Hurricanes continue building their resume after dismantling giant-slaying USF
The inflection point on Saturday came late in the third quarter.
The Miami Hurricanes’ defense had its back against the wall, with No. 18 USF’s offense finally finding some life and trying to cut into UM’s lead. The Bulls were on the Hurricanes 9 yard line facing fourth and 3, trying to get back to within two scores with plenty of time on the clock to keep their hopes of a third consecutive upset alive.
USF dual-threat quarterback Byrum Brown, whom the Hurricanes had contained for most of the night, kept the ball himself. He had nowhere to go. Rueben Bain and Chase Smith tackled him 2 yards short of the line to gain. Turnover on downs.
“Let’s go put this thing away,” quarterback Carson Beck said.
Six plays later, the Miami offense marched 91 yards down the field capped by Mark Fletcher Jr.’s second rushing touchdown of the night to extend their lead to 29 points with 35 seconds left in the third quarter. Four of the six plays on that drive went for at least 13 yards.
“That’s demoralizing for a defense and a team,” Beck said, “to drive the whole length of the field and punch it in in the fashion that we did. The execution was really good.”
It served as the final dagger in Miami’s eventual 49-12 rout of USF at Hard Rock Stadium, one that took nearly five hours because of an hour and 41 minute weather delay early in the second quarter, and essentially helped the Hurricanes accomplish two tasks at once.
The avoided the narrative of becoming the latest giant slayed by USF, which entered the game with upset wins over Boise State and Florida on its resume.
And it gave UM, which moved up one spot to No. 4 in the latest AP top-25 poll on Sunday, yet another data point of validation that this Hurricanes team looks like a legitimate College Football Playoff contender. Miami is 3-0 with a pair of ranked wins heading into its final non-conference game against the Florida Gators (1-2) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday with ESPN’s College GameDay coming to town next weekend for the matchup.
“Our guys did not want to be a part of the narrative of somebody else’s success, stepping stone kind of season,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said. “That’s been the story all week. There was a lot of motivation going into this thing, besides the fact that they were [a] ranked football team, but it’s an in-state game, and you have to play at your very best because you’re never all the way out of these games.
“Our guys really took it personal to not let anything get in the way of doing their job. Intensity, physicality, urgency and discipline all came together very nicely for us tonight.”
The story inside the Hurricanes’ locker room, though, remained solely on the Hurricanes. They have now put together three consecutive weeks of impressive outings. It started with an upset over Notre Dame, was followed by an expected rout of FCS-level Bethune-Cookman and continued Saturday with a thorough dismantling of a solid USF team.
“Each week, all at the media — no offense to you guys — they just try to big up our opponents,” Fletcher said, “but we just have a faceless opponent. Just worry about Miami Hurricanes football. That’s what we do each play. We just try to win that single play each and every time.”
The latest display came on Saturday.
The Hurricanes put up 576 yards of offense while averaging 8.5 yards per play. Beck completed 23 of 28 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for a fourth. He did throw a pair of interceptions, but the defense held firm on the ensuing drives to keep USF off the board.
Fletcher ran for 120 yards and a pair of touchdowns, marking the second time in his UM career he has hit those marks against a ranked opponent (also against then-No. 9 Louisville as a freshman).
And Miami’s depth at receiver was on display once again, with five players having between 56 and 81 receiving yards. Keelan Marion led the way with six catches for 81 yards, while freshman and former West Broward standout Josh Moore had a pair of first-quarter touchdown receptions.
The defense swarmed Brown and made USF one-dimensional. The Bulls had a season-low 40 rushing yards and were a combined 7 of 21 on third and fourth down. After USF scored on a pair of field goals in the first half to get within 14-6, the Hurricanes held the Bulls off the board on their next seven drives via four three and outs, a Bryce Fitzgerald interception, a Chase Smith fumble recovery and the turnover on downs inside their own 10-yard line while the offense built their lead up to 35-6.
“There’s no weak link,” Beck said.
But they can still get better.
Veteran edge rusher Akheem Mesdior talked about how he broke contain on third and long that led to one of the Bulls’ explosive plays. Linebacker Mohamed Toure said giving up 12 points is “not cool” and that the defense has things it needs to clean up. Beck took ownership of his two interceptions — one that came late in the first half with Miami trying to pad its lead before the break, the second which was tipped by Malachi Toney on its way to its intended target in Tony Johnson.
“We’re motivated to go no matter who we’re playing,” Mesidor said. “We practice the same way every week — film study, preparation, everything. Nothing changes. We’re internally driven and focused on staying humble and improving each game.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2025 at 9:47 AM.
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