Miami will play its annual spring game to conclude spring football practice Friday night. Head Coach Mario Cristobal made it very clear how the organized scrimmage will go based on his comments a day before:

"One versus ones. Twos and three will be more mixed up. There will be guys that are at the two position that deserve reps with the ones, and we will implement that as well. So you'll see a mixed bag, but it'll be even versus even. In other words, if you're on with the ones, you're going to be playing against ones. You're not going to have ones versus twos, I know that's a traditional format around the country. We just have a different philosophy, not right wrong indifferent. That's how we're going to do it. We're going to play good on good, we want to make sure we're getting our best versus our best."

There will be many players that will not play in this game due to injury (Leonard Taylor, Jahfari Harvey, Elijah Arroyo, Tre'Vonte Citizen, Jared Harrison-Hunte, Collins Acheampong, Zion Nelson) and others that will perhaps be held out as they were limited this spring (Frank Ladson, Michael Redding III, James Williams, Akheem Mesidor, Cam McCormick, Corey Flagg Jr.).

With that being said, let's take a look at some of the matchups to watch.

It's clear who the number one wide receiver and number one cornerback is and that's Colbie Young and Davonte Brown. Young came in as a JUCO product last year from Lackawanna College in Scranton, PA and Brown returned home, an American Heritage alum, from UCF via the transfer portal.

Young is 6'5" and 215 pounds and uses his body to shield off defenders to get to the football. Brown is 6'2" and 185 pounds and is crafty and aggressive in nature.

This will be a classic battle for the football because both have shown tremendous ball skills to attack the ball at its highest point.

If Brown wins this battle Saturday night then fans should be very excited about its future number-one corner. If Young wins, then there will be concern on how Brown will fair this season against larger receivers.

In just his true sophomore year, Nyjalik Kelly has arrived. Coaches and players have raved about the local product out of Dillard High School and Friday night should be somewhat of an indicator of how much so.

Jalen Rivers is one of the veterans of the offensive line and kicks out to tackle this season. The Jacksonville area native out of Oakleaf High School was at guard for most of his college career.

Rivers is a technician at 6'5" 325 and will maul his opponent once he locks into the pads. Kelly at 6'4" and 240 pounds, has uncanny quickness and may have the highest ceiling of all the defensive ends on the roster.

If Rivers is able to keep Kelly at bay, then fans should be elated to have a blindside protector for Tyler Van Dyke. If Kelly wins the matchup, then concerns will be raised about Rivers being able to handle athletic defensive ends coming off the edge.

Since we know we will see backup quarterback Jacurri Brown against the second team, according to Cristobal, the second-year man has an opportunity to show how he's grown as a passer.

What may be somewhat unfair is the fact that he will be playing behind the second-team offensive line which is a significant drop-off from the first-team. We will likely see Samson Okunlola, Logan Sagapolu, Ryan Rodriguez, and others against the likes of Jayden Wayne, Ahmad Moten, Thomas Gore, Branson Deen, and others.

The D-Line overall is one of Miami's strongest positions so Brown may still have to use his legs to avoid pressure.

In the defensive backfield, Brown will likely be up against Chris Graves, Markeith Williams, Terry Roberts, and Jaden Harris. Aside from Roberts, this is an inexperienced group but talented nonetheless.

On the flip side, the second team receiving team of Brashard Smith, Nathaniel Joseph, Riley Williams, and Robby Washington should help Brown move the football down the field.

If Brown is able to execute and put points on the board, this will instill confidence in himself, the coaching staff, and fans that the ship will not sink if TVD goes down with an injury as he did in 2022. But if Brown sputters against the second team it will be a big cause for concern moving forward.

The spring game is scheduled for a 7:30 PM eastern kickoff at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, FL on April 14th.

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