Early look at Virginia Tech's 2026 Week 12 opponent Miami
Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney (10) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the College Football Playoff Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8.
Miami was essentially the last team in the 12-team College Football Playoff field. The Hurricanes, despite not playing in the ACC title game, jumped Notre Dame in the final rankings and made the expanded CFP field.
Boy, did the Hurricanes take advantage of the opportunity. A late defensive stand highlighted a win at Texas A&M. Upset wins over Ohio State and Ole Miss put the Hurricanes into the title game, and they gave everything Indiana could handle in a thrilling championship contest.
It was a season of redemption for Miami. The Hurricanes were knocked out of ACC title game contention in the final week of the 2024 campaign, and they needed to find a quarterback who could produce at the level Cam Ward did.
Carson Beck did just that. And Miami had dominating play on the offensive and defensive lines to complement Beck’s play at quarterback.
The Hurricanes play a nine-game league schedule this upcoming season. They host Florida A&M and Central Michigan in Weeks 2 and 4, respectively. A Nov. 7 contest at Notre Dame will be a rematch of the 2025 opener that Miami won and ultimately used to make the CFP field ahead of the Fighting Irish.
The series
Miami extended its winning streak to five over Virginia Tech with a 34-17 win in Blacksburg last season. It was a victory in the closing stretch that helped the Hurricanes get into the CFP field.
The Hokies are making their first trip to Miami Gardens since the 2024 contest that featured an overturned touchdown by Da’Quan Felton that allowed Miami to escape with a 38-34 win.
The Hurricanes are 27-15 against the Hokies.
Virginia Tech’s last win at Miami came in 2019 with a 42-35 triumph.
What’s new with the Hurricanes?
Mario Cristobal didn’t have to make many changes to his staff in the offseason with most of the coaches opting to stay and continue building off 2025’s success.
Two offensive assistants left for job promotions.
Running backs coach Matt Merritt is now on staff with the Arizona Cardinals, and tight ends coach Cody Woodiel is now the co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Ole Miss.
Merritt was replaced by former Denver Broncos assistant running backs coach Favian Upshaw. Mike Viti was hired to replace Woodiel after spending the past 10 seasons at Army. Viti was most recently the associate head coach and offensive line coach with the Black Knights.
The offense
The Hurricanes have opted to go to the transfer portal to find a quarterback for one year at a time. It worked with Cam Ward in 2024 and Carson Beck in 2025.
They are hoping it works again with Darian Mensah in 2026. Mensah, who spent one season at Duke, was the highlight of a transfer portal class that was ranked fourth in the nation by 247Sports.
Mensah and wide receiver Cooper Barkate joined the Hurricanes from Duke, and Mensah added more weapons in South Carolina transfer Vandrevius Jacobs and West Virginia transfer Cam Vaughn.
The top option in the offensive attack will be Malachi Toney. He had an electric freshman season with 970 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, while also adding 89 rushing yards and a score.
Tight end Elija Lofton can't be forgotten in the offense. He totaled 195 yards and three scores on 21 receptions last season.
Mensah was electric in his lone season with the Blue Devils. He threw for 3,973 yards, 34 touchdowns and six interceptions. That came after he threw for 2,723 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions at Tulane in 2024.
Mark Fletcher Jr., who led the Hurricanes with 685 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, is back.
The defense
The Hurricanes had one of the most dynamic pass-rushing tandems in Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor last season.
They aimed to replace that production through the transfer portal by bringing in Missouri transfer Damon Wilson, who was one of the top pass rushers available in the portal. Wilson joins a unit that includes key rotational pieces Armondo Blount, Marquise Lightfoot and Booker Pickett Jr.
Another piece on the defensive line was an addition in Nebraska transfer Keona Davis, and the secondary got a boost through Boston College transfer Omar Thornton.
Davis had a breakout second season at Nebraska with 32 tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks.
Thornton played safety last season at Boston College. He tallied 82 tackles, eight tackles for a loss, four forced fumbles, two sacks and one interception.
Miami isn't lacking in returning production on defense.
Linebacker Mohamed Toure returns after leading the team with 54 tackles and he is expected to anchor the second level of the defense.
Zechariah Poyser and Xavier Lucas started all 16 games in the secondary last season. Both tied for the team lead with six pass breakups, and Lucas netted an interception.
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