The night before Nick Saban said that Miami needed to lose, Mario Cristobal all but admitted that the Hurricanes' game had been slipping and the 24-21 loss to Louisville was a result of that.
There's no question the Miami team we saw last Friday wasn't the same one that we'd seen earlier in the season against Notre Dame, South Florida and even Florida State for three quarters. Some of the credit certainly goes to Louisville. The Cardinals are 5-1 and deserving of their top-20 ranking. But Miami looked flat and a little tired, which is surprising coming off a bye. And that effort gave Cristobal a chance to challenge his team to find their game again starting this week against Stanford.
Miami coach Mario Cristobal is confident the Hurricanes will bounce back after losing to Louisville.
— Adam Lichtenstein (@ABLichtenstein) October 20, 2025
Plus a note on Akheem Mesidor’s minor injury and a Stanford player to watch.
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The Louisville loss falls on everybody
Cristobal was blunt and up front in his assessment after the Louisville game. He saw many of the same things that the rest of us saw.
"The message is going to be very real and honest. That's a really poor job of overall execution and discipline, and when I say that, it means all of us — everybody in the organization. Every coach, every player. We win together, we lose together. When we say execution, it falls on the coach, it falls on the player, it falls on myself, it falls on everybody."Mario Cristobal
Miami rushed for 63 yards. The Hurricanes were thought to have the best line play in the country, and they didn't show up. Carson Beck threw four interceptions and outside of Malachi Toney, who would have been in the Heisman conversation had Miami won, the entire offense was disjointed.
This week the playoffs begin
Maybe one area where the Hurricanes have a chance to show the country they're different is by how they respond this week and over the next five games. It's basically a new season. Every week from here on is an elimination week for Miami.
"I think we'll respond well. It's the only way to go. There is no other way. There is no other choice."Mario Cristobal
Cristobal knows that the playoffs for Miami begin Saturday. Every game is a conference game and a second loss will take the Hurricanes out of the ACC picture and off the playoff committee's radar. In the new college football system, nearly every team is allowed a loss, but that loss can't spiral into more losses.
"There's no time to sit around and do anything but go back to work and get better. That's what it takes. That's what good people do. That's what we have to do and that's what we're going to do," Cristobal concluded.