Hurricanes empty the bench in FAMU blowout, giving backups ‘invaluable’ reps

University of Miami admin September 11, 2026 0 Comments

Hurricanes empty the bench in FAMU blowout, giving backups ‘invaluable’ reps

There came a moment in the second quarter Thursday, when the No. 7 Miami Hurricanes were already well on their way to a blowout win over FCS-level Florida A&M and UM was getting ready to pull its starters, when someone informed Mario Cristobal that star sophomore receiver Malachi Toney was 4 yards shy of having 100 for the game.

“That means a lot as it relates to postseason accolades and awards and whatnot,” Cristobal said.

So Cristobal approached Toney and asked him if he wanted one more drive to get that final catch.

Toney’s response, according to Cristobal: “Coach, I want to see my teammates play. I want to see them get better.”

“He had absolutely zero interest in any type of personal game,” Cristobal said, “and I think that was universal. I think everyone felt the same.”

So Cristobal began clearing his bench. By the time the game ended and Miami had won 77-7 over Florida A&M at Hard Rock Stadium, 93 players had gotten reps on offense or defense.

“Played a bunch of guys when the twos and threes went in,” Cristobal said. “We felt that they sustained a relatively decent level of execution and standard, and we had an opportunity to play a lot of guys and see how they fit and what their roles could be going forward. Nowadays in college football, that’s invaluable. You have to play guys, and you really can’t look at the clock or the scoreboard. You just have to continue developing your roster.”

Three quarterbacks took the field and combined to complete 27 of 29 passes for 426 yards and six touchdowns without an interception as the team set a school record with 856 total yards of offense. Darian Mensah kept up his near-perfect start to the season, completing 14 of 15 passes for three touchdowns and no interceptions, but his backups were just as efficient. Redshirt freshman Luke Nickel led three touchdown drives in the third quarter, completing all eight of his passes for 144 yards and three scores. True freshman Dereon Coleman then followed by completing 5 of 6 passes for 30 yards over an abbreviated fourth quarter.

“It’s awesome,” Mensah said. “Those two dudes work their butts off. Seeing them in the game, I mean, they’ve been playing this game for as long as I have. I’m sure it means a lot to them. It means just as much to me.”

Nine players had at least one rush, with freshman Javian Mallory having a team-leading 142 yards — the most in a game by a Miami true freshman since Duke Johnson in 2012 — and two touchdowns.

Sixteen players caught passes and six caught touchdowns. Toney naturally still led the way with four catches for 96 yards and one of those six scores. But two freshmen in Somourian Wingo and Vance Spafford hauled in their first touchdowns at the collegiate level.

Twenty-two players recorded at least one tackle, with true freshman JJ Dunnigan (making his first career start at safety) leading the way with five. Four more players contributed to Miami’s eight pass breakups as the Hurricanes (2-0) held FAMU (1-2) to just 107 yards of offense, a 1-for-14 success rate on third down and just three plays in Miami territory.

No one on defense played more than 26 snaps (Miami had 47 total defensive plays). No one on offense played more than 39 snaps (Miami had 73 total offensive plays).

“You would love to have another quarter of football and not even worry about the scoreboard,” Cristobal said. “I adamantly support playing players deep into games that have to be developed. Those guys that played tonight, they work just as hard as everybody else, and those guys are itching for time. And unless you put them in the game, you’re never going to find out what they can do when the lights come on. We had that opportunity tonight. We took advantage of it as best that we could, and certainly looking forward to watching the tape and seeing what kind of moves and what type of opportunities we can further create for some of these guys.”