Miami · ACCDamon Wilson gives Miami’s pass rush a needed answer
Wilson and Armondo Blount recorded nine pressures apiece in Miami’s 44-pressure win at Wake Forest before games against Central Michigan and Clemson.
SEP 23, 2026
Quarterback pressures against Wake Forest
Pressures each by Wilson and Blount
Missed tackles against Wake Forest
01 · The NewsMiami’s Pass Rush Answers
On Friday, Sept. 18, Miami’s rebuilt pass rush produced its strongest showing of the season in a 33-20 win at Wake Forest, giving the Hurricanes their first strong answer to the loss of first-round defensive ends Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor.
Damon Wilson and Armondo Blount led the way with nine quarterback pressures apiece in a 44-pressure performance.
That answer now follows Miami into the games that shape its playoff path. The Hurricanes are 3-0, with a home game against Central Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 26, before a trip to Clemson on Saturday, Oct. 3. Josh Pate’s preseason bracket placed Miami at No. 11 in the playoff field, making the rebuilt pass rush part of the question surrounding whether that projection holds.
Wilson made his biggest plays late. He recorded a sack, helped force an end-zone holding call that led to a safety and pressured Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez into a fourth-quarter incompletion.
The pressure did not come only from Wilson and Blount. Omar Thornton recorded eight pressures from the secondary, Marquise Lightfoot had seven, and Hetherman’s packages gave Miami several ways to attack Lopez. Wilson, a former Missouri standout brought in through the portal, showed why Miami targeted him as one of the players who could help replace Bain and Mesidor.
02 · The StakesThe Test Ahead
The 44 pressures came with a flaw Miami cannot carry into its biggest ACC tests: 15 missed tackles against Wake Forest. One game has shown that the new rush can change field position and late-game passing situations; it has not shown that Wilson, Blount and the rest of the front can sustain it. Clemson is the clearest measuring point on the schedule. For Miami, the task is no longer waiting for the replacement plan to produce a flash. It is getting the same disruption again before the defense meets its most important opponent of this stretch.
“One game has shown that the new rush can change field position and late-game passing situations; it has not shown that Wilson, Blount and the rest of the front can sustain it.”
From the story03 · The Watch ListWhat We're Watching
Can Miami repeat the pressure rate?
Watch whether Wilson, Blount and the rest of the front create another disruptive performance after producing 44 pressures at Wake Forest.
Do the missed tackles improve?
The tell is whether Miami cuts down on the 15 missed tackles that accompanied the Wake Forest win before Clemson.