Miami was a hot topic of conversation in the first hour of ESPN College GameDay this morning after the Hurricanes fell 24-21 to Louisville last night.
The panel agreed that the loss shouldn't deter Miami's playoff chances and that in the current college football landscape, a loss should be expected. There was plenty of credit given to Louisville along with the belief that the Cardinals are a legitimate top 25 team.
Louisville deserves its share of credit tonight. Offense put Miami on its heels early, Cards outplayed Miami in the trenches.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 18, 2025
They're now 5-1 with the one loss coming to Virginia, in OT, because of two defensive scores.
Saban believes Miami can learn from the loss
Nick Saban thought Miami needed to lose because the Hurricanes game had been slipping, and they had gotten into some bad habits. Miami coach Mario Cristobal is a Saban guy, so there's a good chance this is a similar message the Hurricanes team will hear from their head guy during the week.
"In my opinion, Miami needed to lose. I used to tell our team all the time when we played a game like that, we needed to lose. Because we need to learn from the things that we're not doing to create the habits we need to have to play winning football on a consistent basis.Nick Saban on ESPN College GameDay
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Herbstreit wonders where the running game went
For the second consecutive game, the Hurricanes' rushing attack was shut down. Two weeks ago, FSU held Miami to under 100 yards, but Carson Beck was able to beat the Seminoles in the pass game. Last night, Louisville held the Hurricanes to 64 rushing yards, but the Cardinals, unlike FSU, have a top secondary and forced Beck into throwing four interceptions.
Kirk Herbstreit said Miami's inability to get something going on the ground put too much pressure on Beck and the passing attack to make things happen.
"Carson Beck and the four picks is one thing, Miami ran for 63 yards. We bragged all year about the line of scrimmage, the physicality, Mario Cristobal...that kind of football travels well. But when they can't run the ball and put it all on Carson Beck and those receivers. Give Louisville credit...instead of what's wrong with Miami, what's right with Jeff Brohm and Louisville."Kirk Herbstreit on ESPN College GameDay
Howard says Miami has to move forward
Desmond Howard was very complimentary of Malachi Toney, calling the freshman wide receiver the best player on the field Friday night. But the former Heisman winner asked a simple question about how the Hurricanes will respond. There's no question that Miami will be in the playoffs if it continues to win, but the Hurricanes probably can't afford another loss.
"We're going to see how strong mentally [Miami] is moving forward. Because they still have everything in front of [them]."Desmond Howard on ESPN College GameDay