Mario Cristobal knows the challenge the Miami Hurricanes will face with USF
Mario Cristobal understands the test ahead for his fifth-ranked Miami Hurricanes.
The USF Bulls, who the Hurricanes host on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium (4:30 p.m., the CW), are the current darling of college football after their stellar start to the season. With a convincing 31-7 win over then-No. 25 Boise State on Aug. 30 and then an 18-16 upset over the then-No. 13 Florida Gators in Gainesville on Saturday, USF now looks like the early favorite to be the contender for the Group of 5 conferences’ guaranteed spot in the College Football Playoff.
It’s the first time the Bulls have won back-to-back games against ranked opponents, and they became just the fourth team since the start of the AP poll in 1936 to win its first two games of a season against ranked opponents while being unranked itself.
They’re not unranked anymore. USF vaulted to No. 18 in the AP poll on Sunday, setting up a top-20 matchup for the Hurricanes this weekend.
“They’re probably not ranked high enough, quite honestly,” Cristobal said, “just having played them before and watching the continual development of their roster and their program.”
Cristobal and Miami know first-hand how challenging USF can be. The Hurricanes played the Bulls in Tampa last season and USF gave UM fits early. They took the lead twice in the first half — first 9-7 midway through the first quarter and then 15-14 with 2:39 left in the second quarter — before the Hurricanes scored 36 unanswered points the rest of the way for an eventual 50-15 win.
This USF team still has some of the key pieces from last year’s team that Miami faced, with a dozen returning starters from last season. Most notable among them is quarterback Byrum Brown, who can make plays with both his arm and his legs. Brown threw for 263 yards and one touchdown while rushing for 66 yards on 17 carries against Florida. He hasn’t thrown an interception in nine consecutive games dating back to the 2023 season (Brown only played in six games in 2024 due to injury).
“Everyone talks about how athletic their quarterback is, but no one talks about the fact that he hasn’t thrown an interception in 240-plus attempts,” Cristobal said. “Obviously super accurate. Gets the ball out on time. Can extend plays. Just a special player.”
Added defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman: “I think the hardest thing they have is the extra guy in the run game. That’s where we’re just going to try to figure out how do we take away a gap or who do we add in the fit? ... We’ve gotta make sure we take the quarterback run game away this week.”
USF’s defense, which features a revamped defensive line with three starters added via the transfer portal this offseason, has been strong to start the season as well. The Bulls held Boise State and Florida to a combined 23 points and a 34.48% success rate on third down (10 for 29). Bulls defensive coordinator Todd Orlando worked under Cristobal during Cristobal’s final two years at FIU from 2011-2012.
“They’re a very active, disruptive defense,” Cristobal said. “They carry a very large menu into a game with what they do — multiple fronts, multiple coverages.”
Added offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson: “They’re a highly motivated bunch. They played really hard inside. They plowed the ball. They’re a little bit different than they were last year schematically, with slight adjustments, but he does mix up a lot of coverages. He’ll go cover two at odd times and do some zone pressures at odd times. He does some things to mix up the coverage. It’ll keep a quarterback on his toes, for sure.”
Now, Miami has already faced two different types of tests in its own right to begin the season. The Hurricanes beat Notre Dame 27-24 in a top-10 matchup to begin the season and then handled FCS-level Bethune-Cookman 45-3 on Saturday.
With USF now on the docket, Cristobal’s weekly message remains steadfast that he wants his team to focus on “being where your feet are.” UM has a pair of rivalry games that immediately follow the USF game, with Miami hosting Florida on Sept. 20 and then going to Tallahassee to play Florida State on Oct. 4.
But none of that matters right now. Saturday against an on-the-rise USF team is the only priority.
“If you don’t prepare, you’re going to get your butts kicked,” Cristobal said. “In this particular case, there’s absolutely nothing to say. ... We practice a certain way, we prepare a certain way, and we’ve got to get a hell of a lot better to accomplish the stuff we want to accomplish.”
This story was originally published September 8, 2025 at 4:05 PM.
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