Hurricanes’ win over Clemson a reminder of how far they’ve come under Cristobal

University of Miami admin October 5, 2026 0 Comments

Hurricanes’ win over Clemson a reminder of how far they’ve come under Cristobal

CLEMSON, S.C.

To get a better appreciation of what took place on Saturday night, let’s briefly return to the past.

Nov. 19, 2022. The Miami Hurricanes traveled to play the Clemson Tigers in the second to last game of their first season under new head coach Mario Cristobal. The team had a roster that “wasn’t what it was supposed to be,” from the coach’s perspective. The growing pains had been immense.

The loss that followed — a 40-10 beatdown against the team that had been the standard of the Atlantic Coast Conference for nearly a decade under coach Dabo Swinney — was a reminder of how far the Hurricanes had to go.

“We got our faces kicked in,” Cristobal said.

Now, back to the present. The Hurricanes returned to Death Valley on Saturday for the first time since that game. Times have changed. Miami is now among the perennial national championship contenders. Cristobal is the one with his team on the rise, the one with all the expectations thrust upon it.

Cristobal and the Hurricanes showed exactly why.

Even as they deal with waves of injuries, Cristobal’s fourth-ranked Hurricanes still rolled past Clemson with a 41-13 win at Memorial Stadium. The Hurricanes remain undefeated on the season at 5-0 — one of just 13 power conference teams (plus Notre Dame) with that distinction — and unblemished at 3-0 in ACC play.

“He’s really instilled a level of discipline. He just wants to get better,” said center Ryan Rodriguez, one of three players who have been with Miami for Cristobal’s entire tenure (along with linebacker Chase Smith and defensive lineman Ahmad Moten Sr.). “Since that year, he’s just constantly trying to improve.”

That they have done. Miami went from 5-7 in Cristobal’s first year to 7-6 in 2023, 10-3 in 2024 and 13-3 (with a College Football Playoff National Championship Game appearance) in 2025.

Five games into the 2026 season, they are once again looking the part of a contender.

But as has always been the case since Cristobal’s arrival, Miami is far from satisfied.

“Four years ago, that was ugly,” Cristobal said. “But remember, we talked about that a long time ago. There were some painful steps in this thing you cannot skip. And we’re only in Game 5, right? The tough road is ahead. We’re honored to be here. Awesome win. … Let’s get to work.”

They put in the work on Saturday. Miami scored a touchdown on its first play from scrimmage, a 61-yard catch-and-run from quarterback Darian Mensah to Cooper Barkate, with Barkake catching a screen, slipping through the Clemson defense and running untouched on his way to the end zone.

“Really, the o-line is what it was,” said Barkate, who had a season-high 98 receiving yards on five catches. “It parted the Red Sea for me. I just caught it, went inside and then saw nothing but green grass, so, all thanks to them.”

Added Mensah, who completed 18 of 27 passes for 227 yards and the touchdown while also running for a 34-yard score: “How else would you want to start a game? And it was an easy throw for me, but again, great execution from my guys up front.”

Miami kept going, building a 17-6 lead by halftime before two extended drives to two more touchdowns (both runs by Mark Fletcher Jr.) and a pair of forced turnovers — a Herbert Scroggins III fumble recover and JJ Dunnigan interception return for a touchdown — led to 10 additional points.

The defense forced a season-high six sacks and held Clemson to 13 points — just the second time the Tigers were held to 13 points or fewer at home since 2010 — despite eight of Clemson’s drives reaching Miami territory.

And it came with Miami’s depth being tested. Miami entered the game without its top two cornerbacks (Xavier Lucas and OJ Frederique Jr.) and two key skill position players (running back CharMar “Marty” Brown and wide receiver Josh Moore). During the game, four key players — offensive linemen Max Buchanan and Matt McCoy, cornerback Ethan O’Connor and edge rusher Marquise Lightfoot — left for various periods of time. All but Lightfoot ended up returning, but their temporary absences forced Cristobal to rotate in a lot more players to fill the void.

Three top-10 recruiting classes over the past four cycles plus another strong year of acquiring players in the transfer portal has helped Miami weather the personnel losses.

“We’re a resilient bunch,” Mensah said, adding “it’s awesome to have younger guys who can step into a role in an environment like this. It’s just big time, and we’re going to need more of that as the season goes on. Obviously, we’re banged up, but we’re going to use this week to reset and refocus.”

And even in a win, the Hurricanes are going to nitpick. They won by 28, but there were plays left on the table, tackles missed, chances to be even more dominant.

“I don’t want to try to focus on the negative things,” Mensah said, “but to be honest, we left 14 points on the board offensively, which just makes me pretty sick. So huge win for the Canes. I’m super proud of our guys for coming out here and playing the way we did, but we’ve got some stuff to do.”

It’s the mind set Cristobal created. Enjoy the win, but focus on what can be done to keep elevating their play.

It’s on full display five games into Cristobal’s fifth season back at Miami.

“There’s excitement. There’s enthusiasm,” Cristobal said, “but there’s a hunger to get better.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2026 at 11:05 AM.