No. 22 Miami not riding the hype. ‘On to the next’ means FCS opponent Bethune-Cookman
The Mario Cristobal era began last year with a 70-13 Miami Hurricanes win over Bethune-Cookman University of the FCS, likely giving most fans a false sense of what might transpire the rest of 2022.
A year later, the teams meet again three weeks into the season at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (ACC Network) at Hard Rock Stadium. Hurricanes fans are feeling extremely hopeful, maybe even giddy, after last Saturday’s 48-33 UM victory over then-No. 23 Texas A&M lifted Miami to a 2-0 record and No. 22 ranking.
But the Canes aren’t riding the hype. When asked minutes after last week’s game what the “big win’’ means to the program, a very serious junior safety James Williams had no hesitation.
“I really think it means nothing,’’ Williams said, “because that was shocking for the world, it wasn’t shocking to us. We put in all the work to get to be where we want to be today. We grinded, we got the culture back, we changed everything that was negative about Miami. It wasn’t shocking. If we stop shooting ourselves in the foot we’ll win every game, honestly.
“...The mind-set is different. We feel great with our bodies. We feel amazing. We feel like we’re ready to go. On to the next and one week at a time, 1-0.”
It appears that coach Mario Cristobal’s culture has seeped thoroughly into his players.
“The culture is at an all-time high right now,’’ said Xavier Restrepo, who had six catches for 126 yards against A&M and 88 yards after his catches. In 2022 against the Wildcats, Restrepo caught five passes for 100 yards and a touchdown and produced 41 yards after his catches.
“Last year it was kind of like the coaches had more energy than the players.,’’ Restrepo said. “This year we all sat down the first day of spring training camp and we’re like, ‘Look this is our team, this is not the coaches’ team.’ The coaches tell us what to do but this is our team.
“A lot of the guys gathered up and we just took accountability for ourselves — and it worked.’’
Bethune-Cookman
The Wildcats (1-1) lost their season opener 56-14 to Memphis of the American Athletic Conference, then defeated Savannah State 31-6 last Saturday at Daytona Stadium.
Miami has won all six previous meetings with B-CU, which is coached by Raymond Woodie Jr., who played at Bethune-Cookman and became the Wildcats coach after UM great Ed Reed’s reported contract in principle fell through in early 2023. Woodie has coached at several schools on various levels, including as the Oregon special teams and linebackers coach in 2017; as the Florida State linebackers coach in 2018 and 2019; and as outside linebackers coach/special teams coordinator and assistant head coach at FAU in Boca Raton (2020-2022).
“We think they’re fast,’’ Cristobal said of the Wildcats. “Look at their quarterback’s completion percentage. He’s throwing passes and completing them at a high clip. We see speed and disruptiveness up front on the defensive line. They bring pressure and they bring it from all sorts of places.
“On offense, just really fast. A lot of guys that run well. they stretch you horizontally, they stretch you vertically.”
Luke Sprague, a 6-5, 221-pound redshirt junior, replaced starter Walter Simmons III (2-of-6 for 39 yards, with an interception) last week against Savannah State, going 23-of-29 (79 percent) for 223 yards and two touchdowns.
Ample participation
Miami is expected to play plenty of Hurricanes on Thursday, as it did for last year’s game, when 10 pass-catchers, including four tight ends, had receptions and the Canes scored touchdowns in nine of 10 possessions. According to last year’s participation chart, 74 Hurricanes played in that game, including former quarterback Jake Garcia (now at Missouri). Current UM sophomore backup quarterback Jacurri Brown came in late in the fourth quarter but did not attempt a pass.
The Hurricanes tapered their practice schedule after the win against Texas A&M because of only five days between games. Not including safety Kamren Kinchens, who was transported to Ryder Trauma Center with an apparent neck/head injury from a hard collision on a tackle, the Canes had at least three players seemingly injured against the Aggies: starting defensive end Akheem Mesidor, starting defensive tackle Branson Deen and freshman running back Mark Fletcher.
Kinchens, who was released Sunday from the hospital, isn’t expected to play, and the extent of the other injuries weren’t revealed.
UM’s goal, regardless, is “to keep getting better and better and better,’’ Cristobal said. “The approach has been simple. It’s been identifying those things that are hurting us, the way we’re hurting ourselves, the things we can get better at and the things we’re really close at being really good at as well. It’s a complete assault on improvement and betterment.”
Atlantic Coast Conference quarterback of the week Tyler Van Dyke said after Saturday’s win that “this is only the beginning” for the Hurricanes. He also said Tuesday that he and his teammates will continue to “practice like professionals.”
An expected win Thursday night would put UM at 3-0 going into its first road game at Temple in Philadelphia on Sept. 23, when the Hurricanes also should be favored. Miami’s first ACC game is Oct. 7 at home against Georgia Tech.
“We gotta take it one day at a time, one practice at a time, one game at a time,’’ Van Dyke said. “We moved on from the A&M game. We got Bethune-Cookman this week.’’
