The No. 3 Miami Hurricanes will face rival Florida State on Saturday night. Ahead of the in-state showdown, UM head coach Mario Cristobal appeared on The Joe Rose Show on 104.3 WQAM Monday morning to preview the game.
Cristobal also revealed promising updates about several injured Hurricanes who are expected to play against FSU.
“Ezekiel Marcelin is all the way back. [Marquise] Lightfoot is all the way back. [Xavier] Lucas is all the way back. Brown’s back,” Cristobal said. “And then the guys that were a little bit dinged up, they feel and look like they’re at 100% because they had great days at practice. “
The return of Lucas is massive for Miami’s secondary, which dealt with its share of injuries through the first half of the year. Lucas has not played since the Hurricanes’ season-opening win over Stanford.
Lightfoot, who has a team-high five-sacks, left the Clemson game early and did not return Marcelin, who has not played since Week 3, and Brown will both provide depth on defense.
Cristobal and his staff, however, did receive some unfortunate news during the bye week.
Starting guard Max Buchanan is expected to miss time with an injury, but the coach left the door open for a possible return later this season.
“Max Buchanan is the one that we’re gonna be out on. Hopefully he’ll join us later in the year,” said Cristobal, who did not disclose the lineman who will start in place of Buchanan.
As for what he is expecting on Saturday, Cristobal complimented the quality of talent at FSU as well as how that talent is utilized.
“They got NFL talent all over the place, challenging schemes. They were up 21-6 on Alabama and four minutes left, I think it’s a seven-point game, so they’ve had all the makings of just being right there and could very easily have won every game that they have been in,” Cristobal said about the Seminoles. “The focus is on making sure we prepare our guys for not only their players but the way that they use their players. They do a great job of using personnel, and their offensive and defensive lines are big and physical. I know they had 10 sacks against Virginia. In the red zone, they’ve been elite on offense. They’ve been elite on defense in the red zone as well … You have to prepare for a lot, and you better be on point, and we need that stadium absolutely going bananas, rocking like the asylum should.”
Cristobal, who went 3-1 as a player against FSU and has gone 2-2 as head coach of the Canes, understands the significance of this game, which he calls “the best rivalry in sports.”
“Ever since I grew up, this was always my favorite and the best rivalry in sports, in my opinion,” he said. “It’s the energy, the intensity, the physicality, the caliber of player on the field, the guys coaches against each other, the fanbases, the state of Florida. I mean, all eyes on the field always and forever, and they’re always knockout, drag-out football games.”
