Miami Hurricanes Stock Report Following Week 8
At the kick off of the 2022 season, there was an excitement, a buzz, a feeling that head coach Mario Cristobal and the new-look Hurricanes might take the college football world by storm. Right now, the feeling surrounding the Miami Hurricanes football team is one of deflation. After suffering a crushing 45-21 conference loss to Duke this past Saturday, the Canes may be looking at a very grim fate this season.
It feels like that loss to Duke shut the door on any sliver of hope that Cristobal and company had for a comeback. With a tough slate of ACC games coming up, Miami will be lucky to finish this season with six wins and, as things stand, the Canes aren't projected to make a bowl game. Now that would be a hard pill to swallow for a fan base that had ACC title game expectations.
Still, some players for the Hurricanes haven't given up hope and are still giving their all on the field. Here's this week's Miami Hurricanes stock report.
STOCK UP
WR Colbie Young
Game Stats: six receptions/127 yards/two touchdowns
If there's a bright spot to this Hurricanes offense so far this year, it's Colbie Young. Cristobal and the staff said he had a lot to learn, which attributed to his absence for the first handful of games of the season, but it's hard not to imagine what those first few games could have looked like with Young on the field.
He torched Duke's secondary for 127 yards and two touchdowns, his first multi-touchdown game as a Hurricane. His performance also earned Young ACC honors.
Colbie Young has been named @ACCFootball Receiver of the Week.
— Miami Hurricanes Football (@CanesFootball) October 24, 2022
He totaled six catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns against Duke on Saturday.
More: https://t.co/rnjxm0AJk9 pic.twitter.com/zxxGd4ZMIu
The fact that he put up such gaudy numbers with two different quarterbacks and a faltering offense is even more impressive. Young's seen his stock skyrocket over the past few weeks and NFL scouts are already coveting the 6-foot-4 pass catcher.
DL Darrell Jackson Jr.
Game Stats: two tackles/one sack
There's not sugar coating the fact that Miami gave up 45 points to Duke. The Blue Devils did have the advantage of a short field for much of the game and the Hurricanes offense wasn't exactly doing their defense any favors. Still, Miami's performance on both sides of the ball was miserable, except for their defensive line.
Jackson and his fellow pass rushers sacked Duke QB Riley Leonard three times and had five total tackles for loss. That would have been a good step towards Miami winning had the Hurricanes not given up six sacks of their own on the day, one of which sent quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to the locker room for good.
But Jackson's performance can't be discounted, as he did make an impact, especially when the game was close. Sacking the mobile Leonard is no easy feat, but the 6-foot-6, 300-pound Jackson continues to display surprising athleticism for his size. Both he and fellow lineman Akheem Mesidor have seen their stocks steadily increase all year.
STOCK DOWN
HC Mario Cristobal
The loss at Texas A&M was chalked up to growing pains, losing to Middle Tennessee State was dubbed a "wake-up call", and falling short against North Carolina was supposedly a sign of things turning around.
It's almost November and the rationalizations that Miami's on the right track are starting to look less rational by the day. In fact, the Duke loss didn't really feel like a disappointment. It felt like business as usual.
OK, they say 'Rome wasn't built in a day' and I'm not arguing with that. But I do think the Romans probably made at least some progress on that day, which is more than Miami can say so far. The Hurricanes were 7-5 last year under Many Diaz, which was admittedly not cutting it. Now, after adding an entirely new (and expensive) coaching staff, a bunch of new transfers, and whipping up a boatload of NIL cash, the Canes are staring that same record, or worse, right in the face.
Can this all be attributed to Cristobal? No, of course not. But he doesn't exactly look like the program savior that he once did. He'll have plenty of time to turn things around and he's got an elite class of recruits coming in next year. Sadly, though, there's not much he and the Canes can do to put any kind of positive spin on this season.
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