Miami has climbed back to No. 1 in the AP Top 25, but inside the program, that kind of headline barely registers. The Hurricanes have built their week-to-week approach around a much smaller target: win the next one, then move on.
That mindset showed up again this week after Miami’s 6-0 start and 4-0 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference pushed the Hurricanes to the top spot for the first time since 2002. Even with the poll celebrating them, the message from the locker room stayed the same.
Center Ryan Rodriguez laid it out plainly after a morning practice session. “Don’t even look to tomorrow.
Just be 1-0 in the next task you have to do,” Rodriguez said. “The next task I’m going to do is some mobility, some film and some lunch.
Just go be 1-0 at that, do it at the best of my ability.”
Yes, lunch counts.
That kind of discipline runs through the program, even if it doesn’t always run through the fan base. About a half-hour after Miami held on to beat Florida State last weekend, roughly 500 Hurricanes supporters were still in a Hard Rock Stadium concourse watching Notre Dame-BYU. When BYU came out on top, the chant started building.
“No. 1, baby!” they shouted.
The ranking moved Miami into the top spot on Sunday, helped along by losses from then-No. 1 Georgia and then-No.
2 Notre Dame. But coach Mario Cristobal wasn’t interested in treating October like some finish line.
“I mean, relevance is great,” Cristobal said. “I think that comes in other forms aside from the ranking.
I think all of us think the rankings only matter when the last game of the season is played. So, as it relates to that, that’s probably the best answer I could give.
It’s the one that, to me, makes the most sense. I know it’s not an interesting answer or a juicy one, but hopefully it fits.”
The next assignment is Pitt at home on Saturday, and that’s where the focus stays.
Quarterback Darian Mensah said he’s not paying attention to the buzz anyway. “I'm really just blocking out all the noise,” he said.
There may have been congratulations coming his way, but they likely never found him. Mensah recently got a new phone, and the texts haven’t been answered.
The bigger picture, of course, is clear enough. Miami finished No. 2 last season after losing in the College Football Playoff national championship game, and that’s the standard the Hurricanes are measuring themselves against now.
Still, the weekly script doesn’t change. Linebacker Mohamed Toure said it as simply as anyone.
“Right now, we're not worried about it. If we were No. 1, 30, 75, we're not trippin' about none of that,” Toure said. “We're just going out every single week and playing football - 1-0 mentality.”
In Other News...
Miami Just Got A Huge Recruiting Chance It Couldnt Afford To Lose
A prized recruiting visit is headed to Hard Rock Stadium this weekend, and Miami has plenty at stake with it. DJ Jacobs, the five-star edge rusher in the 2027 class who is committed to Ohio State, is expected to be on hand for the Hurricanes' home game along with his younger brother Dawson Jacobs, a four-star defensive line prospect. Mario Cristobal and his staff have kept the door open with DJ, and the timing gives Miami another chance to make its case in front of two defensive prospects who could matter a lot to the programs future.
The visit comes at a useful moment for the Hurricanes, whose 2027 class has room for more movement after a recent decommitment. Miami has been trying to stay involved with DJ Jacobs while also working on the broader picture with the brothers, but their recruitment remains unsettled for now. For a program looking to turn visits into traction, getting both Jacobs brothers on campus gives the Hurricanes a chance they could not really afford to miss. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Mourns A Former Hurricane Who Meant Far More Than Football
Miamis football family is grieving the loss of Bailey, a former Hurricanes standout whose impact stretched well beyond the field. Drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs after his time in Coral Gables, he was remembered by former teammates for both the player he was and the person he became, with tributes underscoring how much he meant to the program long after his playing days ended.
The timing adds another layer to a week already full of emotion and accomplishment around the Hurricanes, with Malachi Toney earning the Paul Hornung Award for National Player of the Week after his performance against Florida State. Even in the middle of that recognition, the focus in Miami also remains on honoring a former Hurricane whose legacy carried real weight in the locker room and around the program. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Rivalry Win Took A Dark Turn For Damon Wilson II
Miamis win over Florida State should have been remembered as another sharp-edged chapter in the rivalry, but it quickly carried into a much uglier space for Damon Wilson II. After the game, Wilson revealed that he had received alleged racist messages on Instagram from Kade McLendon, an employee of The Florida Bar, turning a celebratory night for the Hurricanes into one with an immediate off-field fallout.
The Florida Bar responded by placing McLendon on administrative leave and opening an internal investigation into the messages, which are said to violate the organizations social media policy. The inquiry is ongoing, and the Bar has said it intends to enforce its policies while also protecting due process rights, leaving the situation still unfolding even as the football result itself is long settled. [Read more 🡒]