The honors keep coming for the Hurricanes’ biggest stars
The Sporting News released its 2025 college football All-America teams Wednesday, and Miami walked away with four players making the cut — two on the first team and two on the second. Offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa and defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr. landed on the first team, while edge rusher Akheem Mesidor and wide receiver Malachi Toney claimed second-team honors.
That quartet covers the roster’s backbone: Mauigoa sets the edge for a run game that punished fronts all fall; Bain and Mesidor wreck protections from different alignments; and Toney turned Saturday afternoons into a weekly track meet for defensive backs.
Mauigoa’s first-team nod rewards the work Miami’s offensive line put on tape. The Hurricanes piled up 2,456 rushing yards, averaged 188.9 per game and ripped off 5.7 yards per carry, with 30 rushing touchdowns. Defenders rarely held the point when No. 61 dug in.
Awards voters kept circling back to Mauigoa during the postseason. The Sporting News selection gave him another first-team All-America line on a résumé already stacked with major recognition, including first-team honors from the Associated Press and the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
Bain joined Mauigoa on the first team after another year of violence off the edge. Bain finished with 37 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, plus a forced fumble, an interception and two pass breakups.
Mesidor grabbed second-team recognition after thriving in the Miami rotation. He produced 46 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and seven sacks, and he forced four fumbles. Mesidor stacked multiple tackles for loss in five games, a snapshot of the steady pressure he generated through conference play.
Toney rounded out the list with a second-team spot that felt inevitable by midseason. The freshman caught 84 passes for 970 yards and seven touchdowns and led all FBS freshmen in receptions. He also set a Miami freshman receiving-yard record, topping Ahmmon Richards’ 934, and reached that mark in the regular-season finale at Pitt. The Sporting News honor added another second-team All-America citation for a debut season that already rewrote parts of the record book.
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