The No. 5 Miami Hurricanes are 2-0 going after taking out former-No. 6 Notre Dame the opening weekend of college ball, and they followed up the upset with a business-as-usual, clinical dissection of Bethune-Cookman this past weekend.
Next up; a home showdown against undefeated, No. 13 South Florida—the Bulls fresh off an upset of the former-No. 15 Florida Gators after taking out No. 25 Boise State in their season opener.
Now-unranked Florida heads south next week; Miami’s final home game of this stretch, before hitting the road for the first time this fall, taking on No. 10 Florida State in Tallahassee—both Sunshine State teams with a shot to be undefeated if the Hurricanes take care of business these next two weeks and the Seminoles can win pedestrian showdowns against Kent State and Virginia.
The day before Miami took it to Notre Dame in a 27-24 nowhere-near-as-close-as-the-score sold out match-up at HardRock, unranked Florida State put itself back on the map with a home upset of No. 8 Alabama, 31-17—the Crimson Tide a shell of the program Nick Saban left behind almost two years ago; whipped in trenches, undisciplined and half-assing it up and down the field in such a manner that it looked like the Saban era end years ago, not months back.
College football perceptions becoming reality, as well as preseason hype and narratives getting blown-up overnight—it takes some real discipline, logic and reason as fans, pundits and bystanders work to make sense of all that’s taken place a few weeks into a new season.
Loyalists pundits and critics spend the off-season building storylines in their heads; much a direct result of limited or biased information—outside of what one might know regarding a specific teams, or conference—and then it gets put it through a filter that is influenced by what is absorbed via podcasts, read on social media or bought and sold when talking heads sway the thinking.
CANES VS. IRISH: THE STORYLINE
Take the narrative surrounding Notre Dame going into a new year; the Irish living off the currency they’d built up last fall with a 14-2 season and a deep College Football Playoffs run that saw them losing the national championship to Ohio State.
Marcus Freeman became the latest, do-no-wrong, hot-shit new head coach—and despite all off-season losses, a universal belief that Notre Dame was going to somehow be better this year—taking out Miami in the opener, en route to what should be another CFP run and banner season in South Bend.
The Irish were going to whip the Hurricanes in the trenches, while getting after Carson Beck all night—the Georgia transfer deemed damaged goods by the critics—and it was going to be Notre Dame running the ball down Miami’s throat all night, as Jeremiyah Love had been deemed the all-everything back this season; an unstoppable force in 2025, despite myth replacing reality last fall.
There was no way true freshman Malachi Toney—or any of these new Hurricanes receivers—were going to win any battles against Notre Dame’s world-class secondary; the lack of any passing game making it impossible for Miami to get Mark Fletcher, Jordan Lyle and the ground game going … third-stringer ChaMar Brown also an afterthought; no way a North Dakota State transfer would be ready for prime time.
The rest was history.
The Canes kicked Irish ass up and own both lines, while Fletcher set an early tone on the ground. Beck was surgical in the passing game, Toney had a real-time breakout on national television and CJ Daniels hauled in the pass of the year, pushing the lead to 14-7 before halftime.
Notre Dame wasn’t supposed to miss a beat on defense; Chris Ash replacing NFL-bound coordinator Al Golden in the off-season—while Corey Hetherman certainly couldn’t get that side of the ball cleaned up by kickoff against the Irish. Remember that 1-3 skid and losses to Georgia Tech, Syracuse and Iowa State last year?
The former, one-year Minnesota defensive coordinator with the maniacal stare and dead-eyed scowl; he was really going to slow down Notre Dame and that offense that just ran roughshod over Indiana, Georgia and Penn State in the post-season?
Yup, pretty much—again, because this year isn’t last year—and as it’s been mentioned here for weeks now; Mario Cristobal and Miami went into the lab immediately following that loss to Syracuse and started rebuilding for 2025; a painful reminder that defense wins championships in Coral Gables and a high-octane offense is meaningless if the other side of the ball can’t stop a sneeze.
The Irish supposedly weren’t going to miss a beat with redshirt freshman CJ Carr stepping in for Riley Leonard—and while Carr showed more poise than the average college football fan might’ve expected, the callous diminishment of 184 well-timed carries for 906 yards and 17 touchdowns that Riley produced last year; chalk another one up to senior leadership, game experience and the poise that comes with a storied resume.
That in itself is what made so much of the manufactured Beck storyline so hard to swallow; the TMZ-like coverage and complete diminishment of a five-year run in Athens, where he spent a few years as a backup to Stetson Bennett on two national championship teams, before taking over and putting together his own 24-3 resume.
