Miami safety Ja'Kobe Thomas was named the Pro Football Focus Coverage Defender of the Week and four of the top seven graded Hurricanes were defensive backs in the 28-22 win at Florida State on Saturday. Thomas was also named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week.
Thomas had five tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss, 1.0 sack, one interception, two pass breakups and a forced fumble. Only a quarterback hurry was missing for Thomas to fill up the official defensive stat categories completely. Thomas led Miami with a 92.0 PFF grade in the win at Florida State per David Lake of Inside the U.
True freshman defensive back Bryce Fitzgerald was fourth on Miami with an 80.4 PFF grade on Saturday. Fitzgerald finished with three tackles and an interception. Fitzgerald returned the interception 43 yards to set up a Miami touchdown. PFF gave Fitzgerald an 82.1 coverage grade and 81.3 tackling grade per Lake.
Nickel Keionte Scott was sixth on Miami with a 76.7 PFF grade. Scott led Miami with 11 tackles, had 0.5 tackle for loss, one pass breakup and one quarterback hurry. Per Lake, Scott allowed five receptions for 51 yards on seven targets.
Cornerback Damari Brown was seventh on Miami with a 74.9 PFF grade per Lake. Brown finished with four tackles, did not allow a reception on one target, had a 74.5 coverage grade and did not miss a tackle. Brown had his most productive game in 2025.
The Miami secondary was dominant through three quarters. Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos completed 10 passes in 18 attempts for 119 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions through the first three quarters.
Miami let up in the fourth quarter with a 28-3 lead. Castellanos finished with 25 completions in 45 attempts for 272 yards, two TDs and two interceptions. The Miami secondary also helped hold Castellanos to 57 yards rushing on 16 carries.