Miami is getting ready to be on bye for the second time in three weeks, its final bye week of the season. The Hurricanes had an extra week to prepare for their biggest game of the season so far against Florida State, and now they get a week to celebrate the win, well, actually to get back to work.
Head coach Mario Cristobal sat down with Georgia legend David Pollack on his podcast "See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack." Pollack wanted to make it clear that on his podcast, they have their own rankings and he has the Hurricanes ranked No. 1 in the country in his rankings, which is a lofty statement from a former Georgia player.
Pollack believes the physicality and poise the Hurricanes are playing with, as well as some Top 25 wins are a big reason he has Miami at No. 1. Now, Miami is close to the top in the AP top 25 rankings moving up to No. 2 after its big win over the Seminoles, but Cristobal knows that almost losing a 28-3 lead int he fourth quarter isn't going to cut it late in the season.
Mario Cristobal is ready to use the bye week to get even better
Even though his team is 5-0 and the No. 2 team in the country, Cristobal isn't going to take it easy on his players during the bye week. Almost losing the lead against Florida State showed that the defensive line needs a little more work on the line of scrimmage, so the team will be working on pad level, technique, physicality, fundamentals, and hand placement with the line.
Cristobal knows he has a good team on his hands right now, but no coach is ever satisfied, and it is clear he has bigger plans for this team.
"When you watch us on film, we have a long ways to go," Cristobal said. "There's a lot to go get better at, but massive improvement. Looking forward to this bye week, so we can get more guys in that rotation, push to another level."
Miami will come off its second bye week to a matchup with Louisville at home in Hard Rock Stadium on Friday, October 11 at 7:00 p.m. EST.