The Miami Hurricanes will have their hands full against the Ohio State Buckeyes on New Year's Eve. They will lean on these players to get the job done.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are heavy favorites against the Miami Hurricanes on New Year's Eve in Dallas, and the Hurricanes will need their "A game" just to try and keep it close against the Buckeyes.
Even after a loss in the Big Ten Championship Game, the Buckeyes' defense is still regarded as the best in the country. They do just about everything well and are a challenge for even the best offenses to go against on any given day.
For Miami, they are going to need so much more than what they showed against the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday. The Hurricanes' offense was not explosive, didn't execute, and were generally sloppy. The performance was uncharacteristic of the ACC program, but when they are clicking on all cylinders, here are three guys not named Carson Beck to watch for in the quarterfinal game.
Malachi Toney (Wide Receiver, No. 10)
Toney is going to have all of the headlines going into this game. He is by far and away the most explosive player on the Hurricanes and likely will be the most explosive player the Buckeyes will face all year.
The kicker? He is just 18 years old.
Miami's star pass catcher reclassified in high school so that he could get to college a full year early, and he is making an immediate impact. On the year, he has 89 catches for 992 yards and 8 touchdowns. He isn't the tallest player on the field as he stands at just 5-foot-11, but he is definitely someone the Buckeyes need to account for on Thursday.
Mark Fletcher Jr. (Running Back, No. 4)
The 6-foot-2 junior running back has one heck of a story.
Reining from Fort Lauderdale, Fletcher's final two college choices were Miami and, you guessed it, Ohio State. Fletcher made the decision to go to Miami so that his parents could see his games more easily, and then tragedy struck. Fletcher's father passed away last fall and has become a major source of inspiration for the young man.
Whatever his motivation was on Saturday against Texas A&M, the Buckeyes better hope he doesn't have it when they play because he was incredible for the Hurricanes. He finished their round one game with 17 carries for 172 yards. He didn't score, but he was the main reason the 'Canes won. On the year, he has 857 yards on 158 carries, good for 5.4 yards per carry, and has cashed in for 10 touchdowns. He will be the Buckeyes' toughest test, and the Buckeyes will be his toughest test.
CJ Daniels (Wide Receiver, No. 7)
Daniels is not going to command a lot of attention in between the 20s, but down in the red zone, look out for the 6'2 wide receiver. Daniels has just 420 yards and 37 catches this year, but he has notched 7 touchdowns. His longest catch on the year is just 47 yard,s but he is a perfect changeup for Toney's speed.
The offense obviously starts and ends with Beck, but when he is dishing the ball out, these are his top three weapons that he is going to use.