Beck fell short of an SEC Championship after a banner 2023 season—one that was good enough to have him talked about as the first pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, before Georgia backslid as a whole last year; suspect offensive line play, the 202nd-ranked ground game and receivers leading the NCAA in drops—the Bulldogs still winning a conference title, though Beck’s injury came prior to halftime in that showdown with Texas, which caused the ripple effect that ultimately brought him to Coral Gables.
As has been said ad nauseam, had Beck stayed at Georgia—or taken Alabama up on their offer—he’d have been the ultimate comeback story this season.
Instead, he turned his back in the SEC for the ACC and one final year in Miami and as a result, the entire narrative around him shifted—to the point too many simpletons were shocked when he showed out and balled against Notre Dame, before picking apart Bethune-Cookman in what was effectively a preseason tune-up for the Canes.
CANES IMPROVING, EVEN WITH TURNOVER
Cam Ward has left the building; making his NFL debut days back in a loss at Denver—but his special brand of fearless quarterback play was on display and it was again no wonder why he was a man against boys running Miami’s offense last year; making all of those around him look better than they arguably were, considering wide receivers Xavier Restrepo, Jacolby George, Sam Brown and running back Damian Martinez were all been relegated to practice squads when roster cuts were made weeks back.
Of course this in itself was another off-season whiff; this belief that the Canes were cooked without Ward—instead of realizing this would just be a retooled unit that played to its new strengths; the offensive line even more veteran, the running backs room deeper and a new wide receiver crop infinitely more talented than the crew Miami rolled out last year; experience the only difference as this bunch is a mix of veteran transfers and future young stars who will soon make a name for themselves.
There’s a contingent who loves to trash Cristobal at every turn; digs for a couple midseason Pac-12 games lost to lesser foes over the years, as well as some early gaffes at Miami—barrels laughter and openly mocking the established head coach for machismo getting the better of him with a refusal to not take a knee in an unthinkable late minute comeback by Georgia Tech.
These same folks talk about Cristobal as micromanager of his coordinators, or killer of his quarterbacks—gripes from years back where he went more run-heavy on offense despite having Justin Herbert under center at Oregon—which ironically will continue in Los Angeles this year as Jim Harbaugh does the same, as the Brandon Staley era of having Herbert chuck it all over the yard before Staley was canned late in a dismal 5-9 season in 2023.
Cristobal gave offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson so much autonomy with Ward during the 2024 season, he went away from his own Saban-influenced core values of run-heavy football, trench warfare and wearing down opponents late—a style of ball where quarterbacks were there to move the chains and make some clutch throws when opposing defenses over-focused on stopping the ground attack.
Of course that is what brings us to the identity of this Miami Hurricanes squad in 2025; a well-balanced, mature, headstrong and disciplined team that is going to patiently and methodically wear opponents down—while taking well-earned shots when they are there.
Much was made late in the Notre Dame game about Miami going “conservative” late—despite it being game one against a stout Irish offense, with Beck starting his first game and feeding the rock to a bunch of new receivers he didn’t have the benefit of throwing to in spring.
Yes, it could be said that Miami was running it inside the tackles often late—and that there could’ve been a little more creativity there—but in the same breath, you had Fletcher and Brown damn-near falling for six yards on these first down runs; the result of the Hurricanes imposing their will and wearing down the Irish late.
Miami looked like it was about to break things open after a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive took 7:37 off the clock, pushing the lead to 21-7—followed by the defense taking the field and forcing an three-and-out after the Irish attempted three passes with Carr that fell incomplete.
Brown again fell for six for Miami, Beck hooked up with Daniels for a three-yard gain—and it was back to Brown on 3rd-and-1, where the back cut left on the wet field, lost his footing and what could’ve been a dagger of a drive flamed out.
11 plays later, Notre Dame was in the end zone—offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock opening things up and letting Carr do his best Riley, running the ball more—which opened up a massive 26-yard hook-up with Malachi Fields; a perfectly-placed ball OJ Frederique couldn’t have played better.
Miami stalls out on one bad play; Notre Dame comes alive on one of their own—and that’s how would-be 28-7 ball games between two heavyweights can immediately interesting at 21-14.
The Canes started the next drive with Fletcher again rolling for six, but a bogus hold on Anez Cooper on second down put Miami in a 2nd-and-14—even more egregious with the no-call on DeVonta Smith, who mugged Toney on the play.
Beck found Toney underneath for seven and set up a manageable 3rd-and-7—the pocket collapsing as he dropped back to pass—giving the Irish their first sack of the game.
A suspect hold on Miami, a no-call on Notre Dame and a well-timed take down—again, nothing conservative—just back-to-back drives with ill-timed breakdowns.
