It was a boring spring game, but the weather was good and nobody got hurt. At least they played. The best part was seeing members of the CanesInSight community. This isn't the most in-depth breakdown (even the replay screen was blacked out to avoid recording) but these things stood out to me:
- Malachi Toney put on a show. He's been consistent all spring, but this was a statement performance in front of the crowd. Toney shares a lot of qualities with Xavier Restrepo. Extremely smart, great instincts, works hard, aggressive, adjusts to the ball and is very QB-friendly. He's lighter than Restrepo but shiftier with more speed. Today, he made plays at all three levels and flashed nice chemistry with Luke Nickel.
You don't want to rely on a smaller true freshman, but Toney's mental game gives me confidence he can perform this season.
- The good news is he doesn't have to do it alone. Ray-Ray Joseph is competing the right way and seems to have more burst than last year. He's a hard worker entering Year 3 and I think he can help us. Between Toney and Joseph, we have some homegrown options in the slot.
- There was a lot of talent on the sideline. Carson Beck was throwing lefthanded to Elijah Lofton. Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor had light days of work. JoJo Trader, OJ Frederique and Josh Moore didn't play. The 2025 Miami Hurricanes are going to look a lot different than what we saw today.
- With that said, the team still needs to perform. I thought we tackled well and played physical. Last year was a million times more entertaining, but the defense played better this year. Of course, they didn't need to go against Cam Ward, but it was still a good day. Damari Brown, Zechariah Poyser, Bobby Pruitt and Markeith Williams made strong tackles in space. The best moment was a goalline stand where Popo Aguirre stuffed our first-team offense on 4th down.
- Emory Williams found completions (including a TD over the middle to Toney) and protected the ball, just didn't make many explosive plays. Judd Anderson had an uneven day, missed some throws high. I'm in on Luke Nickel. Even if the conditions around him aren't perfect, he always looks to make plays. He has a feel for the rush and keeps his eyes downfield. He connected on several chunk plays to Toney and the walk-ons. The challenge with him will be limiting the mistakes, but he is not afraid to throw.
- The overall talent on the front has increased significantly. Four elite DL recruits (Justin Scott, Marquise Lightfoot, Armondo Blount and Hayden Lowe) are poised to be significant parts of the defense. Donta Simpson isn't rated as high, but he fits right in with his size and quickness. He sacked Nickel to wipe out a big pass to Toney (which Nickel might've completed if it was live).
- This was a huge day for Girard Pringle and he delivered. After missing parts of spring, Pringle looked explosive against live tackling. He had a big run down the sideline and made several players miss in traffic. This offense could use some speed and Pringle has that.
- TE Owen Ruskavich is a real player. Miami's walk-on program is limited by the cost of tuition, so it's been a while since we got rotational player from there. Big #44 caught a couple passes and didn't look out of place with the top groups. He won't make anyone forget about Elijah Arroyo, but he's a functional receiver and a big body as a blocker.
- Freshman TE Brock Schott showed some speed to beat the defense to the corner on a short catch-and-run. Him and Luka Gilbert both made real strides during spring.
- Amari Wallace and Dylan Day both grabbed interceptions on overthrows, and Isaiah Taylor made a play sinking in zone coverage. Wallace in particular took it to another level in live action. He's physical.
Overall, I'd say the spring was a success. Hetherman installed a new defense, we stayed relatively healthy, and we're seeing the byproduct of sustained recruiting. There are a lot of blue-chip body types. Now it's time to get Beck in the fold and add a couple impact players to get us over the top. See you at the Portal.
- Malachi Toney put on a show. He's been consistent all spring, but this was a statement performance in front of the crowd. Toney shares a lot of qualities with Xavier Restrepo. Extremely smart, great instincts, works hard, aggressive, adjusts to the ball and is very QB-friendly. He's lighter than Restrepo but shiftier with more speed. Today, he made plays at all three levels and flashed nice chemistry with Luke Nickel.
You don't want to rely on a smaller true freshman, but Toney's mental game gives me confidence he can perform this season.
- The good news is he doesn't have to do it alone. Ray-Ray Joseph is competing the right way and seems to have more burst than last year. He's a hard worker entering Year 3 and I think he can help us. Between Toney and Joseph, we have some homegrown options in the slot.
- There was a lot of talent on the sideline. Carson Beck was throwing lefthanded to Elijah Lofton. Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor had light days of work. JoJo Trader, OJ Frederique and Josh Moore didn't play. The 2025 Miami Hurricanes are going to look a lot different than what we saw today.
- With that said, the team still needs to perform. I thought we tackled well and played physical. Last year was a million times more entertaining, but the defense played better this year. Of course, they didn't need to go against Cam Ward, but it was still a good day. Damari Brown, Zechariah Poyser, Bobby Pruitt and Markeith Williams made strong tackles in space. The best moment was a goalline stand where Popo Aguirre stuffed our first-team offense on 4th down.
- Emory Williams found completions (including a TD over the middle to Toney) and protected the ball, just didn't make many explosive plays. Judd Anderson had an uneven day, missed some throws high. I'm in on Luke Nickel. Even if the conditions around him aren't perfect, he always looks to make plays. He has a feel for the rush and keeps his eyes downfield. He connected on several chunk plays to Toney and the walk-ons. The challenge with him will be limiting the mistakes, but he is not afraid to throw.
- The overall talent on the front has increased significantly. Four elite DL recruits (Justin Scott, Marquise Lightfoot, Armondo Blount and Hayden Lowe) are poised to be significant parts of the defense. Donta Simpson isn't rated as high, but he fits right in with his size and quickness. He sacked Nickel to wipe out a big pass to Toney (which Nickel might've completed if it was live).
- This was a huge day for Girard Pringle and he delivered. After missing parts of spring, Pringle looked explosive against live tackling. He had a big run down the sideline and made several players miss in traffic. This offense could use some speed and Pringle has that.
- TE Owen Ruskavich is a real player. Miami's walk-on program is limited by the cost of tuition, so it's been a while since we got rotational player from there. Big #44 caught a couple passes and didn't look out of place with the top groups. He won't make anyone forget about Elijah Arroyo, but he's a functional receiver and a big body as a blocker.
- Freshman TE Brock Schott showed some speed to beat the defense to the corner on a short catch-and-run. Him and Luka Gilbert both made real strides during spring.
- Amari Wallace and Dylan Day both grabbed interceptions on overthrows, and Isaiah Taylor made a play sinking in zone coverage. Wallace in particular took it to another level in live action. He's physical.
Overall, I'd say the spring was a success. Hetherman installed a new defense, we stayed relatively healthy, and we're seeing the byproduct of sustained recruiting. There are a lot of blue-chip body types. Now it's time to get Beck in the fold and add a couple impact players to get us over the top. See you at the Portal.
