The Hurricanes’ secondary will face one of its toughest tests of the year in Tallahassee on Saturday, and they will approach it with cornerbacks that have been banged up recently.

Starting corners Jaden Davis and Daryl Porter Jr. both left Miami’s loss to N.C. State with injuries. Coach Mario Cristobal said Davis is fine, and the staff is optimistic about Porter playing. But the challenge of facing star wide receivers Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson will be a difficult one regardless.

“They create problems, but they create problems for everybody,” UM defensive coordinator Lance Guidry said. “So I promise you a guy with a ‘U’ on his helmet will be out there covering both of them. We’re going to battle.”

Davis and Porter have been a solid tag-team for the Hurricanes this season. Both are transfers with South Florida roots. Davis starred at Fort Lauderdale’s St. Thomas Aquinas and went to Oklahoma, while Porter was a standout at Plantation’s American Heritage and originally played for West Virginia.

Porter arrived as a transfer before the 2022 season and served in a reserve role, while Davis came to UM before this season.

Davis has 32 tackles with a sack and four pass deflections. He has two forced fumbles, and his 91.1 pass-rushing grade from Pro Football Focus is No. 4 among college cornerbacks with 100 snaps. He has a 76.9 defensive grade with a 72.9 coverage grade.

Porter has 21 tackles with three pass deflections, and he has a UM secondary-leading 78.9 defensive grade with a 77.7 coverage grade.

Both cornerbacks came out of the game in the second quarter on Saturday. Fourth-year junior Davonte Brown came in first for Porter. His younger brother, Damari, came in for Davis.

Both brothers had a pair of tackles each, but Damari Brown graded out higher. He earned a 71.5 defensive grade, while Davonte Brown had a 54.3 grade.

“I thought they played well,” Guidry said. “The Brown brothers came in. (Jadais) Richard came in for a little bit. The younger Brown did really good. It’s good that we got those guys in there. You always want to play a lot of guys, but sometimes the situations don’t allow it. Sometimes your hand is forced where you have to play them like the other night. Luckily, they were ready to play.”

Damari Brown is a highly touted freshman. Like his older brother, he went to American Heritage and was rated a four-star prospect. He has played 104 defensive snaps this season and has five tackles.

“He’s just growing, maturing, growing his football IQ from high school to college and just playing,” cornerback Te’Cory Couch said. “He’s a young guy, so he don’t really care too much. He just goes out there and plays. Young, confident and just hungry and ready to make plays. I feel like he’s been doing a great job throughout the entire season just being a sponge and soaking up everything he can from everybody, whether it’s me, Kam (Kinchens), Jaden Davis, James Williams. Just soaking it up from everybody, especially the coaches, so that’s good to see. I’m just looking forward to seeing him continue to grow and see how he does this weekend.”

Coleman and Wilson missed FSU’s win against Pittsburgh last week due to injuries, and both returned to practice Tuesday.

Miami would like to have Davis and Porter lining up against Coleman (538 receiving yards, nine touchdowns) and Wilson (415 receiving yards, two touchdowns), but if they don’t, Couch said the team has a “next-man-up” mentality.

“If those guys are able to go, they’re able to go,” Couch said. “But it’s always next-man-up mentality. I feel like Damari and Davonte did a great job last week, and they’ll be ready to go this week. We’re just excited for the challenge to go against these good receivers that Florida State has.”