As Hurricanes’ strong start continues, they want the past to guide their future
The Miami Hurricanes had their celebration on the field. They planted their flag on their rival’s field and staked their claim as the top team in the state.
A 28-22 road win over the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated for 50 minutes — FSU rattled off 19 unanswered points over its final three drives to make it a one-score game in the end — is the latest emphatic statement about what might be with this team.
“Being a University of Miami Hurricane means that [in] this game, you find a way to get it done,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said of the win, UM’s first in Tallahassee since 2019 and first in a ranked matchup up there since 2004. “It’s always been part of the DNA.”
Cristobal, who played for the Hurricanes from 1989 to 1992 and was on a pair of national championship teams, knows that DNA very well. He knows what success looks like at Miami. He knows the process and the mentality and the work ethic it takes to make that a reality that hasn’t been seen at his alma mater in almost two-and-a-half decades.
He also knows the comparisons will keep coming if Miami keeps winning. He knows the question — “Is The U back?” — will keep circulating until they either finally win it all for the first time since the 2001 season or crash and burn like the most recent times they’ve looked like this (the ends of the 2017 and 2024 seasons come to mind).
Cristobal gets it. He’s cognizant of the desire for the glory days.
But Cristobal doesn’t want the glory days back. He wants the present to be the start of something special.
And at 5-0 to start his fourth season leading Miami, he sees something special.
“We are moving forward. We’re not going back. We’re not,” Cristobal said. “We’re taking the principles and values of all those awesome teams, the physicality of those teams, the playmaking ability, the togetherness and brotherhood of those teams, and going forward and pushing Miami football to modern day football.”
‘We’ve got bigger goals’
Which brings us back to the modern day, to Saturday night.
After the Hurricanes had their postgame fun on the field at Doak Campbell Stadium and disappeared into the visiting locker room, the euphoria quickly faded. The page has already been turned. The focus shifted to what’s next and how they can get better.
“When I walked in and nobody was really excited after the win,” safety Jakobe Thomas said, “I knew that we’ve got bigger goals.”
To get to those bigger goals — which are clearly known in the room yet not spoken about — Miami accomplished a smaller yet still meaningful feat on Saturday. The win over FSU marked Miami’s fourth win over an in-state opponent this season with victories over Florida State, Florida, USF and FCS-level Bethune-Cookman. It’s the second consecutive season the Hurricanes have swept the in-state teams on their schedule.
“That’s important to us,” Cristobal said, “being state champions.”
There are two other championships still up for the taking that would probably mean a little bit more.
First, an ACC championship, something UM still hasn’t won since joining the league in 2004. The Hurricanes have only been to the title game once, in 2017.
Second and biggest of them all, a national championship. The Hurricanes last won it all in the 2001 season. Outside of a few flashes in the pan, they’ve done a lot of toiling in mediocrity in the generation since then. That’s why Cristobal returned in 2022, leaving a pretty good gig in Oregon to help resurrect a once-proud program.
He’s built it year by year, recruiting class by recruiting class, transfer by transfer, to get it to look like a team in his image — one defined by dominance at the line of scrimmage, one powered by physicality, one satisfied with never being satisfied.
It’s why Cristobal is able to push to get every ounce of potential out of them.
An example: Cristobal postgame Saturday was asked about the continued strong performance of true freshman receiver Malachi Toney, who had seven catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns against FSU and leads all freshmen this season in catches (29) and receiving yards (375). When Cristobal asked the reporter for his assessment of Toney, he replied that he thought the 18-year-old was one of the best freshmen in the country.
Cristobal’s response?
“I’m gonna tell him he has a long ways to go and he’s got to keep working,” Cristobal said.
And Toney, who has been universally praised inside the program for his work ethic, embraces that.
“It’s about the team,” Toney said, “and how they get me better day in and day out.”
‘Good, complementary football’
The team certainly has gotten a lot better.
Miami, which moved up one spot to No. 2 in the AP poll, already has three wins over ranked opponents (at the time of the matchup) in then-No. 6 Notre Dame on Aug. 31, then-No. 18 USF on Sept. 13 and then-No. 18 FSU on Saturday. The Hurricanes haven’t done that since 2009.
(FSU dropped from No. 18 to No. 25 after the loss.)
The offense is balanced, with Georgia transfer quarterback Carson Beck leading a passing game that features a slew of weapons, Mark Fletcher Jr. and CharMar “Marty” Brown forming a one-two punch in the run game, and the offensive line setting it all up.
The defense is much improved under first-year defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman. Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor create havoc in the trenches, which presents ripe opportunities for the back end to create turnovers. The tackling has overall been cleaner, too.
“This whole year we’ve played really good, complementary football,” Beck said.
And they’re doing it during a season with so much unpredictability. Miami is one of just 11 Power 4 conference teams left with a perfect record. They’ve played well enough to be among the nation’s elite.
But for each big moment, the Hurricanes look at what could have been. They point to the Notre Dame game when they gave up a 14-point lead and needed a last-minute field goal. Or the Florida game when the offense stagnated and allowed the Gators to make it a one-possession game in the third quarter before pulling away. Or Saturday when, after taking a 28-3 lead on four Beck touchdowns and three turnovers by the defense, FSU mounted three massive scoring drives and was a successful onside kick away from potentially unraveling Miami’s latest statement win.
“If we can eliminate those mistakes and stop shooting ourselves in the foot sometimes,” Beck said, “we can be really dangerous and really, really good.”
With that, the Hurricanes get back to work.
“You spend your time on assessing and analyzing things we can get better at because whatever shows on film, it’s going to get exposed,” Cristobal said. “If you refuse to acknowledge that the holes that you have need to be fixed in order to keep getting better, they’re not going to last very long in this profession. It’s what we want to establish.”
This story was originally published October 5, 2025 at 11:03 AM.
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