Canes Pulse

They called Miami part of a "Gang of Four." So I read the memo.

Saving College Sports, the group founded by Texas Tech regents chairman Cody Campbell, sent a memo on Oct. 8 to the 400+ schools backing the Protect College Sports Act. It says Miami, Florida State, Clemson and North Carolina are trying to "hold hostage" the bill "for their own selfish purposes," and tells those schools to call the four directly and "ask/demand that they pull back."

All this because the four schools asked Congress for two changes: a 22-team conference cap, and no three-year waiting period to switch conferences.

What the memo gets right: the House calendar is tight, and any change sends the bill back to the Senate.

Where it stretches: a private equity claim that isn't in any report on the schools' letter, a "fallback" breakaway league sourced to "indications are," and saying the Big Ten and SEC won't expand while warning about a 44-team super league.

Miami's name is on the record now. Is it being selfish, or just protecting its options? Tell me in the comments, and subscribe to Canes Pulse for research-first Miami Hurricanes coverage.

Sources: Saving College Sports memo (Oct. 8, 2026), Tomahawk Nation, On3, WRAL, AP, Palm Beach Post, Front Office Sports, ESPN, USA Today

#MiamiHurricanes #Canes #ACC #CollegeFootball #ConferenceRealignment #ProtectCollegeSportsAct

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This isn't a normal bye-week podcast. Former Miami running back Robert Burns joins me for an in-depth breakdown of everything we learned from Miami's 41-13 win at Clemson, built like a Saturday broadcast: live stat boards, player cards and data graphics on screen the whole way through. We get into: - Why Miami has the No. 1 run defense in FBS, and how the D-line reloaded after losing two first-round picks - The one red flag: tackling, and why it's at the top of the bye-week to-do list - The 7:58 drive that broke Clemson, and the Mark Fletcher Jr. pass-pro detail most people miss - Ben Congdon's first career start and Ryan Rodriguez anchoring the O-line - The passing game: what Clemson took away, and the Malachi Toney touchdown that got wiped off the board - Third down: what Miami has to clean up in practice this week - Florida State preview: Mike Norvell calling plays, Ashton Daniels' big day vs. Virginia, and the secondary help Miami could get back Robert breaks down running back film on his YouTube channel. Go subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@Itsrobertburns Robert is also the founder of Gamr, a football IQ training app for players, coaches and fans. Download it free on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gamr-football-iq-training/id6758227770 New episodes with Robert every week on Canes Pulse. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one. #Canes #MiamiHurricanes #ItsAllAboutTheU #CollegeFootball #FSU The Echevarria Law Firm — proud title sponsor of Canes Pulse. Free consultation → calleche.com Instagram & TikTok: @echevarrialegal The Echevarria Law Firm — Check the scoreboard. Paper Boy Co - Stickers, Banners, Posters, Wall Vinyl, and more. paperboy has you covered. https://www.instagram.com/paper.boy.co?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Ariz Law PA: Coral Gables Law Firm – Estate Planning, Business Law & Real Estate Attorneys Specializing in Corporate Law, Probate, Wills & Trusts Protect the People and Assets You Value Most. Plan Your Future arizlawpa.com

33 to 2. Through five games, Miami's offense has 33 plays of 20+ yards. Its defense has allowed 2, and only one team in FBS has allowed fewer. I spent the bye week digging through every national stat page and PFF grade to show exactly where this Miami team ranks. That covers the offense, the defense, a road schedule nobody else in the country has matched, and the stuff that still needs fixing. 🔸 Three ACC games, all on the road, all wins. Miami is the only FBS team with three road wins. 🔸 #1 in total offense (554.8 ypg) and yards per play (8.21) 🔸 #1 (T) in scoring defense (9.8 ppg) and #1 in run defense (42.6 ypg, 1.84 per carry) 🔸 #1 in scoring margin (+39.8 per game) 🔸 Darian Mensah: #1 in completion % (84.2) and passer rating (212.25), 15 TD, 0 INT, and a 24-for-24 start at Wake Forest that set an ACC record 🔸 Malachi Toney: PFF's No. 2 receiver in the country, 0 drops, a perfect 158.3 passer rating when targeted 🔸 Only 4 offensive touchdowns allowed in five games Plus the honest part: where PFF says Miami still has work to do before the schedule gets real with FSU, Pitt and Notre Dame. Which stat surprised you the most? Let me know in the comments. Stats through five games (as of Oct. 8, 2026): cfbstats, ESPN, PFF. #MiamiHurricanes #Canes #GoCanes #TheU #ACCFootball #CollegeFootball #DarianMensah #MalachiToney The Echevarria Law Firm — proud title sponsor of Canes Pulse. Free consultation → calleche.com Instagram & TikTok: @echevarrialegal The Echevarria Law Firm — Check the scoreboard. Paper Boy Co - Stickers, Banners, Posters, Wall Vinyl, and more. paperboy has you covered. https://www.instagram.com/paper.boy.co?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Ariz Law PA: Coral Gables Law Firm – Estate Planning, Business Law & Real Estate Attorneys Specializing in Corporate Law, Probate, Wills & Trusts Protect the People and Assets You Value Most. Plan Your Future arizlawpa.com

