MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — A few months into his tenure at Miami, Mario Cristobal pitched a vision for the program to a slew of high-profile recruits.
The foundation of one of the most dominant forces of the last 40 years in college football was almost nonexistent. The Hurricanes produced just a single draft pick that spring, a seventh-rounder who failed to play a down in the NFL that year. Miami came up short in big games with questionable quarterback play and talent that never fully developed.
Cristobal sold like he never sold before. Despite a handful of fleeting moments of glory in the past two decades, The U was going to return to its proper place in the sport’s pecking order and he knew just how it was going to happen.
“I remember sitting outside of Hard Rock with Rueben Bain and a bunch of other guys,” Cristobal said. “You know, our starting point was very low so we’re getting our butts kicked all over the place. … I just said, We will be playing in those big-time games and looking like what Miami should look like.”
On Sunday night, that vision finally became reality as No. 10 Miami beat No. 6 Notre Dame 27–24, the Hurricanes’ first top 10 win since 2017.
The Hurricanes were fast, with the skill-position players darting all over the field from impressive freshman receiver Malachi Toney (team-high six catches for 82 yards and a touchdown) to potential first-round pick Bain crashing down off the edge for any number of quarterback pressures.
They were physical, with an offensive line built up and mauling—carrying running back Marty Brown into the end zone with a rugby scrum in the first half.
They also showed off the trademark swagger, forcing two turnovers to keep the recent College Football Playoff runners-up on their heels and break a streak of eight straight losses against teams ranked in the top 10.
“That was a muddy and bloody night,” Cristobal said. “I mean, all night, that thing was like Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots.”
That old-school reference was apt on a night where nostalgia enveloped the stadium. shirts dotted the flooded parking lots. Leprechauns quite literally danced around muddy puddles. Jimmy Johnson fired up the record crowd of 66,793 just before kickoff by sounding the Hurricanes siren while Jim Kelly, Michael Irvin and Ray Lewis were among the slew of Hall of Famers in attendance constantly shown throwing up The U.
This was the type of environment Cristobal wanted. It appears he finally has a team capable of making it a regular occurrence.
“It’s been a long process that we had been trying to get the team to where we are now,” Bain said. “Really seeing how we grew, it means so much.”
The most noticeable difference showed up on defense, which has been significantly revamped under new coordinator Corey Hetherman. Miami was tied for last in the ACC in plays of 50 or more yards allowed last season but gave up only one Sunday, a coverage bust that Irish tight end Eli Raridon took 65 yards into the red zone to set up a fourth-quarter touchdown.
The Hurricanes also allowed over 31 points per game down the stretch last season, coinciding with a 1–3 slide that kept them out of the ACC championship game and the CFP. Notre Dame came in well under that mark. Miami also clamped down on star tailback Jeremiyah Love (14 touches, 59 total yards) and harassed new starting quarterback CJ Carr out of the pocket often to hold him to 221 yards passing and two touchdowns. He also had a hand in both of his team’s turnovers.
Meanwhile, Miami didn’t seem to break much of a sweat integrating new pieces into its offense. Ex-Georgia quarterback Carson Beck threw for two touchdowns in his first game taking over for recent No. 1 NFL draft pick Cam Ward. Though he was rusty coming back from the UCL injury he suffered in the SEC championship game, he completed 65% of his passes and was timely in creating extra time in the pocket to spray the ball to seven different receivers. That included a highlight-reel one-handed catch by CJ Daniels with 12 seconds left in the first half.
“Ultimately, winning football games, especially close ones like tonight when we’re playing against a talented team like that, it usually comes down to those [critical] situations,” Beck said. “We got it done. And I’m just so excited and thankful for the opportunity.”
There will be plenty more to come, especially with a schedule that features a suddenly interesting matchup against USF at Hard Rock Stadium in two weeks before No. 15 Florida comes to town. A trip to Tallahassee looms after that and looks like an even tougher rivalry game than expected following Florida State’s upset of No. 8 Alabama on Saturday.
Win those, as the team proved it is capable of with the victory over Notre Dame, and finally getting over the hump to make the playoff becomes a very real possibility.
If there’s anything that can throw a dash of water on such chatter, it rests solely on the architect: Cristobal.
The head coach is in his 14th full season in charge of a program, but some of the issues he has in managing games were on full display Sunday. They are enough to give you pause that The U is back and ready to challenge for national titles again.
The Hurricanes twice blew double-digits leads and had a nervous final two drives—going three-and-out to take just 50 seconds off the clock after Notre Dame gained some momentum—before needing a game-winning 47-yard field goal in wet conditions by new kicker Carter Davis.
Miami also inexplicably suffered a delay-of-game penalty coming out of halftime, needed to take an early timeout on a punt return and was flagged for a number of penalties in the second half after playing mostly clean football early on. It did not wind up costing them, but these miscues will need to be cleaned up.
“The resiliency, the complementary football [helped in] overcoming a couple of hiccups and what not,” Cristobal said. “But all in all, this was an awesome, awesome night for the Miami Hurricanes. You know the old saying, these are heavyweight bouts. Rounds 11 through 15 are going to separate the winners and the guys that don’t win.”
Cristobal now has some tangible proof to start selling the next wave of recruits that his Hurricanes are capable of beating elite programs.
It’s also on him to make sure he’s the reason why—Instead of being the reason why not—such nostalgic nights are much more commonplace, so the outside world believes The U is back as much as Cristobal does.
