Miami's new-look secondary will be seriously tested with long-term Xavier Lucas injury

The news on Xavier Lucas isn't good and, suddenly, the Miami Hurricanes will be without their Week 1 starting cornerbacks for a while.

Mario Cristobal didn't offer much in the way of details on Lucas' injury, but the junior is expected to miss several games, with David Lake from InsideTheU reporting that Miami hopes to have Lucas back for the second half of the season.  Cristobal did confirm that the injury happened against Stanford.

“He got hurt last week. He will be out approximately a month," he said.

Lucas transferred to Miami in 2025, after spending his freshman season at Wisconsin. He played a major role in last year's improved defense and started 13 games in the secondary with 46 tackles, a sack and an interception.

The injuries in the secondary are piling up. OJ Frederique will be out for an extended period with the hopes that he can return for the postseason assuming the Hurricanes keep up their current pace and make the College Football playoffs. There's also Ja'Boree Antoine, who has a lower-body injury. There are two other corners on the roster with starting experience — Damari Brown and Ethan O'Connor and Brown started tonight along with Bryce Fitzgerald.

Miami debuts new-look secondary earlier than anticipated

Fitzgerald has only played a handful of snaps at corner and was named a Freshman All-American for his work at safety. But Corey Hetherman does a lot of cross-training in the secondary and the Week 2 game against Florida A&M was the perfect time for Fitzgerald to get in some work on the boundary. Hetherman had the flexibility to make this move because true freshman JJ Dunnigan has carried over the momentum from his outstanding spring and fall camp onto the field. 

Dunnigan became the first player from the 2026 recruiting class to earn a start, and it's likely he'll be holding down one of the safety positions for a while, with Fitzgerald needed at corner. These are the moments when Cristobal's process of developing young players comes into effect. He has repeatedly said that the players in the secondary have the capability of moving from safety to nickel to corner, and it allows him to always put his best players on the field. 

Fitzgerald is arguably the best player on the defense, so it would make sense that Cristobal and Hetherman would want him in a shut-down cornerback role if the situation called for it. At 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, Fitzgerald can physically match up with any receiver and his ball skills are among the best in the country, as evident by his six interceptions last season.

Miami rolled Florida A&M as expected, winning 77-7, so it was not only a chance for Fitzgerald to get a taste of repeated live reps at corner, but it was also a chance for a lot of young players to get more snaps. Young players that the Hurricanes defense may have to rely on sooner than expected. 

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow