5 up, 5 down for Miami vs. Pittsburgh

Well, regardless of if (or more precisely when) the College Football Playoff committee screws over the Miami Hurricanes, the Canes ended their 2025 regular season looking like a playoff team. UM demolished Pitt 38-7, completely controlling the Pitt offense with a wrecking crew defense while putting the game away on the offensive end with two touchdowns in the middle eight minutes to take full control.

So, who stood out positively? Who perhaps didn’t?

Time to take a look at the top and bottom 5 graded players by Pro Football Focus (minimum 20 snaps) and see if the grades match why my eyeballs and brain are telling me after just one watch.

Top 5

1) Malachi Toney – 87.8

2) Xavier Lucas – 83.1

3) Francis Mauigoa – 82.1

4) Girard Pringle, Jr. – 76.8

5) Zechariah Poyser – 76.7

A little bit surprised I didn’t see Rueben Bain, Jr. Ahmad Moten, Sr., Akheem Mesidor, or the rest of the defensive front in here, as they were just dominant and wreaked havoc all game long.

I wrote Toney’s name in before I even checked the grades. Because if he wasn’t, then I was going to stop doing this little exercise because it would have been silly. Toney was simply unstoppable, and he showed it in the biggest way possible against the Panthers. He turned 20 touches into 165 all-purpose yards with a touchdown catch and throw. Truly the most exciting player in all of college football.

The entire defense was kick ass, but Lucas’ hit on the Pitt ballcarrier and forced fumble in the third quarter with Miami up 31-7 slammed the door shut. A man-sized play right there that squelched out any tiny bit of remaining hope for Pitt. He had an 83.4 coverage mark and allowed just 2 catches for 10 yards. That’ll do.

Poyser delivered the hit of the game, absolutely annihilating Pitt QB Mason Heintschel that left the whole stadium wincing. Pringle ran very well, averaging over 8 yards per carry.

Bottom 5

1) Mohamed Toure – 45.7

2) Raul Aguirre, Jr. – 46.0

3) Armondo Blount – 51.9

4) Joshua Moore – 52.5

5) Keelan Marion – 53.7

Not gonna lie. I don’t know how any of these players earned spots at the bottom. I usually have something that stuck out to me, but not here. Toure allowed just 2 catches on 4 targets for 7 yards with 1 missed tackle. Aguirre allowed 2 of 2 for 18 yards. Blount was credited with 2 tackles and no missed tackles.

Kind of vexed there.

What do you all think? Anyone else stand out in a positive or negative way from the game?