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His style of play is what Miami needs to replace the sack production of Mesidor, who led the Canes with 12.5 sacks last season.\n\n\n\nJunior defensive ends Marquise Lightfoot and Armando Blount are also poised for strong seasons after being rotational pieces behind Bain and Mesidor.\u00a0\n\n\n\nOn the interior, Ahmad Moten and Justin Scott are two of the best nose tackles in the nation, both having chances to become first round picks in the 2027 NFL Draft.\n\n\n\nEntering his fifth season and slowly working his way up the ranks, Moten made his presence felt in 2025, tallying 4.5 sacks and 31 tackles and making his biggest impact in the postseason.\n\n\n\nWhile Scott hasn\u2019t put up the flashiest numbers \u2014 with just 26 tackles and one sack in 2025\u2014 he has incredible speed and twitchiness for a 303-pound defensive lineman, he just needs the production to put it all together.\n\n\n\nMakena Wong, Photo Editor, Junior Defensive End Rueben Bain Jr. celebrates after interception on Sunday, Aug. 31st, 2025.\n\n\n\nBella Armstrong, Senior Staff Writer \u2013 Malachi Toney will win the Heisman.\u00a0\n\n\n\nCall it Miami bias if you want, but Toney has everything necessary to turn a breakout season into a Heisman campaign.\u00a0\n\n\n\nHe\u2019s explosive, versatile and ultimately the kind of player who can completely change a game every time the ball touches his hands. More importantly, Miami\u2019s offense gives him the opportunity to produce the highlight-reel moments Heisman voters remember.\n\n\n\nThe award has become increasingly quarterback-dominated, but that makes Toney an even more interesting \u2014 almost dark horse \u2014 candidate. If the Canes remain nationally relevant like they\u2019re expected to and Toney becomes the centerpiece of its offense (and we all know he will), don\u2019t be surprised when he ends up in New York.\n\n\n\nCome December, I\u2019ll call it proper foresight.\n\n\n\nLuca Mucciardi, Staff Writer \u2013 \u201cMali-cat\u201d returns in a bigger role\n\n\n\nOne of the staples of last year\u2019s Miami Hurricanes offense was Shannon Dawson\u2019s self-proclaimed \u201cMali-Cat\u201d offense.\u00a0\n\n\n\nMalachi Toney, a high school quarterback for a time at American Heritage High School in Plantation, Fla., was often utilized in this wildcat scheme last season for the Hurricanes. He attempted seven passes, completing four of them for a total of 82 yards and two touchdowns.\u00a0\n\n\n\nWith the effectiveness/threat of Toney with both his legs and his underappreciated arm, the \u201cMali-Cat\u201d has all the possibility of being an integral part of this Hurricanes offensive scheme, leading me to believe that Malachi Toney will throw for over 250 yards and 5 touchdowns this season through the air.\u00a0\n\n\n\nWho needs Air-Jordan, Miami\u2019s got Air-Mali.\u00a0\n\n\n\nBrendan Cafferty, Staff Writer \u2013 Cooper Barkate leads team in receiving yards\n\n\n\nCooper Barkate will outshine Malachi Toney \u2026 in one general stat.\u00a0\n\n\n\nMalachi Toney\u2019s versatility will not go unnoticed on the playing field, but when it comes to receiving yards, Barkate will prevail as Darian Mensah\u2019s favorite. The two former Blue Devils showed a deep connection in 2025, with Barkate tallying 1,106 of Mensah\u2019s 3,973 passing yards. In comparison, Beck threw for 3,813 yards last year, with Toney being responsible for 1,211 in the air.\n\n\n\nWith similar statlines in the 2025 regular seasons, there is reason to believe both will have outstanding seasons with Mensah at the helm, but Barkate will break past Toney in receiving for a couple of reasons. One, the previously mentioned connection with Mensah, even being referred to by the quarterback as his \u201cbest friend.\u201d Two, Toney\u2019s ACC Rookie of the Year season will make him a target for defenses, often leaving Barkate isolated on the deep route.\n\n\n\nContingent on the offense run by OC Shannon Dawson, and the accuracy of Mensah\u2019s deep ball (which has proven efficient in the past), it seems Barkate could be in for a large downfield presence this season.\n\n\n\nWith all that said, it\u2019s still impossible to contain Mali, so his YAC could exceed the already high expectations set for this season.\n\n\n\nUM Freshman Malachi Toney rushes for the game winning touchdown versus Texas A&M on Dec. 20 // Jake Sperling.\n\n\n\nOlivia Attalla, Staff Writer \u2013 Miami will win the National Championship\n\n\n\nThe Miami Hurricanes were only a few seconds away from clinching the College Football Championship against the Indiana Hoosiers until Carson Beck threw a costly interception at the end of the game.\n\n\n\nNow, the Canes are back and fully loaded, led by Quarterback Darian Mensah, who had 3,973 passing yards in 2025, leading the ACC, and good for second-most in the country.\n\n\n\nMensah also finished with 34 touchdowns, and set a Duke single-season record. Now, all eyes are on him to see if he can deliver when the pressure is at its highest.\n\n\n\nCan the Hurricanes quarterback carry that same high energy and bring the Canes back to the Natty?\u00a0\n\n\n\nI think he will.\n\n\n\nRiley Donner, Contributing Writer \u2013 Bain and Mesidor Are Gone. So is Miami\u2019s Margin for Error\n\n\n\nWhile The \u2018U\u2019 may have more overall talent on paper in 2026, the loss of first round draft picks Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor means losing two players each capable of wrecking a game by themselves. Bain and Mesidor totaled 22 sacks on the season, with 10.5 coming during the Hurricanes\u2019 College Football Playoff run, along with 40 combined pressures.