With another signature, rivalry win to open a season with the 27-24 defeat of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, we’re in a place to look at the path forward, and how the Miami Hurricanes are going to show their championship mettle: with focus and consistency.
Mario Cristobal has now had consecutive statement season opening wins on national TV over rival opponents. The Cam Ward-led Canes demolished UF in Gainesville 41-17 in 2024 (in a game where Miami could have reasonably scored 60pts), and now, they’ve
beaten last year’s National Runners-Up Notre Dame 27-24 in this year’s opener. When you add those victories to the many statement wins Cristobal has on his record from his time at Oregon, there is a pattern of winning that is undeniable.
Even if you extend things back to Mark Richt’s tenure, which includes the fabled 2017 beatdowns of Virginia Tech and Notre Dame in consecutive weeks, there have been even more signature wins for the Canes. There were even a couple of ranked wins during the short-lived Manny Diaz tenure, too.
The thing that unfortunately happened in all of the prior instances, and at many other times in the last 20 years, was a loss (or losses) down the line that ruined the prospects of each season. Things like the Pittsburgh loss in 2017, or the Syracuse loss last year. Times when, for whatever reason, Miami didn’t have the performance necessary in weeks following big victories.
For championship caliber teams, focus and consistency week to week as the season continues are required for elite levels of success. For the 2025 Hurricanes, we’ve heard for years from Mario Cristobal that they were building toward championship contention. Now, with a rebuilt defense, elite OL and DL units, and a plethora of offensive skill talent, this team looks the way everyone wants it to look. The challenge now is consistency.
Mario Cristobal is well aware of this. He mentioned it in his post-game press conference, his standard weekly Monday press conference, and the 2nd episode of the Mario Cristobal YouTube show, his weekly video show with Joe Zagacki and Don Bailey Jr., and most recently (today, thanks for late editing) on the Pat McAfee show.
This is the key. Winning big games, something that Cristobal-coached teams have actually been very adept at doing in his career, is great. Following those up with elite levels of focus and consistency week after week, through the doldrums of the middle of the season, and in games where the competition isn’t elite, is the necessary next step for this program.
This isn’t a new battle. We’ve seen Miami play up to, and more importantly down below, the level of their competition repeatedly. Sleepwalking into games against the likes of Virginia or Pittsburgh or Syracuse and paying the price for it. I mean, if we’re really being honest, there have been other games like this, but Miami has found a way to eke out some victories that keep them from being up on the board as tough lesson losses.
It’s encouraging to hear Coach Cristobal talk about leaving last week in last week and moving forward with the season. It’s even MORE encouraging to hear the players echoing those sentiments. From Wesley Bissanthe’s post-game press availability:
Mario Cristobal and company have worked tirelessly to upgrade the talent on this roster to get it to championship caliber. There was a measure of this last year with the offense, but the defense, depleted by injuries and exploited for bad scheme, wasn’t up to par. This year, Miami has a deep and talented team that has the look of the most complete team assembled in Coral Gables in the last 20 years. But the apparent talent, and early success, mean nothing if Miami doesn’t back it up.
Whether it’s Mario Crisotbal or Wesley Bissainthe or Rueben Bain Jr. or Akheem Mesidor or Carson Beck or Malachi Toney, hearing people in and around the program talk about focus, preparation, hard work, and consistency as keys to sustained success is encouraging. They all know that Miami has shown flashes of championship caliber performance, but they’ve also been lackadaisical, casual, and outright bad just as much, if not more.
Yes, beating Notre Dame was a major result and sets this team on a great trajectory for this season. But the important thing from here is continuing to focus intently, work hard, and consistently perform to the highest possible caliber.
As Mario Cristobal also said in his multiple times speaking since the end of the Notre Dame game, Miami has to approach every game like it’s a championship game. That’s the kind of focus, effort, and level of execution needed each and every week to get where this team wants to go.
The first test of this will be Saturday night against Bethune Cookman. I fully expect Miami to dominate this game, but they need to go out and perform well to make that happen. Then, once that win is secured, turn their focus to USF, and do it all over again. Focus, work hard, prepare, and execute. Then, after USF, focus on the Florida Gators. And so on and so forth each and every week through the end of the season.
I know the kind of focus, preparation, effort, and performance I’m asking for here is a lot. I know that it’s more than we’ve seen from the Canes in 20 years. But it’s necessary for the championship aspirations of this team and this program.
The sky is the limit for the 2025 Miami Hurricanes. To reach those heights, focus and consistency to levels that have not been seen since 2002 are needed. Can they rise to the occasion? Only time will tell.
Go Canes