No. 4 Miami Hurricanes hold off Florida Gators to start season 4-0
It wasn’t always pretty on Saturday, but the Miami Hurricanes closed their non-conference slate undefeated.
And they have bragging rights over an in-state rival for the foreseeable future.
Redshirt sophomore running back CharMar “Marty” Brown, a transfer from FCS national champion North Dakota State, scored two touchdowns — one to open scoring in the game, one to all but secure UM’s win — as the fourth-ranked Hurricanes beat the Florida Gators 26-7 at Hard Rock Stadium.
Mark Fletcher Jr. added a 1-yard rushing touchdown with 1:56 left to play to cap scoring.
The defense, meanwhile, dominated throughout, with first-year defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman’s unit holding Florida to 141 yards — with 80 of those yards coming on UF’s lone scoring drive — and 0 for 13 on third down with seven tackles for loss and four sacks. It’s the lowest single-game yardage under fourth-year Florida coach Billy Napier.
“A great team win,” quarterback Carson Beck said. “Our defense played out of their mind, honestly. Our o-line imposed their will on their defense. And you look at Marty and Mark tonight. I mean, I personally think that’s the best running back duo in the country. ... A great team win.”
And potentially the last one they’ll get against Florida, at least in the regular season, for a while if not ever.
Saturday was the final game of a three-game series between Miami and Florida that began with a 2019 matchup in Orlando and continued last season in Gainesville.
With the SEC moving to a nine-game conference slate and UF keeping its annual rivalry with Florida State, there’s no guarantee more games will be scheduled in the future.
“This game should be on the schedule every year,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said. “It should be. It’s a shame that it’s not, so we wanted to make sure that we took advantage of the opportunity.”
That they did, winning for the ninth time in the past 11 matchups going back to the 1986 season.
And it was the defense, UM’s Achilles’ heel last season, that led the charge.
Saturday was only the fourth time since 2000 that Miami held a power conference opponent to no more than 141 yards. Nine players contributed to tackles for loss.
That type of performance was needed because the offense sputtered more often than it produced until that final drive.
Miami (4-0) led 13-0 at halftime on a 2-yard rushing touchdown from Brown and a pair of Carter Davis field goals — from 53 and 28 yards — but left points on the board with drives stalling out as the half progressed.
Florida (1-3), which had just 32 yards of offense and went 0 for 7 on third down in the first half, briefly capitalized on the closer-than-it-should-be game early in the second half.
Miami’s first drive of the third quarter stalled after what appeared to be a 48-yard Brown touchdown run was ruled just a 3-yard gain because his forward motion was stopped. After UM punted, Florida marched 80 yards down the field capped by a Jadan Baugh 7-yard rushing touchdown.
“It was a little confusing,” edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. said, “because we were going so good in the first half. That’s just human nature coming in, settling down, listen to our coaches again, and just knowing that that’s the last drive.”
The defense locked back in after that, with a pair of turnovers on downs and a three-and-out to close out the game.
It offset a subpar performance from quarterback Carson Beck, who completed just 17 of 30 passes for 160 yards with no touchdowns and an interception.
But the one-two punch in the backfield from Brown and Fletcher Jr., who combined for 196 rushing yards (116 from Fletcher, 80 from Brown) was enough to keep Miami’s offense moving and eat up clock even when it wasn’t scoring.
The Hurricanes snapped out of their rut in the fourth quarter, using a 13-play, 80-yard drive capped by Brown’s second touchdown and a four-play, 22-yard drive capped by Fletcher’s touchdown to turn a one-score game into a comfortable win late.
“We came out slow in the second half and tried to get something going,” Brown said. “To finally get something going on those last drives there, that touchdown meant a lot, and it boosted us throughout the rest of the game.”
Both Miami and Florida are off next week. The Hurricanes next play No. 7 FSU on Oct. 4 in Tallahassee. The Gators host No. 8 Texas on Oct. 4.
This story was originally published September 20, 2025 at 11:09 PM.
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