11/03/2026 01:11:00
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11/03 13:09 CST Malachi Toney vs. Leonard Moore is the showdown within the
Miami vs. Notre Dame showdown
Malachi Toney vs. Leonard Moore is the showdown within the Miami vs. Notre Dame
showdown
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) --- There's a subplot to No. 1 Miami vs. No. 4 Notre
Dame this weekend.
It's Malachi Toney vs. Leonard Moore.
And that matchup might be just as noteworthy to college football fans as the
Hurricanes and Fighting Irish squaring off with huge College Football Playoff
implications.
Toney is the star wide receiver and dazzling Heisman Trophy candidate for the
top-ranked Hurricanes (8-0), the go-to guy for the nation's best offense. Moore
is the lockdown cornerback and quite possibly the top defensive player on a
Fighting Irish (7-1) team that happens to have the top-ranked defense in the
country. The teams meet Saturday night at Notre Dame Stadium.
"I think if you ask both kids, they're looking forward to playing against elite
talent," Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said. "I think guys like
that appreciate people that master their craft the way the other one does. I
don't know Leonard like I obviously know Mali, but there's a very humble
approach to this game. He's an elite player but he also appreciates elite
competitiveness. ... You're going to get people's respect when you're that
level player."
The mutual admiration from both sides was evident this week.
"He's as good as there is out there," Dawson said of Moore.
Added Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, when asked about Toney: "He's one of
one."
Toney's college debut came last season against Notre Dame in a 27-24 Miami
victory that ultimately decided which team got the last at-large spot in the
CFP field three months later. Toney had six catches for 82 yards and a
touchdown --- the one that opened the scoring.
Freeman didn't know much about Toney going into that game, other than he was
still just 17 and should have been going into his senior year of high school.
Toney reclassified to enter college a year early.
"Then you see him live, in person, and you go ?Oh my gosh, he is the real
deal,'" Freeman said. "And he wasn't known on a college level --- but after
that game he was. He's athletic, he's fast, he runs good routes, he is
competitive. And as you've watched him, he has even improved this year."
Entering this week, nobody in college football has more catches than Toney's
182 since the start of last season. His next catch will give him outright
possession of the No. 2 spot on Miami's all-time list; he's currently tied
there with Mike Harvey, 18 catches behind school record-holder Xavier
Restrepo's 200.
Toney isn't making much of the potential 1-on-1 matchup.
"It's an opportunity to get better," he said Tuesday. "That's what it is."
Toney wears jersey No. 1; Moore wears jersey No. 15. The real story is No. 1
vs. No. 4, but 1 vs. 15 carries plenty of weight.
How much is Miami quarterback Darian Mensah looking forward to the matchup?
"Massively," Mensah said. "It's a huge opportunity for 1 to go out and put on a
show. I think he's done it all year. Obviously, 15 is a great player and he's
going to win some plays."
Moore was a unanimous All-American selection last season and has done nothing
to suggest he won't be one again in 2026. He has seven interceptions and 23
pass breakups in his career; on the surface, they might not seem like huge
numbers, but they become exceptional when considering that teams rarely try to
test him.
"He is as gifted in his toolbox as I've been around," Freeman said. "His
toolbox is extremely large. He has a skill set to be able to play corner and
play nickel, and I truly believe he could play safety. That's the type of
player he is. Mentally he can handle it, and physically. And that's why he's
considered --- if not the top --- one of the top players in the country."
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