His head coach – who has played and coached in the rivalry – echoed that sentiment.
“I could say as a player, we never looked at the record of anyone we were playing,” said Miami head coach Mario Cristobal, a two-time national champion offensive lineman for the Hurricanes. “Whatever the record of any team is in this rivalry, you’re going to get the best version of them and they’re going to get the best version of you. That’s what makes the game so incredibly intense and physical and that’s why so many guys come here, to play in that game.”
Being at their best will, no doubt, be a priority for the Hurricanes (7-0, 3-0), who have found themselves in tight back-and-forth games against all three of their ACC opponents so far this season.
And while Miami has won all three of those games, the Hurricanes believe they can be better than what they’ve shown against Virginia Tech, California, and Louisville.
Showing they’ve continued to improve and playing well against Florida State won’t be just a positive to build on as Miami sets its sights on November – it will be essential if the Hurricanes want to leave Hard Rock Stadium tomorrow still unbeaten and with their first win over Florida State since 2020.
“It’s teach-and-learn. That’s a two-part system, right? And we’ve got to practice through every ounce of preparation, walk-through, meetings, you name it, we have to provide the guidance, the teaching, the mentorship, the confidence to be able to go out there and really cut it loose and play fast like we have shown in so many instances,” Cristobal said. “And the [areas] where we haven’t, certainly we didn’t look good, but we feel like we do address them, we attack them, get on with transparency and honesty. We know we’ve got to get better. We’re all over it.”
Added Restrepo, “We’re getting better each and every single day. As simple as that sounds, that’s literally our main focus, just trying to better ourselves internally and just cut out all the distractions externally.”
While all three of Miami’s conference games have come down to the final minutes, the Hurricanes do enter Saturday’s matchup against the Seminoles with one of the best offenses in the country.
Quarterback Cam Ward, a Washington State transfer who will be playing in his first Miami-FSU game, leads the nation with 2,538 passing yards on the year and 24 touchdowns.
As a whole, the Hurricanes are averaging 577.3 yards per game…
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