miamiherald
As the Miami Hurricanes prepared to depart for South Bend, Indiana, for their highly anticipated showdown with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the team gathered in a huddle to hear from a pivotal figure. Star wide receiver Malachi Toney, who had undergone ankle surgery just hours earlier on Thursday morning, addressed the entire squad before their flight. The surgery is expected to sideline him for at least the remainder of the regular season.
Center Ryan Rodriguez recalled, "He spoke to us in front of the whole team and gave us some words of encouragement." Quarterback Darian Mensah added, "He told us just come out here and bring it back."
That charge proved difficult to fulfill. The Hurricanes found themselves in a three-touchdown hole by the early minutes of the third quarter, battled back twice to within one score, but ultimately fell short in a 31-24 loss at Notre Dame Stadium. It was Miami's first defeat of the season, coming just days after losing its top playmaker.
"I apologize to him for not being able to do that," Mensah said. "But credit to Notre Dame. They played a good game."
After a rough start, the Hurricanes also played a strong game, though they had put themselves in an almost impossible position. Trailing 24-3, Miami scored touchdowns on three of its next four drives—with Mensah throwing an interception on the one drive that didn't produce points—to cut the deficit to 31-24 with 9:53 remaining. Cooper Barkate caught two of those touchdown passes, and Elija Lofton caught the other.
Notre Dame missed a long field-goal attempt on its next possession, giving Miami a chance to tie. The Hurricanes advanced to the 18-yard line, but Mensah's fourth-down pass to Lofton in the corner of the end zone was controversially ruled incomplete, resulting in a turnover on downs.
Still, the comeback demonstrated that Miami's offense can remain competitive against a formidable defense without arguably its best player. The Hurricanes racked up 232 yards in the second half.
"I think it inspired me to take charge of the team and really just come out and lead these boys," said Mensah, who completed 24 of 43 passes for 276 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. "It definitely hurts losing a guy like Mali. He's a great kid. Everybody's rallied around him. So to see him go down in the middle of the week hurts, but at the end of the day, it's the next-man-up mentality."
Toney's injury occurred late in Wednesday's practice—the final full practice of game week—when he got tangled up and fell awkwardly, as coach Mario Cristobal recounted. "Very unfortunate," Cristobal said. "I've seen Malachi for a long time. He's like an alley cat. He always lands perfectly on his feet, no matter what body position he contorts himself into. We're going to be all right. He'll be back."
Losing Toney at any point would have been devastating for Miami, but the timing—after the final practice of the week—made it difficult to adjust the offensive strategy. "Your heavier practice days are done," Cristobal said Monday on WQAM's Joe Rose Show. "You just didn't get the number of reps you would love to have going into game day."
Toney leads the team with 73 catches, 1,027 receiving yards, and 13 touchdown catches. Cristobal indicated that Toney's timeline for return is about four to four-and-a-half weeks from surgery, pointing to a likely mid-December return at the earliest—one that would probably make him available should Miami make the 12-team College Football Playoff.
The injury understandably left the team in shock on Wednesday. "It was tough," Barkate said. "Besides how good of a player he is, he's a real leader on the team. Losing him was a hurt to the team, but it's a next-man-up mentality, and he wanted us to go out there and play like he was out there."
Rodriguez added, "When you see a guy that works so hard and he gives it his all—it's literally everything to him—that sucks. Seeing that happen on the personal side, knowing him how hard he works, how much he has on the line for this, as a teammate, it sucks. I'm glad he's on our team. Every day, every week, I literally thank him in the huddle that he's on our team. But we've just got to continue to move forward."
That continues when Miami hosts the Duke Blue Devils (7-2, 4-2 ACC) on Saturday (noon, ABC). The Hurricanes, who fell from No. 1 to No. 5 in the AP poll and will assuredly drop multiple spots in the next College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night, still have a clear path to the 12-team playoff field if they win the ACC championship but need to take care of business the rest of the regular season without Toney for that to become reality.
That will likely still be easier said than done, but the Hurricanes know that's the task at hand for now. "Nothing's impossible," Rodriguez said. "The ball still kicked off at 7:30 [against Notre Dame]. I mean, the show goes on; nothing stops. It's not impossible at all. It's hard, but you've gotta find ways. You've gotta have people step up and just get to work."
Originally reported by miamiherald.