PITTSBURGH — The Hurricanes ended their regular season with a blowout 38-7 road victory over No. 22 Pittsburgh, making a strong case on the field for why they should be in the College Football Playoff.
Before the game, seven-time national champion Nick Saban said on ESPN’s “College GameDay” that UM would be a dangerous opponent in the postseason.
After the game, Miami coach Mario Cristobal and Hurricanes players made the argument why they should make it in:
Coach Mario Cristobal
To the ABC sideline reporter: “This is a College Football Playoff team. We’ve all seen it. We know it. Proud of the way our guys came out, dominated from the start to finish. We left a lot of points on the board as well. We’re really starting to click. … We’ve got great players in all phases and we’re playing great football in all phases. The best part about football is you get to settle it on the field where head-to-head is always the No. 1 criteria.”
“At the end of the day, it’s not only did we pass the eye test, we passed a field test, especially as it relates to playing this brand of football down the stretch and in head-to-head competition versus others that are being judged in the same little pool that we are as well. Plus, we’re getting healthy. No one ever talked about the value of that in the middle of the season when we got banged-up with six, seven starters going down, and now we’re almost all the way back. Our quarterback is playing — hard to compare anybody else in the country playing the caliber of football that he’s playing. Our defensive and offensive lines have been absolutely dominant, and they showed it from Game 1 all the way to game now, forcing opponents to have their worst-graded performances against our fronts. So I think all that stuff just, it speaks loudly. And again, it’s not only the eye test. It’s the field test.”
Quarterback Carson Beck
“I believe we can compete with anybody, in my opinion — and honestly, not even in my opinion. I think we’ve shown that we can compete with anyone and that we have a really, really talented team. Not just a few talented players here and there, but a really talented team that is really efficient, that plays really, really well in all three phases of the game. And again, like I said, I think we can compete with anybody. And we’ve done a good job of … focusing on what we need to focus on to get to this point.
“And again, it’s kind of up in the air and not in our hands at this moment. But like I said, I think we’ve done what we’ve had to do and we can, we can go compete with anybody.”
Wide receiver Malachi Toney
“I’d say the playoffs and their decisions is out of our control. But I’d say we did a great job of just going out there playing complementary football all season. Of course, we had a few fall-offs, a couple of weeks here and there, but I’d say we did a great job playing football, well-rounded football, playing together.”
Linebacker Wesley Bissainthe
“I feel like Miami could play with any team in the country. I feel like we can compete with any team in the country. I feel like we’ve got both sides of the ball.”
Center James Brockermeyer
“We have an extremely talented team. We have guys all over the field who can make plays. And I think throughout the season, through the highs and lows, we’ve proven that we can compete with anyone in the country, and that’s what we put on tape. And we’ll see what happens.”
