Miami vs. Notre Dame: No Excuses After Malachi Tony Injury

So yesterday, as the day started getting long there, I started getting text messages that Malachi Toney had suffered an injury in practice yesterday, and the news came out and broke that he has a high ankle sprain and will need surgery. It will probably sideline him for the next month, and then most likely get an opportunity to get him back if the Canes are fortunate enough to make the 12-team college football playoff. People were already starting to say, wow, Canes are cooked. Take a look at the point spread. Already gone up another point. It's seven and a half now. You've got everything on the side of Notre Dame. Here's what I say to this conversation here. Well, guess what, guys? Next guy up. I want the conversation to start to end here with this. People keep asking me, why and when are the Canes going to be back? Well, this is it. We never worried about injuries if Michael Irvin went down because we had superstar players on our roster. And the next guys were supposed to step in and step up. Hey, look, really tough break for the kid because the kid was one of the leading candidates for the Heisman Trophy. And I totally understand this. But, man, if you want to go win a national championship, this is Darian Mensah moment. This is a chance for you to solidify yourself, not only as the Heisman Trophy winner, but potentially also as the number one overall pick in the draft. This is also a moment for Mario Cristobal and his coaching staff. You want to know if the Canes are back? Well, let's see what they do on Saturday. Let's check their performance out on Saturday and how they play without Malachi Tony. Your football team has to be, again, Deep with 85 guys that you can trust, and no question, back in the day, we never worried about injuries. That stuff never was a factor if somebody went out or not, because we knew we were the better roster. We knew we were the better football team. And this is a moment for the Hurricanes on Saturday to show that that program is actually back. Hey, just because you go and take the bar exam doesn't make you a lawyer. Last year, people were like, wow, isn't that great? They got to the national championship game. That doesn't mean you're back, man. That means you are in the moment. Being back is being on a consistent conveyor belt where you're constantly in that spotlight all the time, and it's really kind of a misnomer when you're not in that spotlight. So this is a moment on Saturday. Now, on the other hand, for Notre Dame, what's your excuses? No Malachi, Tony. You're at home. Everyone's saying you're going to win. This is a Notre Dame moment. Hey, you were 11th in the recent college football rankings. 11th, that means you're outside the party right now. Well, guess what? Here's your moment. There's no excuses now for Marcus Freeman and his guys. Man, if I was a player in this football game for the Hurricanes, I couldn't wait for Saturday to control my energy, to be able to go out and stand out in a crowd. This is why you go to UM. This is why you go to Notre Dame. For moments like this, to go out and stand out in that crowd. I don't want to hear excuses about players going down. Go play 60 minutes of football. Go show you're the better team in the country. A lot of people are questioning both teams' schedules. Take a look at the schedules. They're not Southeastern Conference schedules. I happen to agree with that. Look at the players and people that they've played on that schedule. That's not. A daunting schedule that they've played. Well, you got Notre Dame this weekend. Well, go play. And let's go play 60 minutes. Both teams. I don't want to hear any excuses. Hey, come Monday when we go on the air and we're talking to you, I don't want to hear, well, Miami didn't have Malachi Tony. Well, then you're not a top-flight program if you're relying on one kid. I get it. Those guys make differences and can change the game for you. But no question, you've got to go play a football game on Saturday with or without the kid. You can't sit there and lick your wounds on it and say, well, you know, we really didn't have all of our bullets in our gun. That's not championship football. When we were playing for Jimmy Johnson, that stuff never mattered. We knew we were champions because of the players we had in our locker room. This goes for both sides of the football. No excuses for Notre Dame, and there are no excuses for the Hurricanes. You want to prove that you're a championship team and a caliber team to go win the national championship? This is a moment that you have to go out and do it.