After watching the Miami Hurricanes run up and down the field against Stanford this weekend, there’s plenty of reason for Notre Dame to be nervous for their showdown later this season, especially about the Hurricanes’ offense. However, on Monday, the Fighting Irish may have received news that will make Miami’s defense a little less scary.
On Monday, Miami head coach Mario Cristobal announced that one of the team’s best cornerbacks will be out for “quite a while.” Junior OJ Frederique appeared in just two plays in his team’s 45-6 win over Stanford on Friday before exiting with a left shoulder injury.
"OJ suffered a pretty significant injury so he will be down for quite a while," Cristobal said during his first appearance before the press heading into Week 2. Should Frederique still be out when Miami travels to Notre Dame on November 7, he’ll likely be replaced by junior Damari Brown.
Brown was inserted when Frederique went out and is expected to continue filling in for the next few weeks. "Damari looked good," Cristobal added. "Damari did a lot of good stuff. He's very physical. We put those guys on an island sometimes, and that's tough duty, and for the most part did a really good job. He's very physical in the run game and on pressure."
Notre Dame football could face Miami without injured cornerback OJ Frederique
Thanks to the blowout victory that got out of hand early, Miami was also able to try out several youngsters, just in case Brown isn’t able to do the job.
When looking at Frederique and Brown on paper, it doesn’t appear the Canes are seeing much of a drop-off. Frederique struggled a bit in the 2025 season, posting a 62.1 overall score according to Pro Football Focus. He had a much more impressive 76.2 grade in 2024.
Brown, meanwhile, was very effective despite limited playing time in 2025. He logged a 75.9 grade overall and a pass coverage grade near 80. Even with all that, it’s clear that Cristoball believes Miami will suffer without Frederique handling his cornerback spot full-time.
Should the injury situation for the ‘Canes extend into early November, it will add another level of intrigue to a showdown that’s likely to determine a berth in the College Football Playoff. It’s a rematch of the season opener, where Miami won with a last-second score.
So far this year, it looks as though the Hurricanes might have beefed up an offense that went to the national title game in 2025. Malachi Toney signaled his Heisman Trophy ambitions against Stanford by catching 12 passes for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Of course, Toney’s toughest early-season competition for the Heisman might be his quarterback. Transfer Portal acquisition Darian Mensah completed 27 of 30 passes for 401 yards and 5 touchdowns.
On the other side, Leonard Moore and his defensive teammates are still smarting about Notre Dame’s season-opening loss last fall. Meanwhile, CJ Carr and the offense may not have to face one of the more respected defenders on Miami’s unit.
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