Max Buchanan is out for a while. Miami's starting right guard — 5 starts in 5 games — posted this morning that he'll be sidelined after the lower-body injury he suffered at Clemson. With the bye week giving Alex Mirabal two weeks before Florida State on Oct. 17, who replaces him? We get into: - What happened up front at Clemson when Buchanan and Matt McCoy went down - Why sliding Ryan Rodriguez to right guard and putting SJ Alofaituli at center creates a second problem - Why moving McCoy back inside and starting Jackson Cantwell at right tackle means moving two spots to fix one - My prediction for who starts at right guard vs. FSU — and why Jamal Meriweather could see more snaps Who do YOU want at right guard? Drop it in the comments 👇 #MiamiHurricanes #CanesFootball #TheU #MaxBuchanan #MiamiOL #FSU #ACCFootball The Echevarria Law Firm — proud title sponsor of Canes Pulse. Free consultation → calleche.com Instagram & TikTok: @echevarrialegal The Echevarria Law Firm — Check the scoreboard. Paper Boy Co - Stickers, Banners, Posters, Wall Vinyl, and more. paperboy has you covered. https://www.instagram.com/paper.boy.co?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Ariz Law PA: Coral Gables Law Firm – Estate Planning, Business Law & Real Estate Attorneys Specializing in Corporate Law, Probate, Wills & Trusts Protect the People and Assets You Value Most. Plan Your Future arizlawpa.com

After Miami's 41-13 win at Clemson, Mario Cristobal said it plainly: "This staff doesn't get enough credit for player development. That's a flat-out truth." He's right, and this video proves it with names. The national story is that Miami wins in the transfer portal and with freshmen who show up ready. But Miami just went into Death Valley without five injured players and won by 28. That happened because of the guys who weren't day-one stars. They got hurt, sat behind starters, played special teams for years, and stayed when transferring would have been easy. In this video: - Ryan Rodriguez: 5 years, 2 starts, and now Miami's starting center - Samson Okunlola: the five-star who had to wait anyway, now starting at left tackle - Dylan Day, Ryan Mack, Booker Pickett Jr. and Chris Wheatley-Humphrey: the depth that answered when injuries hit - Herbert "Third" Scroggins III, Max Buchanan, Daylyn Upshaw and Joshua Moore: the year-one to year-two leaps - Why staying matters more than ever in the transfer portal era Which of these players is your favorite story? Let me know in the comments. Subscribe for more Miami Hurricanes breakdowns. Florida State is next. Snap counts and grades: PFF. Career stats: official University of Miami bios. #MiamiHurricanes #Canes #TheU #CollegeFootball #Cristobal #ACCFootball The Echevarria Law Firm — proud title sponsor of Canes Pulse. Free consultation → calleche.com Instagram & TikTok: @echevarrialegal The Echevarria Law Firm — Check the scoreboard. Paper Boy Co - Stickers, Banners, Posters, Wall Vinyl, and more. paperboy has you covered. https://www.instagram.com/paper.boy.co?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Ariz Law PA: Coral Gables Law Firm – Estate Planning, Business Law & Real Estate Attorneys Specializing in Corporate Law, Probate, Wills & Trusts Protect the People and Assets You Value Most. Plan Your Future arizlawpa.com

Mario Cristobal speaks as Miami heads into its Bye Week following a 41-13 win over Clemson. The Echevarria Law Firm — proud title sponsor of Canes Pulse. Free consultation → calleche.com Instagram & TikTok: @echevarrialegal The Echevarria Law Firm — Check the scoreboard. Paper Boy Co - Stickers, Banners, Posters, Wall Vinyl, and more. paperboy has you covered. https://www.instagram.com/paper.boy.co?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Ariz Law PA: Coral Gables Law Firm – Estate Planning, Business Law & Real Estate Attorneys Specializing in Corporate Law, Probate, Wills & Trusts Protect the People and Assets You Value Most. Plan Your Future arizlawpa.com

Miami lost two first-round defensive ends, Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor. All offseason the take was that the pass rush would fall off a cliff. Five games into 2026, I lined up this year's defensive line against last year's through the same five games, using the same official stats for both seasons.