WINNING THROUGH STRENGTH AND GRIT
At worst, Cristobal can get blamed for settling for a field goal after the Rueben Bain interception—but look at the flip side and how a late turnover changed the course of the game, when Carr chose wrong on the RPO and tried to force a pass into coverage. Miami wanted to avoid that fate and Beck jamming a pass in for a young receiver in a close game—giving the Irish momentum; it was their calling card for success last season.
Look at Notre Dame’s last game at HardRock, where they outlasted Penn State in the semifinals—another 27-24 ball game they landed on the right side of.
The Irish were down 10-0 early to the Nittany Lions, 17-10 later in the game and 24-17 late, before tying things up 24-24 on a 54-yard deep ball from Leonard with just under five minutes to play.
In a game that seemed destined or overtime with half a minute remaining, Christian Gray picked off Drew Allar; the Irish needing six plays and 15 seconds to set-up a game-winning field goal.
Cristobal and this staff know how Notre Dame has a penchant for hanging around and making plays to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat—and with a running game that was picking up six yards for first down every time Miami ran the ball and won at the line of scrimmage, how much an anyone really fault play calling in game one against a foe like this?
Even with that, Miami still took deep shots—against Gray, no less—the Canes starting their final scoring drive with a nine-yard pass to Daniels and a four-yard run from Brown, setting up a new set of downs from the UM 38-yard line. On the next play, Beck went deep to Keelan Marion for what would’ve been a dagger of a touchdown—Gray yanking down the BYU transfer, drawing the flag—and a play later, Beck fired at Josh Moore, where Gray got away with a hand on the back and potentially another flag.
Regardless, Miami did what these new-look Canes do—they imposed their will, ran the ball and set-up a game-winning field goal—turning the defensive loose on Notre Dame’s final possession and sacking Carr twice to end the game; sending a message that it’s going to be a different brand of football in Coral Gables this fall.
LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE MASTER
Cristobal spent four seasons in Tuscaloosa under Saban—2013 through 2016—where the Crimson Tide went 51-6, winning a national title, losing one and picking up a few SEC Championships along the way; the future Miami head coach learning the blueprint and effectively receiving a master’s degree from the greatest college coach of all time.
Build up the trenches, run the football, minimize offensive mistakes, break opponents wills late and do so with a discipline and focus that allows you to out-will your opponents—all of which are very on-brand for a former offensive lineman like Cristobal, who is looking for substance and grit more than trying to win with flash and sizzle.
As exciting as last season was watching Ward play magician, the lack of defense is what created that very toxic “Cardiac Canes” moniker—which created an unwanted roller coaster of emotions, as Miami found itself in a position where it needed to score every drive—or forced to play from behind, to abandon the run and to put games squarely on Ward’s shoulders, needing him to save the day.
Of course the issue with that process; the inevitable fact that even the best offenses in the land can have dry spells—which is how Georgia Tech took Miami out of its game, grinding out their 28-23 victory–as well as losing focus after that 21-0 start at Syracuse; refusing to run and slow the game down as the Orange railed back to outscore the Canes, 42-17 down the stretch.
Cristobal is a two-time champion who knows that defense wins championships—another calling card for Alabama in the Saban era—which is why Hetherman hitting the ground running and proving to be the perfect fit calling the shots on that side of the ball has been so welcomed early-on.
As has Miami’s clinical, all business approach offensively the first two games of the season; the no-frills, get-it-done win over Bethune-Cookman proving to be a masterclass in effectiveness, doing everything right and just playing the game without any gimmicks or style points.
While Alabama was trying to get back on the horse and distract from their opening loss at Florida State—putting a 73-0 pasting on Louisiana-Monroe—the Seminoles tossed up their video game numbers against East Texas A&M, rolling to a 77-3 victory as they work tirelessly to get 2-10 out of everybody’s mind from last year and prove themselves to pollsters early in 2025.
Miami racked up its 543 total yards, while Beck was a cool 22-of-24 for 267 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers—while the Hurricanes as a whole just have a complete look and feel to them right now that this program hasn’t felt in a while.
There’s a level of professionalism that comes from an elder statesman quarterback and some other older transfers who have brought everything they’ve learned in half a decade of college ball to a program in the brink of greatness.
The work being put in, the camaraderie, the extra effort to break down film and to perfect things that require perfection; it is crystal clear that Cristobal is working to create a Saban-like culture of accountability, hard work, focus and discipline that hasn’t been a part of Miami’s brand since the end of the Butch Davis era and that 2000 era comeback season.
