CORAL GABLES, Fla. — When the game was over, defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr. sat on Miami’s bench with a blank stare on his face. Carson Beck, the starting quarterback, talked about how the team needs to get better. Mario Cristobal was even more succinct.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” the Hurricanes head coach said.
All of that, it should be noted, came after a Miami win — in a rivalry game, no less.
For the second time this season, the Hurricanes (5-0) are heading into an open date after beating one of their biggest rivals — first Florida of the Southeastern Conference, now Florida State to open Atlantic Coast Conference play — and insisting they have much to improve upon.
It’s a far cry from what happened when Miami tasted some success in recent seasons, with the inevitable “Is ‘The U’ back?” question being asked and, more often than not, the Hurricanes stumbling in the weeks that followed.
“I’m sure we’re going to go back and watch this game, and there’s just so many little things, little mistakes, little plays that are just left out there for grabs when we give them something or we give up something ourselves,” Beck said after Miami’s 28-22 win over Florida State in which the host Seminoles trailed 28-3 going into the fourth quarter. “And I just think if we can eliminate those mistakes and stop shooting ourselves in the foot sometimes that we could be really dangerous and really, really good.”
Back at No. 2 this week in the AP Top 25, Miami has matched its highest ranking since being No. 1 for most of the 2002 season. The Hurricanes went 4-0 against in-state teams (South Florida, Bethune-Cookman, Florida and Florida State) and are the only team to beat three AP-ranked opponents so far this season. They topped Notre Dame on the opening weekend of the season, when the Fighting Irish were sixth; South Florida and Florida State each held a No. 18 ranking when facing Miami.
Beck transferred to Miami in the spring after five seasons at Georgia (the last two as the starter), a span in which the Bulldogs made the SEC title game every year except his freshman season, won two league titles (including last year, when he exited the SEC title game at halftime due to injury), and won back-to-back national championships for the 2021-22 seasons.
The Hurricanes have reached the ACC title game just once (losing in 2017) since moving over from the Big East in 2004, three seasons after they won their most recent of five claimed national championships.
And so Beck’s perspective carries some weight when he says the Hurricanes can get better.
That might be the difference between this Miami team and others that had potential over the past two decades.
“Walking into the locker room and the team not being happy after we win like that, that’s what’s different,” defensive back Jakobe Thomas said. “These guys are dedicated. I can’t preach enough how much we work each and every day. We’re in the building early in the morning, late at night, watching tape together as a team. When I walked in and nobody was really excited after the win, I knew that we’ve got bigger goals.”
To be fair, yes, there were moments of Miami jubilation. Plenty of them.
Cristobal looked into the lens of the national television cameras and pointed out that Miami had won the “state title.” Offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa grabbed a pole with a huge “U” flag on it and tried jamming the end into the turf near midfield at Doak Campbell Stadium. Michael Irvin, after spending the game in his customary spot on the Miami sideline, was cheering with fans long after the final whistle.
Cristobal played for two of Miami’s national championship teams. He knows what the fans want: a sixth title. It’s why he came back home when the Hurricanes asked him to leave Oregon four years ago. But even after winning in Tallahassee, he was quick to point out that if Miami wants to be mentioned with the 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991 and 2001 teams, there’s still a lot — a whole lot — of work left to tackle.
“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, the brotherhood of those teams, and going forward and pushing Miami football to modern-day football.”