Mario Cristobal: Miami has learned from midseason setbacks

Miami is two wins away from a national championship, but head coach Mario Cristobal said no one in the building is taking success for granted.

That’s a lesson, Cristobal said, the Hurricanes already learned this season, when two midyear losses nearly cost the team its shot at the College Football Playoff.

“I think we proved earlier in the year that we didn’t handle success very well after the first four or five games,” Cristobal said Saturday. “And it’s a lesson that you never, ever want to learn twice.”

Miami knocked off Florida State, 28-22, on Oct. 4 to move to 5-0. That week, the Canes were ranked No. 2 in the country, with many critics positing Miami could be the team to beat in 2026. Then the bottom fell out.

Miami lost a home game to Louisville 24-21 behind five turnovers from QB Carson Beck on Oct. 17, then two weeks later, blew a 20-17 lead with less than a minute to play against SMU before losing 26-20 in overtime.

Three days later, the first College Football Playoff rankings were released, and the Canes checked in at No. 18.

“You can’t let the pats on the back soften your approach, and the hardest thing to do is to battle complacency through the course of a winning run,” offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said. “That’s one thing we’ve stressed since that rough patch — just respecting every opponent you play, but that it’s more about us and how we prepare than the people on the other side of the ball. Success will soften you and you’ll start thinking you’re as good as the people telling you you’re good.”

After the SMU loss, Miami appeared to turn a corner. The Canes won their final four games of the regular season by an average of 28 points, narrowly sneaking into the playoff in the final set of rankings.

Since then, Miami has beaten No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 2 Ohio State, setting up a date in the semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl with No. 6 Ole Miss.

“Right now, at this time of year, really, anytime, praise is over,” Cristoball said, echoing sentiments of his former boss, Nick Saban. “Praise is poisonous. Man, it is absolutely the worst thing you can take in and listen to. And I think we’ve done a good job of making sure that at the forefront of everything we do is just get everything and everyone out of the way.”