What can Bain, Brown, Fletcher, Mauigoa and Joseph do for the U? Apparently, a lot

Going into fall camp, Miami Hurricanes defensive end Rueben Bain made it clear that he was a young man both refreshingly humble and boldly confident.

“I’m at the beginning of my development,’’ said Bain, a former Miami Central phenom. “I haven’t even scratched the surface of my potential, and I’m ready to reveal that on the college level.’’

Same for receiver Nathaniel Ray Ray Joseph, cornerback Damari Brown, right tackle Francis Mauigoa and running back Mark Fletcher.

All are teenage true freshmen. All excelled during fall camp. And all are expected to realize Part I of their lifelong dreams by playing in their first college football game at 7 p.m. Friday (ACC Network) at Hard Rock Stadium in the season opener against the Miami of Ohio Redhawks.

Bain said Wednesday that the “team leaders” have told him to make the most of his opportunities. “I’m just listening to that, really putting my head down and working. I’m all ears for all the information I can get for my first college game. I’m not too big headed thinking I’m too good for anything.”

Former Plantation American Heritage record-breaker Fletcher said after signing his letter of intent in December, “Why not The U? Why not?

“It’s home. The coaches have really been on me since the eighth grade. When things started to fall down, they relied on me to just make the program better again. I told them before I just admired their hunger to get Miami back to the top. They feel like I can really help them do that.

“I want to show the world that I can do that.”

Joseph, the small, speedy, shifty, gifted Miami Edison slot receiver who also vows to bring the U back, was asked to describe his strength.

“My strength? Speed honestly,’’ Joseph said. “Just being able to stretch the defense and run by people, my explosiveness and being able to catch little 5-yard routes and take them the distance.”

Incredible feat

And Mauigoa? Perhaps the most incredible of all, as the 6-6, 342-pound 18-year-old from Ili’ili in American Samoa will take the field on the very first offensive snap of 2023, an almost unheard of phenomenon on this level. Never mind that he has 20.9 percent body fat and holds the UM record for muscle density and front squats 500 pounds. He will undoubtedly, like the others, soak in invaluable experience on the go.

Center Matt Lee gushed about Mauigoa on Wednesday, speaking about his maturity, intelligence and talent and using the words “freak” and “monster” in completely positive ways. The coaches have likewise raved about Mauigoa since the start of spring.

“You’re going to see a lot of them play, that’s the key,’’ new offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said this week of the youngest Canes. “It’s hard to play as a freshman. A lot of those guys have proven in camp that we can trust them and that they can make plays.

“But there’s a threshold of making plays in practice and making plays in games. That’s why when coaches talk about experience, that’s what experience means — that people have made a lot of plays in the games and have banked a lot of reps. We have some guys that haven’t. So, what you can expect is you’re going to have issues. They’re not going to go out there and be perfect. Nobody is perfect. We gotta weather some ups and downs and make more plays than we don’t.”

It should help that Miami of Ohio is a Group of 5 school that belongs to the Mid-American Conference and finished 6-7 in 2023. Then again, the Atlantic Coast Conference Hurricanes, the 16-to-17 1/2-point favorite Friday, finished 5-7 against admittedly a more formidable slate of opponents.

UM coach Mario Cristobal is an equal-opportunity coach. If a freshman has performed better than an upperclassmen leading to the opener, he gets the nod.

“We did a good job in recruiting some high-level talent,’’ Cristobal said of his 2023 recruiting class, ranked seventh by 247Sports behind Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Ohio State, Oklahoma and LSU. “And they know what they’re doing. They’ve been coached well in high school. What they lack is experience, so that part you’ve got to see what happens on game day. That comes with the lights being on and live play and going against experienced guys. It’s an experienced team we’re playing against.

“But our intention is, our plan is, playing all the guys — young or old, been here for awhile or just got here — that have earned the right to play. We’re not just giving away playing time.”

Brotherly advice

Two of the freshmen expected to play Friday have older brothers on the team — Brown, who arrived in the summer after graduating from Plantation American Heritage; and Mauigoa, who arrived in the spring out of IMG Academy.

Brown’s older brother is Davonte, a fourth-year junior UCF cornerback transfer who will start Friday. Mauigoa’s is Francisco, a third-year junior Washington State linebacker transfer who also will start.

Both brothers have spoken to their younger siblings about what to expect in their first game.

“I would say, ‘Just be in the moment, enjoy the experience and have fun,’ Francisco Mauigoa said. “’You got a long way to go and you want to calm yourself down and play the ball.’

“I can remember the first time I was on the field I was nervous and got stuck — you think too much. I would advise the little kids, the freshmen, to play ball and not think too much.”

Francisco said that Francis is handling the situation well. “He’s maturing really quickly and growing fast and he’s thinking like a pro now. I think he’s ready for this.”

Davonte Brown said he expects Damari “to be a little nervous.’’

“I’ll tell him, ‘It’s just football,’’’ Davonte said. “’You’ve been playing this game your whole life so go out there and have fun.’ That’s the most important thing. Don’t be too uptight. Try not to think too much, play to what you see on the field and react.”

‘Jitters’

Fletcher, the tailback, was rated by 247Sports as the nation’s seventh-best 2023 incoming running back. He ran for 4,124 yards on 7.7 yards per carry and 114.6 yards per game his past three years of high school, winning a Class 5A championship in 2019 and again leading American Heritage to the Class 2M title game in December.

“Every freshman is going to have jitters,’’ Fletcher said. “But at the end of the day it’s just football.”

Deen called Fletcher “a truck” and said “it’s hard to find a freshman that can sustain that level of energy and that level of aggression. Man, that dude is a seasoned vet already. And he’ll only get better.’’

As for Joseph, the consensus former four-star prospect rated the nation’s 15th-best incoming receiver, he intends to prove “everything” to “the world.’’

“I’ve been having to prove everything my whole life because of my size,’’ said Joseph, generously listed as 5-10 and 175 pounds, but as hard and devoted a worker as any of his teammates. “I’m just here to show the world what I’m capable of. Just like in the spring game. I went out there and put on a show.”