miami snuck into the playoffs<\/a>, beat Texas A&M in a difficult road environment and took down Ohio State and Ole Miss in exciting bowl games.<\/p>\n

But the year ended in disappointment nonetheless. Miami fell to Indiana in the\u00a0national title game at Hard Rock Stadium.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Hurricanes, retooled and ready for the 2026 campaign,<\/a> hope this year will end with celebrations amid falling confetti in Las Vegas\u2019 Allegiant Stadium, the site of this year\u2019s national championship.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The 2025 title-game loss) motivates us a lot because now we know how it feels to come that far,\u201d cornerback OJ Frederique Jr. said. \u201cWe know what we have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miami enters the season loaded at several positions. The Hurricanes returned key players at running back, wide receiver, defensive tackle and in the secondary.<\/p>\n

Running back Mark Fletcher Jr. returns after starring in the playoff run.<\/a> The Hurricanes relied on the American Heritage alum to carry the offense, and the senior running back said he is healthy and raring to go for his final season at UM.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo just be out here and run out here, that\u2019s what motivates me,\u201d Fletcher said. \u201cJust being around these guys, I get to continue to lead and at the end of the day, I just, I\u2019m so blessed to just wake up every day a Hurricane. So that\u2019s what motivates me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hurricanes also brought back superstar wide receiver Malachi Toney. The former American Heritage standout was one of the\u00a0breakout players of the 2025 season,<\/a> setting program records and earning spots on all-conference and All-American teams. Toney added muscle in the offseason, but he said it has not affected his speed or agility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just my God-given ability, the way I move and how fluid I am,\u201d Toney said. \u201cSo that\u2019s not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The defense brings back several key players from last year\u2019s national runners-up. Defensive tackles Ahmad Moten Sr.<\/a> and Justin Scott anchor the defensive line after star defensive ends Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor were picked in the first round of the NFL draft.<\/p>\n

Miami\u2019s secondary also has multiple key returning players. Frederique, Xavier Lucas, Ethan O\u2019Connor and Damari Brown are all back as upperclassmen after performing well last year. Although UM lost starters Keionte Scott and Jakobe Thomas to the NFL, the Hurricanes do return starting safety Zechariah Poyser and key sophomore Bryce Fitzgerald, who led Miami with six interceptions last year.<\/p>\n

Where Miami did lose key players, Mario Cristobal and the UM staff made sure to patch holes in the roster via the transfer portal and high school recruiting class.<\/p>\n

The Hurricanes needed to replace starting quarterback Carson Beck, who went to the Cardinals in the NFL draft. Enter Darian Mensah<\/a>. Miami\u2019s new quarterback was second in the nation in passing yards and touchdowns while leading Duke to the ACC title last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat guy\u2019s amazing, man,\u201d sophomore wide receiver Josh Moore said. \u201cHe\u2019s got a very good personality. Very good on the field, off the field. He\u2019s an on-the-field and off-the-field leader, everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mensah\u2019s teammate at Duke, wide receiver Cooper Barkate, also transferred to UM. Barkate was a 1,000-yard receiver with the Blue Devils last season, earning All-ACC second-team honors. The Hurricanes also added transfers Vandrevius Jacobs (South Carolina) and Cam Vaughn (West Virginia) to supplement their wide receiver corps.<\/p>\n

The biggest rebuild this year will be UM\u2019s offensive line.<\/a> The Hurricanes lost four starters to the NFL and return two players, Matthew McCoy and Samson Okunlola, who played a significant number of snaps. Miami also returns Ryan Rodriguez, a veteran who has dealt with injuries; Rodriguez will likely take over as the Hurricanes\u2019 center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that our whole O-line can all go ball and I think that their position coach, coach (Alex) Mirabal is exceptional at what he does,\u201d Mensah said. \u201cAnd so I think they\u2019ll be one of the better groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

UM also has a plan to replace Bain and Mesidor. Miami added All-SEC second-teamer Damon Wilson II, and the combination of Armondo Blount, Marquise Lightfoot and Third Scroggins is expected to play a major role this year.<\/p>\n

The reloaded roster gives Miami a legitimate shot at the program\u2019s sixth national title. UM is in the top 10 in the preseason coaches poll, and the Hurricanes are the ACC favorite. Now they have to prove themselves on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re real grateful and real proud of how far we (went) last year,\u201d defensive lineman Justin Scott said. \u201cBut then this year, we\u2019re really understanding that it\u2019s a new team; it\u2019s a new identity. We really have to basically rebrand ourselves, reprove that identity, because \u2026 nobody\u2019s going to bow down to us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Hurricanes\u2019 2025 College Football Playoff run was a memorable one. Miami snuck into the playoffs, beat Texas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,416,3607,9642,154],"class_list":["post-418292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news","tag-college-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-miami-hurricanes","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}