SABAN’S HARD-NOSED YEAR-NINE PATH
Look at all that Saban lost going into that 2015 national championship season; T.J. Yeldon, Amari Cooper and Landon Collins all declaring early for the NFL Draft—Alabama relying heavily on the ground game of future Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry, running hard behind that stacked offensive line—while quarterback Jake Coker quietly racked up 3,110 yards, throwing for 26 touchdowns with nine interceptions.
Alabama wasn’t murdering lesser foes that year and running up style points; they simply went out and took care of business—a 37-10 win over Middle Tennessee State, or 34-0 shutout of the same Louisiana-Monroe program that Kalen DeBoer piled on last weekend to prove a point.
The Crimson Tide took out No. 8 Georgia, 38-10 and outlasted No. 2 LSU, 30-16.
Against No. 18 Florida in the SEC Championship, an effective enough 29-15 win to put Alabama as a two-seed in the College Football Playoff, where they went on to take out No. 1 Clemson, 45-40 for another title.
Look back at Coker’s numbers in some of those wins; 11-of-16 for 190 yards and a touchdown against Georgia, or 18-of-24 for 184 yards and no touchdowns against LSU—playing smart, mistake-free football.
The one loss that year? Coker was 21-of-45 for 210 yards and three touchdowns—but had two interceptions in that 43-37 stumble against No. 15 Ole Miss—mistakes defining the game while then-offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin got away from Saban’s formula.
Again, none of this is to say Cristobal is the second-coming of Saban or that this Miami team is slated to win a natty ten years after Alabama did what they did with this style of play—but one would also be remised to not believe that there are elements of this team and Crimson Tide season that stuck with Cristobal from his time in Tuscaloosa.
That 2015 Alabama team doesn’t make any greatest-of-all-time college football lists when past champions are compared—2019 LSU deemed the the team of that decade, due to a high-flying offense and style points—while their defense was suspect and they’re giving up 38 to Texas, 38 to Vanderbilt, 41 to Alabama, 37 to Ole Miss and the 28 and 25 in the CFP to Oklahoma and eventually Clemson for the natty.
Ed Orgeron rolled to 15-0 in yea three with that loaded roster—a year later he went 5-5 during the wonky COVID season of 2020 and then 6-7 in 2021, before LSU ran him off—a one-year success, without building a culture or system built to last.
Conversely, Saban won two more national championships over the next five seasons after his 2015 run—retiring from Alabama with six rings for the Crimson Tide and a 201-29 run over 17 years in Tuscaloosa.
CRISTOBAL HAS HIS PROCESS IN YEAR FOUR
As this fourth season for Cristobal continues to unfold in Miami, a reminder of who he is, where he came from, what he learned, who is mentors were and how he landed on his process, with such a focus on building back up his version of Hurricanes culture.
The mantra has been the same since the off-season; one-at-a-time and a dozen one-game seasons as Miami refuses to get ahead of itself. The Hurricanes are built to handle what is directly in front of them and to attack the situation of the week; as failing the present challenge destroys future goals and dreams.
South Florida is on deck this weekend; their upset of Florida being labeled a “wake-up call” for Miami.
News flash; this game would receive the same amount of attention, focus and preparation if the Bulls won by two or got rolled by 20 as the Hurricanes’ goals have nothing to do with Florida’s lack of discipline or South Florida capitalizing late.
Miami knows Byrum Brown can ball, that Alex Golesh can coach and that this game is the Bulls’ national championship game and potential coming-out party.
Cristobal literally knows the challenge and narrative at hand every week, as well as the perception that has become reality regarding him as a coach and Miami as a program—year four the watershed moment he’s been building towards since taking over a dumpster fire in 2022.
Falling short in the manner the Hurricanes did last year; a blessing in disguise—right up through a third-tier bowl game where Ward sat the second half and Cristobal knew he needed to go outside the program to find a replacement—where a freakish injury to Beck paved the road out of Athens and into Coral Gables.
Grit and substance over flash and sizzle; this Miami team is built different and the Canes will meet the moment week in and week out, as there’s simply no other way.
Christian Bello has been covering University of Miami athletics since the mid-nineties. Getting his start with CanesTime, he eventually launched allCanesBlog—which led to a featured columnist stint with BleacherReport. He’s since rolled out the unfiltered, ItsAUThing.com where he’ll use his spare time to put decades of U-related knowledge to use for those who care to read. When he’s not writing about ‘The U’, Bello is a brand storyteller for some exciting companies and individuals—as well as a guitarist and songwriter for his Miami-bred band Company Jones, who released their debut album “The Glow” in 2021. Hit him on Twitter for all things U-related @ItsAUThingBLOG.