College GameDay praises Hurricanes, Cristobal ahead of game vs upset-minded USF
The fifth-ranked Miami Hurricanes on Saturday are looking to avoid being the third consecutive team to be upset by the No. 18 USF Bulls (4:30 p.m., the CW).
Nick Saban, the legendary Alabama Crimson Tide coach turned ESPN analyst, likes Miami’s chances of taking the win at home and ending USF’s early Cinderella run to the 2025 season.
Speaking on College GameDay from Knoxville, Tennessee, where the No. 15 Tennessee Volunteers are hosting the No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs, Saban made his thoughts on the matchup known. This includes how he likes what Miami has done so far in Year 4 under coach Mario Cristobal through the first two weeks of the season — with an upset win over then-No. 6 Notre Dame and a rout of FCS-level Bethune-Cookman.
“The Bulls aren’t going to sneak up on anybody else,” Saban said, “but I do like this Miami team. I think their defense is a lot better. [Quarterback] Carson Beck is doing an outstanding job. They’re physical. They can run the ball. They have good offensive line. I really like this Miami team. I think Mario has done a really good job.”
Others on the roundtable — which include host Rece Davis, plus Pat McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard — felt similarly.
Herbstreit said Miami, which enters the game as a 17-and-a-half point betting favorite, “seems to be a team on a mission” this season as they work to make the College Football Playoff for the first time. He pointed to Beck, who transferred to Miami from Georgia this offseason, as a critical factor.
“Sometimes a fresh start is just what a quarterback might need, and it appears that Carson Beck has found that in Miami,” Herbstreit said. “I thought that [Tennessee coach] Josh Heupel talked [earlier in the show] about getting a quarterback like Joey Aguilar, sometimes it’s good to get a guy that’s been through some tough aspects of his life on the field, off the field, and to get through that. That reminds me a lot of who Carson Beck is at this point. So I love what the Bulls are about. I love coach [Alex] Golesh. Miami, I think is not looking ahead to Florida [next week], shows great maturity today and takes care of business.”
Howard, who said he was at UM’s practice on Tuesday, noted that the Hurricanes are “locked in.” He specifically pointed to the strong start by a pair of Miami receivers in CJ Daniels and Malachi Toney, who have combined for 22 catches, 281 yards and four receiving touchdowns through the first two games.
“They know that USF is going to come in and try to upset them,” Howard said. “But don’t forget they played them last year. The game was close in the first half, and then Miami outscored them 28-0 in the second half. They’re locked in. They can’t wait to play this game today.”
The same can be said about USF, though. The Bulls already have a pair of upset wins over then-No. 25 Boise State and then-No. 13 Florida to begin the season.
A win on Saturday would make them the first team to begin a season with three consecutive ranked wins since ... the Hurricanes themselves in 1987.
“This team is electrifying,” McAfee said of USF. “They’re explosive, and they don’t fear anybody. And [quarterback] Byron Brown is an absolute dog. You just watch this guy with the ball in his hands. You know he’s at USF. That means he might have wanted to go some other school instead. He goes to USF, and he’s not scared of nothing. ...They’re special down there. I love what they’re doing.”
This story was originally published September 13, 2025 at 12:07 PM.
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