5 up, 5 down from Miami’s 43-35 rivalry win over Florida State

The Miami Hurricanes dug deep and found a way to get past a scrappy Florida State team on Saturday night 43-35. With that kind of scoreline, there certainly were plenty of players who had oustanding performances, while there were plenty who did not. As usual, I’m going off of my memory/observations compared to what Pro Football Focus has graded as their top and bottom five players with at least 20 snaps. And to the individuals who have commented that PFF’s rankings are wrong/worthless/dumb/etc., well, folks, that’s kind of what I’m evaluating when I do this. As in, do I believe these grades are supported based on what I saw? There has to be a reference point to compare their performances against, so that’s it. So, let’s get into it… Top 5 Canes 1) Malachi Toney – 91. 7 2) Bryce Fitzgerald – 90.0 T-3) Justin Scott – 74.9 T-3) Armondo Blount – 74.9 5) Marquise Lightfoot – 73.8 Honorable mention: Javian Mallory 73.0 I had to throw Mallory in there as the first player off the list, as he really should have been higher, and I have to seriously question these rankings where he’s not in the 80s. He ran incredibly hard and productively. He cut well, followed his blockers, and ran over guys. I did not see any serious mistakes from my eye in the sky in the press box, even though he got tagged with a 30.2 passing game mark (??). Couldn’t NOT mention Mallory here, and his grade baffles me. Should be far higher and way up there on this list. Toney and Fitzgerald, self-explanatory. Warriors, ballers, game changers. Miami doesn’t win without both of them. Fitzgerald left with a shoulder injury that even Cristobal said after the game he was concerned was serious. He came back in and called game. Toughness x 10. Two of three who should be at the top, along with Mallory. Lightfoot led all players with EIGHT QB pressures. I feel like the pressure wasn’t what it should have been tonight across 60+ minutes, so it’s nice that someone was pushing the pocket, and who else but Lightfoot. Scott and Blount both had their impact, as Scott was very active inside with eight tackles, second most on the team, and Blount added one of the Canes’ two sacks of Ashton Daniels with a second-best four QB pressures. So, both certainly had their moments, even if perhaps without the splash factor. Certainly impactful though. Bottom 5 Canes 1) Ben Congdon – 48.5 2) Samson Okunlola – 48.8 3) Dylan Day – 42.0 4) Omar Thornton – 50.3 5) Gavin Mueller – 52.7 Gotta say I don’t get Congdon and Okunlola being at the bottom. The issues I primarily saw came on defense from scheme, pass rush, coverage, and some iffy personnel decisions (i.e., Thornton single deep safety with JJ Dunnigan rushing on the Duce Robinson 75-yard touchdown, where Dunnigan is a ballhawk and Thornton is a missile). I did not see the left side of the offensive line being the primary underachievers in the ballgame. And Congdon had a terrific seal block on the first Fletcher touchdown. Sorry, don’t agree with those marks. I can’t say I recall much without a rewatch on Mueller, so I am going to refrain from judgment there. Zechariah Poyser was on track to be the lowest graded player at 37.6, but he was (properly) ejected for targeting after just eight snaps. Day finished with three tackles but was credited with two missed tackles by PFF. Still, he did not allow a catch on one target per PFF, so I’m not sure why the grade was so low. Micahi Danzy skied over him to grab the first miracle Hail Mary in double overtime, but it was wiped out by a holding call. Despite the secondary struggles, this is a mark I don’t particularly get. Just off the cut line was Damon Wilson II, who finished with no tackles, no sacks, and three QB pressures in 25 snaps and drew the controversial holding call in double overtime to wipe out the score. On replay, he appears to get his jersey grabbed and yanked downwards towards the ground, so despite some whining, it appeared to be a justifiable call. Still, Miami needed more from its star edge rusher throughout the night, who was truly skyrocketing after the Clemson win. Not enough of a factor, and being near the bottom was justifiable to me.