Copyright ESPN
Miami's dwindling playoff hopes took another hit Monday, as head coach Mario Cristobal confirmed a number of key offensive contributors were likely to miss time. Starting receiver CJ Daniels and starting corner OJ Frederique Jr. will both be out "a couple of weeks," according to Cristobal, who also said Monday that tailback Mark Fletcher Jr., the team's leading rusher, could miss this week's game against Syracuse as well. Daniels, Frederique and defensive tackle Ahmad Moten Sr. all missed last week's loss to SMU. Moten is "50/50" to return this week, according to Cristobal. Fletcher, who has 639 yards rushing and nine touchdowns so far this year, left last week's game early, and while Cristobal did not offer a timeline for his return, he cast sizable doubt on Fletcher's likelihood to play against the Orange. "It doesn't look like he will be available but I don't know that yet," Cristobal said. Daniels leads Miami with six touchdown catches and is second on the team with 351 receiving yards. The Hurricanes have struggled to find consistent weapons in the passing game outside of Daniels and star freshman Malachi Toney. Frederique has five pass breakups and 10 tackles and was a freshman All-American last season. Miami was ranked No. 2 in the AP poll just three weeks ago, but losses to then-unranked Louisville and unranked SMU have derailed what looked like a potential national-championship run. ESPN's FPI gives Miami a 15% chance of still making the playoff but at 2-2 in conference play, the Canes chances to win the ACC are slim. After hosting Syracuse, Miami will play NC State and travel to Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh to close out the regular season.
