TALLAHASSEE, Fla. At 6 p.m. on Friday night, Mario Cristobal trotted down the steps and out the doors of the Miami Hurricanes’ team hotel, right into the heart of his biggest rivals downtown, a place teeming with inebriated Florida State fans.
What on Earth is he doing?
Im going for a walk, the Miami coach said with a smirk.
Imagine it: one of the most recognizable and giant college head coaches strolling through the streets of his fiercest rival 24 hours before kickoff of this rivalry game. At least he armed himself with two bodyguards. Cristobal, a 6-foot-4 brick of a man, towered over each of them.
Perhaps this was a sign of what was to come: Cristobal and the Hurricanes dont seem intimidated by much.
In fact, they may just be the best team in college football.
After a 28-22 win over Florida State here on Saturday night (it was 28-3 at one point), theres a case to be made that Miami should be No. 1. After all, look at the body of work so far.
They beat a talented and highly ranked Notre Dame team to open the season and bashed a hot South Florida squad. They whipped a desperate Florida team with one of the countrys best defenses. And then they waltzed into a rocking road environment at Doak Campbell Stadium and waltzed out with one of the most dominating road wins of the season by any team anywhere.
Miami (5-0) employs perhaps the countrys best veteran quarterback (Carson Beck), best freshman receiver (Malachi Toney) and arguably the best defensive front combination (Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor).
Dont forget about this teams leader a towering guy whos coaching with the confidence of a man who knows hes got a championship team. Unafraid. Fearless.
You thought that Friday night walk was brave? Well, on Saturday night, the Canes let it loose. At one point, Beck had as many 40-plus yard completions as incompletions (3), and that doesnt include a 24-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-2 that Cristobal didnt hesitate to attempt.
After an interception in the second quarter, what did Miamis offense do? Go deep. Beck hit a 44-yarder for a score on a flea-flicker, of all plays.
He was on fire, Cristobal said.
Give the Hurricanes an inch and they take a yard. Give them a yard and they take 10. Give them 10 and they claim a state championship.
The postgame celebration centered around this mythical state title. Hurricanes players held up signs to a roaring visitors crowd, Back to back state champ, they read.
Read the sign! they yelled.
State champs! they chanted.
For a second straight year, they downed the Gators, Seminoles and, this year, the Bulls from Tampa too. They planted the Miami flag into the FSU field turf, and former Canes star Michael Irvin waved bye to the exiting Noles fans.
Cristobal, in fact, waited to enter a celebratory locker room until staff members fetched him one of those state champs signs. He grabbed it and held it high as he walked into the locker room to deliver his post-game speech.
Its such a big deal. This has nothing to do with me, but Ive played here and I know what it means to play here in Tallahassee, said Cristobal, a former Miami player himself. Being a Miami Hurricane, you find a way to get it done in this game. Its in the DNA.
The Canes managed to avoid being a victim of Upset Saturday, when three top-15 teams lost as favorites (Iowa State, Penn State and Texas).
This was not lost on Cristobal. When we were heading out of the hotel [Saturday to go to the stadium], seems like everybody was about to get upset, the coach said.
Is there something special about this team? It seems so. Were not the only ones to notice. Safety Jakobe Thomas knows this team is different based on the reaction Saturday in the locker room. Players werent as jovial as you might expect. In fact, many of them gestured to the negatives, like FSUs late comeback.
Weve got bigger goals, Thomas said.
Indeed, bigger things await on the horizon for this crew. Miami wont just be favored the rest of the way the Canes will likely be double-digit favorites in nearly every game. The path to the ACC championship game seems as clear as Becks downfield vision.
Good luck to upcoming opponents like Louisville, Stanford and SMU when they face this group of athletic freaks most notably the electric Toney, a 5-foot-11, 188-pound freshman nicknamed “Baby Jesus” whose ability to get open is only trumped by his nasty post-catch moves.
During a 40-yard catch-and-run, he put a move on Florida States starting safety and cornerback thatll leave your mouth agape. After the mid-stride juke, he then out-raced them into the end zone.
What makes Toneys start to his career 29 catches, 375 yards, three touchdowns even more impressive is his age: He turned 18 just last month after reclassifying and enrolling at Miami a year earlier than expected.
Hes catching passes from a grizzled veteran who made one of the splashiest offseason quarterback moves, leaving perennial powerhouse Georgia for south Florida. Theres been plenty of drama around Beck this offseason his big payday, his personal life and his spring surgery but few QBs in the game have produced so much.
The big pass plays werent just coincidental either.
It was a part of our plan for sure. Trying to take more shots, Beck said. Weve got athletes out there who are a second away from making a big play.
Chief among them: Toney, the firecracker of a freshman who played some spot duty at quarterback in high school, something that Beck points to as a reason for his quick ascent.
How is Toney, at such a young age, doing it? Everyone points to his work ethic. Hes in the facility early and stays late.
He gets that from his family.
His mother, Toni Toney (yes, Toni Toney), works at the post office.
My mom gets up early. If she can do it, why cant I? he asks.
He looks about as young as he is, smiling through braces and peering from behind near shoulder-length braided hair.
God blessed me with the talents to go out there and be myself and not be too big-headed, he says.
Hes humble, calm and collected. But full of confidence too. Like that coach of his going for an evening stroll the day before the game in downtown Tallahassee, of all places.
Or, perhaps on this night, this city should be called by a different name.
On X on Saturday night, Toni Toney posted a message calling it “MALIHASEE” after her son.