Miami's Defensive Edge Rushers Continue to Grow Into Their New Star Roles
In this story:
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — All offseason, the topic of conversation was how the Miami Hurricanes would replace its trench players.
The offensive line replaced four starters, and the defensive line lost two first-round picks. However, there was one area that concerned the Canes more than the other. The Hurricanes' defensive line proved its worth even with only one sack in the 45-6 victory over Stanford.
It started with the younger talent of Armondo Blount and Marquise Lightfoot. Head coach Mario Cristobal loved what he saw from his rising-star edge rushers, highlighting them as massive assets to the team's future.
"That guy, I remember being just arriving here and going over," Cristobal said about Blount during his Monday press conference. "He was at Dillard High School at the time, and always saying, 'That's a priority must get, game changer type of guy.' You know he got here young, right? He was a reclass and a reclass that came in with a shoulder injury, so a lot to catch up on.
"He's about as relentless as you can get as a player, and his body has exploded, right? He was a 235, 240-pound guy when he got here. He's probably tipping the scales at 275. Sometimes it's 280. He could play outside, inside, and he's technical. He's smart. He's explosive. He's strong. He plays with great and heavy hands and great feet, balance, body control, and power. And you saw him. I mean, he forced a holding call.
"We actually forced five, and accepted for them against a scheme that had a lot of chipping, a lot of boots and wags, rollout stuff, anything to buy the quarterback time. They try to affect our edges in a big time way. So, even though the stat line says one sack, five times they held our guys. I know we hit the quarterback a good number of times as well. So, Armando was a guy that was, along with the others, responsible for leading that charge."
Furthermore, with Blount dominating inside and out, Lightfoot has free rein to use his lengthy and twitchy tools to hunt anyone down while playing well against the run.
Marquise Lightfoot is playing the run VERY well so far pic.twitter.com/6eMnqktgzd
— LandonTengwall (@LandonTengwall) September 5, 2026
"Yeah, we thought he played really well," Cristobal said. "And got to the part that people were kind of questionable on, he holds the point. I did a great job on the line, just, shutting blockers, knocking people back, and getting off blocks, like block disruption, and then knocking guys back in the backfield.
"Also showing some split zone stuff, and then the physical nine, the pass game, really chase the quarterback around, hunting down ball carriers. So all in all, just thought that he was really, played a really good game. He started last year against Stanford. That was his first start, but ironically, in his first, like, full game, one-season start."
The key now is getting Blount and Lightfoot more snaps together. They have the experience from the College Football Playoff run that will keep the Canes on pace for a strong future. They look to take advantage of that challenge Thursday at 8:00 p.m. ET against Florida A&M.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.
Follow Justice_News5