MIAMI – They call him Baby Jesus, and it's about what you'd think. No peer, no fear.
"I don't feed into it," saysMalachi Toney.
It's too late for that.
He got it when he was 8, playing peewee ball in the legendary South Floridayouth football leagues— where cash is openly wagered and young legends like Bennie Blades and Lamar Jackson and Anquan Boldin were made.
But Toney, Miami's electric freshman wide receiver, was unlike any other. The rare reputation following each move in weight class, and all the way through high school football.
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Then he reclassified early, skipped his senior season of high school, signed with Miami and arrived on the campus in Coral Gables when he was all of 17.
"I'm man of faith," says Miami offensive lineman Frances Mauigoa. "To be called Baby Jesus? I had to see this."
Then Mauigoa watched Toney practice, and a month later the season began ― with another believer.
Or a team full of them.
"Ridiculous," said Miami quarterbackCarson Beck. "Never seen anything like him. He can do whatever he wants on the field."
Except one thing. So after the celebration of beating Notre Dame in the season opener, after Toney scored in his first college game and was already the best player on the field, he found Canes offensive line coach Alex Mirabal in the post-game locker room.
"He wanted to know if I could help him block better," Mirabal said. "He's never satisfied."
That's why Toney stays on the field in 12 personnel (two tight ends), why he plays like an H-back in some run formations as a motion receiver and seeks out safeties at the point of attack. He was on the field in Miami's final five-minute, run-oriented drive to beat defending national champion Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Cotton Bowl quarterfinal.
Not because he's the most dynamic player this side of Jeremiah Smith — whose Miami Gardens Vikings played against Toney's Washington Park Bucs in that same youth league (imagine the cash wagered on those games) — but because Miami needed to run clock and run the ball effectively.
And Toney blocks better than any non-offensive lineman on the team.
So add that to a player who is a catch away from 100 heading intoMonday's CFP national championship game against No. 1 Indiana. To a player who, at 5-10, 183 pounds, runs between the tackles as a Wildcat quarterback and has dragged defenders into the end zone.
"Should be in high school right now," said Miami safety Keionte Scott. "That's the craziest thing of all."
Toney showed up on campus at 160 pounds, and at one point this season was close to 190 pounds. He's the fastest player on the team, and bench presses nearly 300 pounds. He squats more than 500.
But the obsessive desire to be better, to get better, didn't hit overdrive until a key fumble during his sophomore season in high school. When he decided to adopt the "Gables" mentality.
You better believe he knows all about theCanes of the past, the teams that ruled college football well before he was even born. Knows all about what they sacrificed to make it happen.
That picture of him with former Miami coach Mark Richt floating around social media? It's thereal deal. Been locked on playing for Miami all of his life.
His Gables mentality, the road to get to Coral Gables and play for the Canes, is simple.
"It's a lifestyle," Toney said. "With everything that you do, you just have to know that nobody will have sympathy for you."
Or as Miami strength and conditioning coach Ervin Young says, "Nobody cares. Work harder."
It's what the smallest boy on the field in the youth football league did. It's what the 150-pound wide receiver at American Heritage Prep did, too.
When Heritage's starting quarterback was hurt early in the playoffs, Toney stepped in and ran the offense over the last three games — and won a state championship.
And just in case Indiana is interested, he has completed 4-of-7 passes for 82 yards and two touchdowns this season. But hasn't thrown a pass in two previous CFP games.
"You never know," Toney said. "We may have to show 'em something."
Why not? Baby Jesus can do just about anything.
Matt Hayesis the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at@MattHayesCFB.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Miami freshman Malchi Toney is so good, they call him "Baby Jesus'
