Monday Musings: The bye week paid off for the Canes

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Happy Monday, errrrrrrrrrbody. And welcome to Florida State week!!!

It’s a big week here at State of the U, and we’ll have a ton to talk about leading up to the game this week as usual. But for now, let’s see what Hurricanes-related content is rattling around inside my noggin.

1) Mario Cristobal gave a VERRRRRRRRY good injury update on Monday morning.

Cristobal went on “The Joe Rose Show” on 104.3 early on Monday morning, as he does every week, and he bestowed some much needed, and seemingly very rare, GOOD news on the injury front for once.

Per Cristobal, DL Marquise Lightfoot, CB Xavier Lucas, LB Ezekiel Marcelin, and CB Damari Brown are all “all the way back”. So the Hurricanes will have some defensive starters back for the biggest home game of the season against the Seminoles on Saturday. Absolutely massive news.

And as far as Max Buchanan, who posted a since-deleted picture of himself last week in a hospital bed last week on Twitter, Cristobal says that the hope is that he may rejoin the team later in the year. That seems to keep the door open for a possible return either late in the season or perhaps the playoff. That’s pretty massive in and of itself considering how things appeared with that picture.

2) Did you all see the guest list for Saturday? Sheeeeeeesh.

It’s a who’s who of high school football royalty in attendance. 2028 No. 1 overall recruit Brysen Wright will be there, a part of five 2028 players in the top 15 overall in Rivals’ industry rankings. Rivals seems to have Miami well out in front early in the process based on their prediction percentage (89.1%). Rivals recruiting insider Steve Wiltfong also issued a prediction for Miami to land 2028 five star and No. 1 OT Maui Tonata (Orem, UT), who is among the visitors expected this weekend. 2027 commit Donte Wright will be there, among many others.

It’s an enormous opportunity for Mario Cristobal to land some enormous talent, either this weekend or down the road, that can help continue the trajectory of the program steeply upwards for years to come.

3) Florida State DB Jabril Rawls called down the thunder during the summer. And now it’s time for that check to clear.

I remember this at the time:

Well, SMU, Alabama, and Louisville put up 585, 567, and 537 yards, respectively, in wins over Florida State this year. The best offense in the nation is about to get that defense.

So, while he might hate them, he’s probably going to hate them even more once Saturday night has come and gone.

Prediction later. For now, go Canes!

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