Miami keeps stacking milestones, and Mario Cristobal keeps nudging the Hurricanes closer to the standard that made “The U” a national shorthand in the first place.
That question has hung over the program since Miami’s last national championship in 2001, but Cristobal has been methodically moving the Hurricanes toward the level they reached back then - and toward the team he played for from 1989 through 1992. The latest proof came Saturday, when Miami beat Florida State 43-35 to keep building one of the program’s strongest runs in years.
The Hurricanes are 6-0 to open the 2026 season, and last week’s losses by Georgia and Notre Dame lifted Miami into No. 1 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the AFCA Coaches Poll heading into week eight. Cristobal now has 41 wins and 19 losses in his fifth season at Miami, and the victory over Florida State moved him into a tie with Howard Schnellenberger for seventh place in school history. Schnellenberger went 41-16 and won a national title in his Miami tenure from 1979 through 1983.
The rebuild didn’t happen all at once. Miami went 12-13 in Cristobal’s first two seasons in 2022 and 2023, but the program turned a corner in 2024 after Cam Ward transferred in and became the catalyst Cristobal needed. Ward led Miami to a 10-3 finish, earned a spot as a 2024 Heisman Trophy finalist and went on to become the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
That season changed the trajectory. Ward’s arrival set the tone, Carson Beck followed as another transfer quarterback, and Miami responded with a school-record 13 wins and three losses in 2025. Those moves also helped set up Darian Mensah as the next man in 2026.
Mensah has taken the baton and run with it. He is on pace to set the Football Bowl Subdivision record with an 80.8 percent completion percentage, and he leads the nation with a 203.94 passer rating.
Cristobal’s roster-building has been driven by elite recruiting and transfer portal classes, and the results are showing up in the standings and in the rankings. Miami also beat Clemson and Florida State in the same season, something that doesn’t happen often.
As for whether the U is all the way back, the milestones keep piling up. According to the source of this resurgence, winning the ACC and a national championship are the remaining markers Miami needs to clear to say it for real.
In Other News...
No. 1 Miami Just Sent A Scary Message To Everyone
Miami kept rolling as the No. 1 team in the country, and the balance in its latest win is exactly what has made this start so convincing. Freshman Javian Mallory gave the ground game a real spark with 47 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Darian Mensah carved up the defense for 387 passing yards and four scores, giving the Hurricanes the kind of layered attack that can stress opponents in more than one way.
The defense matched the offenses urgency, too, with two sacks, four tackles for loss and a forced fumble while keeping the other side under 100 rushing yards. For a team that has looked complete from week to week, the bigger question now is how long this pace can hold, because Miami has started to separate itself in a way that feels less like a hot streak and more like a warning to the rest of the sport. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Gets A Break As Pitt's Backfield Suddenly Changes
Pitts backfield took a hit ahead of its matchup with No. 1 Miami, with JaKyrian Turner ruled out because of a lower-body injury. The update is a notable one for the Hurricanes, even if Turner has been limited to just three games this season and has not been on the field since Oct. 10.
Pitt will have to adjust around Turners absence and lean more heavily on Damon Ferguson Jr. and LaVell Wright to handle the rushing load. For Miami, it changes at least one piece of the scouting report as the Hurricanes prepare for a Panthers offense that has been reshuffled late in the week. [Read more 🡒]
Mario Cristobals Postgame Moment Kept Miamis Feud In The Spotlight
Miamis decisive win over Pitt should have been the nights biggest takeaway, and in many ways it was, but the postgame scene between Mario Cristobal and Pat Narduzzi made sure the earlier back-and-forth between the programs stayed in view. The two coaches exchanged a handshake after the game, a brief moment that carried extra weight after Narduzzis public accusations about Miamis recruiting tactics had already sharpened the edge around this matchup.
The interaction looked tense but still cordial, even if Cristobals gestures were read by some as more forceful than routine. Pitt was already dealing with a quarterback injury that shaped the way the game unfolded, so the result and the atmosphere around it were both lopsided in Miamis favor. Still, with the feud lingering in the background, the postgame exchange added one more layer to a rivalry that has been impossible to separate from the scoreboard. [Read more 🡒]