The sacks went UP, from 12 to 16. Opponents are running for 1.84 yards a carry, down from 2.82. Points allowed dropped from 13.6 a game to 9.8.

In this video:

🔸 Bain's real regular-season sack number, and why the "cliff" talk was built on his playoff run

🔸 Why this is a fair test: both schedules have the same shape

🔸 Lightfoot + Wilson II vs. Bain + Mesidor, edge pair against edge pair

🔸 Damon Wilson II going from zero pressures to 11 at Clemson

🔸 Ahmad Moten and Justin Scott: a year older, and both first-rounders in ESPN's way-too-early 2027 mock

🔸 The next layer: Scroggins, Carter, Keona Davis and Pickett, and what happened when Lightfoot went down in Death Valley

🔸 The catch: tackles for loss, the schedule, and Lightfoot's status heading into Florida State

Who's your breakout on this front? Let me know in the comments.

Stats: official NCAA game data via cfbstats. Pressures and grades: PFF, as reported by On3, 247Sports and SI. Snap counts: CanesInSight and SI charting.

#MiamiHurricanes #Canes #GoCanes #ACCFootball #CollegeFootball #JasonTaylor

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Ben Congdon played 12 snaps in the opener at Stanford. Saturday night at Clemson, the true freshman started and played 61 of Miami's 66 offensive snaps, every one of them at left guard. I went through Miami's snap counts and alignment data from the 41-13 win at Death Valley. Here's what stood out: 🔸 The offensive line, spot by spot: who started where and where the rotation happened 🔸 Jackson Cantwell's snaps, from 34 at Stanford to none on offense at Clemson 🔸 The new running back pecking order: Fletcher 42, Mallory 24 🔸 Why Miami's secondary barely came off the field: about five DBs per snap 🔸 JJ Dunnigan's hybrid role, which ended in a 39-yard pick-six 🔸 Damon Wilson's 2.5 sacks, and why Armondo Blount played defensive end, not tackle Miami is 5-0 (3-0 ACC) after its first win at Clemson since 2010. Full snap counts for every player are in the Canes Pulse Discord: [DISCORD LINK] Snap counts and alignment data: PFF Premium Stats. Subscribe to Canes Pulse for structured, research-first Miami Hurricanes coverage every week. #Canes #MiamiHurricanes #Clemson #SnapCounts #CollegeFootball #ACC #GoCanes The Echevarria Law Firm — proud title sponsor of Canes Pulse. Free consultation → calleche.com Instagram & TikTok: @echevarrialegal The Echevarria Law Firm — Check the scoreboard. Paper Boy Co - Stickers, Banners, Posters, Wall Vinyl, and more. paperboy has you covered. https://www.instagram.com/paper.boy.co?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Ariz Law PA: Coral Gables Law Firm – Estate Planning, Business Law & Real Estate Attorneys Specializing in Corporate Law, Probate, Wills & Trusts Protect the People and Assets You Value Most. Plan Your Future arizlawpa.com

Miami's dominant win over Clemson in Death Valley was exactly what the doctor ordered.

The Echevarria Law Firm — proud title sponsor of Canes Pulse. Free consultation → calleche.com Instagram & TikTok: @echevarrialegal The Echevarria Law Firm — Check the scoreboard. Paper Boy Co - Stickers, Banners, Posters, Wall Vinyl, and more. paperboy has you covered. https://www.instagram.com/paper.boy.co?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Ariz Law PA: Coral Gables Law Firm – Estate Planning, Business Law & Real Estate Attorneys Specializing in Corporate Law, Probate, Wills & Trusts Protect the People and Assets You Value Most. Plan Your Future arizlawpa.com

Miami smacks Clemson in Death Valley! The Echevarria Law Firm — proud title sponsor of Canes Pulse. Free consultation → calleche.com Instagram & TikTok: @echevarrialegal The Echevarria Law Firm — Check the scoreboard. Paper Boy Co - Stickers, Banners, Posters, Wall Vinyl, and more. paperboy has you covered. https://www.instagram.com/paper.boy.co?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Ariz Law PA: Coral Gables Law Firm – Estate Planning, Business Law & Real Estate Attorneys Specializing in Corporate Law, Probate, Wills & Trusts Protect the People and Assets You Value Most. Plan Your Future arizlawpa.com