COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Miami Hurricanes’ season reception record passed from one former Broward County star to another.
With his second catch of the game in Miami’s win over Texas A&M in the College Football Playoff’s first round, Malachi Toney set the Miami single-season reception record with 86 catches, surpassing Deerfield Beach High School graduate Xavier Restrepo’s 2023 record of 85.
Toney, who was the ACC’s Offensive Rookie of the Year and an AP second-team All-American in his first season, now has 89 receptions for 992 yards.
Toney’s record-setting day came on an otherwise slow day for him. He ended the game with five catches for 22 yards. Toney ran three times for 9 yards, and his one pass attempt fell incomplete.
In what looked like what could be a devastating repetition of his freshman season of high school football — which ended with Toney fumbling late in the state championship, costing his team the game — the star freshman fumbled and turned the ball over to the Aggies at UM’s 41-yard line with 4:02 left in the game.
“I immediately rushed to him,” said running back Mark Fletcher Jr., who was a high-school teammate of Toney’s, as well. “I said, ‘Man, God’s putting you through some adversity right now. That’s it. It’s just a little adversity. You see all that time we got on that clock? Man, let’s go win this thing.'”
Unlike in high school, Toney got a shot at redemption. The Hurricanes got a defensive stop and moved the ball down the field. On third and short, the Hurricanes called Toney’s number. He took a pop pass from quarterback Carson Beck and scored, giving Miami the 10-3 lead it needed to beat Texas A&M.
“People make mistakes. It is what it is,” offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said. “And so he came off the field. He was obviously irritated, himself. I just told him, I said, ‘Look, keep playing. Our defense is playing really well. We’ll get the ball back and you’ll get another opportunity to change the game.’
“And so ultimately, he got that opportunity and he made the play that we all know he can make it.”
Toney, an alumnus of Plantation’s American Heritage, has also been a dynamic athlete, doing more than your ordinary wide receiver. He has thrown a handful of passes and has two touchdowns.
“I seriously think he could go play somewhere and play quarterback, legit,” Beck said earlier in the season. “He’s just such an incredible talent. And shoot, I’m just glad that he’s on our team.”