\u00a0\n\n\n\nWhen Miami needs a big defensive play late in the game, who is the guy now? Last season, blown coverage or a missed assignment could be erased by one of the two elite-level pass rushers.\u00a0\n\n\n\nReplacing the production of two First Team All-ACC pass rushers is difficult; replacing their ability to take over a game is even harder\n\n\n\nTalia Eckles, Contributing Writer \u2013 Darian Mensah will raise the standard set by Carson Beck\n\n\n\nAfter Carson Beck led the Miami Hurricanes to the National Championship, it may seem bold to say his replacement will be even better. But Darian Mensah has already shown his immense talent at the ACC level, throwing for 3,973 yards and 34 touchdowns with only six interceptions at Duke last season.\n\n\n\nBeck finished his Miami season with 3,813 yards, 30 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Double the amount of interceptions as Mensah last season.\n\n\n\nHowever, Mensah will have to do it without the same key defensive players Beck had with him last season. Miami\u2019s loss of Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor to the NFL gives Mensah a disadvantage over Beck.\u00a0\n\n\n\nRegardless, I think Mensah will not only succeed, but outperform Beck. By the end of the season, I would not be surprised if Canes fans look back at Beck\u2019s numbers and realize Mensah is an upgrade.\n\n\n\nRicky Browne, Contributing Writer \u2013 Miami will average the most PPG in its history\u00a0\n\n\n\nIn 2024 with Cam Ward under center, the Hurricanes set a program record with 43.9 points per game.\n\n\n\nWhile this prediction marks a big leap from the 30.9 points per game the Hurricanes averaged last year, I truly believe the 2026 Hurricanes have a chance to do it.\u00a0\n\n\n\nMalachi Toney returns after an historical freshman year in which he recorded 109 receptions for 1,211 yards and 10 touchdowns and lining up on the other side from him will be senior transfer Cooper Barkarte who had 72 receptions for 1,106 yards and seven touchdowns last year.\u00a0\n\n\n\nDarian Mesnah also joins from Duke who himself had an incredible year, and now has the best supporting cast of his career.\u00a0\n\n\n\nThe Hurricanes also bring back their entire running back room including Mark Fletcher Jr.\u00a0\n\n\n\nIf everything falls in place, the Miami Hurricanes could look at an historical scoring offense this season.\n\n\n\nMark Fletcher Jr. carries the ball as Miami\u2019s offense pushes forward against the Indiana Hoosiers during the College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 19, 2026. // Photo credit: Jake Sperling, Ibis Yearbook" ], "output": "readability", "pwd": "/data/archive/1788096850.030583", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-08-30T13:43:25.504617+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "screenshot": [], "singlefile": [], "title": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--max-time", "120", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://themiamihurricane.com/2026/08/29/tmh-sports-hot-takes-for-2026-hurricanes-football/" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-08-30T13:43:25.500041+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "TMH Sports Hot Takes for 2026 Hurricanes football - The Miami Hurricane", "pwd": "/data/archive/1788096850.030583", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-08-30T13:43:25.451189+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "wget": [ { "cmd": [ "wget", "--no-verbose", "--adjust-extension", "--convert-links", "--force-directories", "--backup-converted", "--span-hosts", "--no-parent", "-e", "robots=off", "--timeout=120", "--restrict-file-names=windows", "--warc-file=/data/archive/1788096850.030583/warc/1788097327", "--page-requisites", "--user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) wget/GNU Wget 1.21.3", "--compression=auto", "https://themiamihurricane.com/2026/08/29/tmh-sports-hot-takes-for-2026-hurricanes-football/" ], "cmd_version": "GNU Wget 1.21.3", "end_ts": "2026-08-30T13:43:25.444274+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "themiamihurricane.com/2026/08/29/tmh-sports-hot-takes-for-2026-hurricanes-football/index.html", "pwd": "/data/archive/1788096850.030583", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-08-30T13:42:07.362050+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ] }, "icons": null, "is_archived": true, "is_static": false, "latest": { "archive_org": null, "dom": null, "favicon": "favicon.ico", "git": null, "media": null, "pdf": null, "screenshot": null, "singlefile": null, "title": "TMH Sports Hot Takes for 2026 Hurricanes football - The Miami Hurricane", "warc": null, "wget": "themiamihurricane.com/2026/08/29/tmh-sports-hot-takes-for-2026-hurricanes-football/index.html" }, "link_dir": "/data/archive/1788096850.030583", "newest_archive_date": "2026-08-30T13:43:28.138868+00:00", "num_failures": 0, "num_outputs": 6, "oldest_archive_date": "2026-08-30T13:42:06.297462+00:00", "path": "/2026/08/29/tmh-sports-hot-takes-for-2026-hurricanes-football/", "schema": "Link", "scheme": "https", "snapshot_id": "73a2782c-38bc-4c8f-900f-997fc3355213", "sources": [ "/data/sources/1788096850-import.txt" ], "tags": null, "tags_str": "", "timestamp": "1788096850.030583", "title": "TMH Sports Hot Takes for 2026 Hurricanes football - The Miami Hurricane", "updated": "2026-08-30T13:42:06.297030+00:00", "updated_date": "2026-08-30 13:42", "url": "https://themiamihurricane.com/2026/08/29/tmh-sports-hot-takes-for-2026-hurricanes-football/" }