Middle Tennessee State 2nd straight Mario Cristobal pre-bye week loss

Mario Cristobal has preached being 1-0 in everything the Miami football program does. Cristobal wants Miami focused on each game, every practice, etc. The 45-31 loss to Middle Tennessee State was the second straight for Cristobal heading into a bye week. What were Miami and Oregon’s mental states in those games?

In-season bye games are different than the time off before a bowl game. Teams that make a New Year’s-Six bowl game can have as much as six weeks off after the end of the regular season. The focus on how well a team plays in relation to bye weeks is usually on after the week off. What about entering bye weeks?

What is the focus a team has in the game before entering a week off? Mario Cristobal teams rarely lack focus. A few Miami players stated during the postgame that they did not take Middle Tennessee State seriously enough. The Hurricanes clearly overlooked the Blue Raiders. Did the bye play a part in that?

Oregon won its first four games before a bye week under Mario Cristobal. The 19th-ranked Ducks won at number 24 California 42-24 in week five in 2018 before their bye week to improve to 4-1 in the first season under Cristobal. Oregon won both of their games before the bye week during the 2019 season.

The 16th-ranked Ducks won 21-6 at Stanford in week four to improve to 4-0 ahead of its first bye week. Later in the season Oregon had moved up to seventh nationally and won 56-24 at USC entering the bye week. Oregon finished the 2019 season defeating Wisconsin 28-27 in the Rose Bowl.

Oregon did not begin the 2020 covid shortened season until November 7. The lone bye week for Oregon came ahead of the 2020 Pac-12 Championship game. The 21st-ranked Ducks lost to California 21-17 in what was its second consecutive loss. Oregon beat number 13 USC 21-17 in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

Oregon began the 2021 season 4-0 that included a 35-28 win at Ohio State. Stanford upset number three Oregon 31-24 as the Ducks entered their bye week. Oregon bounced back after the bye week with a 24-17 win over California. Cristobal should have the attention Miami’s attention after losing to Middle Tennessee State.

North Carolina is a difficult matchup coming off the bye week. The Tar Heels have one of the best offenses in the country. Miami cannot continually get beat deep in the passing game as they did versus Middle Tennessee State. Some national college football experts have questioned if Miami was still thinking about the Texas A&M loss.

The bye week comes at a good time for Miami with a two-game losing streak. The Hurricanes should be able to refocus and get ready for the game against the Tar Heels. Playing at home should also help Miami. The Hurricanes need a good turnover versus the Tar Heels in front of a hopefully raucous crowd.