Miami · ACCCristobal confirms Moore and Brown are out for season
Malachi Toney and Mark Fletcher are day-to-day as Miami prepares for Central Michigan on Sept. 26, with Jordan Lyle returning.
SEP 21, 2026
Miami’s unbeaten start
Lead before Wake Forest’s rally
Score after the lead narrowed
01 · The NewsMiami’s Depth Takes a Hit
After Miami’s 33-20 win at Wake Forest on Friday, Sept. 18, coach Mario Cristobal confirmed Josh Moore and Marty Brown are out for the season, while Malachi Toney and Mark Fletcher are day-to-day and Jordan Lyle is returning. The news puts Miami’s 3-0 start alongside two season-ending losses and two uncertain availabilities.
No injury details, positions or replacement roles were provided. Lyle’s return could help offset the absences, but Miami’s personnel plan for Central Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 26, will depend on whether Toney and Fletcher can play and what role Lyle takes after returning.
The personnel news came with Cristobal’s demand for more consistency after Miami’s uneven finish at Wake Forest. The Hurricanes built a 31-7 lead, saw Wake Forest cut it to 31-20 and finished with a 33-20 victory. Cristobal rejected the idea that Miami had taken its foot off the gas.
Miami had opened the season with wins over Stanford, 45-6, and Florida A&M, 77-7, before the Wake Forest game. It went 13-3 in 2025 and remains unbeaten in 2026, but the margin around that start has narrowed before the schedule reaches Clemson and Florida State.
For Cristobal, the questions are immediate: who can play against Central Michigan, how much Lyle can handle and whether Miami can finish with the same force it showed at the start of the season. Moore and Brown will not be part of that answer for the rest of the year.
02 · The StakesThe Stakes
That leaves less room for error before the Hurricanes visit Clemson on Saturday, Oct. 3, and host Florida State on Saturday, Oct. 17. Miami opened the season ranked No. 6 in the AP Top 25 and No. 5 in the coaches poll, and Josh Pate’s preseason bracket placed the Hurricanes at No. 11. The losses and availability questions put that playoff projection under an early test.
03 · The Detail Beneath the HeadlineWhat Most People Are Missing
The timing turns Central Michigan into Miami’s only scheduled trial of its revised personnel plan before the Sept. 26 game is followed by the Oct. 3 trip to Clemson seven days later. Moore and Brown are losses Miami must carry through a five-game run ending at North Carolina on Oct. 31, while Toney and Fletcher could still change the available group inside that stretch.
That makes the Central Michigan rotation more revealing than the opponent alone suggests. Lyle’s usage there becomes the first concrete sign of how Cristobal plans to absorb the season-long absences before the schedule stops offering a separate setup game.
04 · The Open QuestionsQuestions to Be Answered
What role will Jordan Lyle have against Central Michigan?
Miami has not specified what Lyle is returning from or how he will be used. His Sept. 26 snap count and place on the depth chart will show whether his return materially changes the available group before Clemson on Oct. 3. A limited role would leave Miami with fewer concrete answers from its lone game between Wake Forest and Clemson.
05 · The Watch ListWhat We're Watching
Who can play against Central Michigan?
Malachi Toney and Mark Fletcher are day-to-day, while Josh Moore and Marty Brown are out for the season.
How much can Jordan Lyle handle?
Lyle is returning, but his role after returning was not provided.