Miami vs. FAMU: 3 Things to Watch in the Week 2 Home Opener

Miami does not need Florida A&M to prove it can score. The Hurricanes already did that in a 45-6 win at Stanford.

FAMU (1-1) is a mismatch on paper after they just suffered a 31-13 loss to South Carolina State on Sunday. That is exactly why these three areas matter. A clean night would mean more than another lopsided score.

Thursday’s home opener is about the parts that did not travel with them to California last week: the run game, the pass rush, and coverage behind it.

Here are the three things to watch on Thursday night.

The Running Game

Miami rushed for 121 yards on 32 carries against Stanford. Mark Fletcher Jr. led the way with 40 yards on 13 attempts, a 3.1-yard average. CharMar Brown scored from five yards out, but the ground game was not what we are used to seeing from a Mario Cristobal-led team.

+6 because of #6 👏

📺: ESPN pic.twitter.com/2cg1wMYbfa
— Miami Hurricanes Football (@CanesFootball) September 5, 2026

The running game only produced three rushes of 10 or more yards against Stanford. Two of those rushes came from the freshman Javian Mallory, including the longest rush of the game going for 19 yards.

FAMU is the game that should allow Fletcher, Brown, and the offensive line to impose the run, eat clock, and keep quarterback Darian Mensah from having to win every drive through the air.

What to watch: yards before and after contact, explosive runs of 10-plus yards and whether Miami can sustain drives without the passing game having to bail them out.

Creating More Pressure

The final score hid a lot of flaws on defense, including a quiet pass rush. Missouri transfer Damon Wilson II played 44 snaps and did not record a tackle or a pressure on 26 pass-rush chances. Armondo Blount and Marquise Lightfoot were Miami’s most visible players on the defensive line.

Miami should wreck the pocket, generate sacks and force hurried throws against the Rattlers on Thursday night. If Wilson, Lightfoot and the rest of the front still cannot get home against an overmatched line, the Wake Forest matchup in Week 3 will be a lot more interesting than it should be.

What to watch: sacks, total pressures, and tackles for losses.

Armondo Blount Sack! pic.twitter.com/rSHZItlHdl
— Grant Reacts (@GrantReacts1) September 5, 2026

TIghter Coverage

Stanford found space in the middle of the field a bit more than expected last Friday night. Miami’s linebackers were the group most often described as out of sync, especially early in the game.

Starting corner OJ Frederique Jr. lasted two snaps before a shoulder injury, leaving Damari Brown, Xavier Lucas and Ethan O’Connor to handle the outside.

FAMU will not have Stanford’s size or scheme, but Miami still has to tackle in space, limit yards after the catch, and avoid the coverage breakdowns that better quarterbacks will punish.

The Rattlers only had 162 yards passing against South Carolina State, averaging 5.4 yards per pass in their loss. The Hurricanes should allow fewer yards than those numbers to feel good about their performance.

What to watch: coverage busts, tighter coverage, and how the secondary looks with Frederique out.

First down for Stanford pic.twitter.com/J7tLuZcuOs
— Grant Reacts (@GrantReacts1) September 5, 2026

Miami should win and win big. The Week 2 grade is just more than the scoreboard.

Running the ball effectively, getting to the quarterback, and covering cleaner than it did in Palo Alto.

Those three things will say more about this team than another 40-plus-point night.

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