Always imposing, often impressive, notably consistent, remarkably complementary, surgically delivered, precisely as-ordered …
Was Miami convincing enough Saturday?
That’s the only adjective that matters.
Miami beat Pittsburgh 38-7. It won its final four games. It finished 10-2 on the season. It also left the field wondering what everyone was wondering:
Could they find some help, like a penny on the ground? Please?
They didn’t benefit Saturday from another team’s loss to secure an at-large playoff spot. None lost. No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 10 Alabama escaped with wins Saturday while No. 9 Notre Dame dominated Stanford.
They didn’t get the parlay of outcomes necessary to make the ACC Championship Game. That’ll be unranked an 7-5 Duke against No. 18 Virginia
Their last-chance saloon seems to be Duke beating Virginia in that conference championship. The 12-member College Football Committee can’t put in a five-loss Duke. But could old friend Manny Diaz, the former Hurricane and current Duke coach, do Miami a favor by beating Virginia and opening a playoff spot? Or would the committee keep a 10-1 and ACC champ Virginia below Miami in the rankings?
You”ll hear the politicking and finger-pointing leading into Tuesday’s vote by the committee about how Miami beat Notre Dame yet is ranked below Notre Dame. It started right after Miami’s win on Saturday.
“The best part of football is you get to settle it on the field where Head-to-head is always the No. 1 criteria,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said after Saturday’s win, just as he should. Just as Miami should pound, too.
Before you pound the homer table on that, consider the other parts of Miami’s season to understand where the committee’s thinking. Because Miami ….
… lost to unranked Louisville and SMU, who after clambering to No. 21, also will likely be unranked after losing to Cal late Saturday.
… won’t even make the ACC Championship Game, much less win it.
… had a schedule with a CFP-high eight home games, will have played one top-25 team by the time the final rankings come out (Notre Dame), faced only two of the other top six ACC teams (SMU, Pitt) and still had two losses.
Notre Dame won at Pitt two weeks ago, 37-15. How does that compare to Miami’s win Saturday? Do we have to parse that, too?
Miami fans might be angry today. But they aren’t even at the front of the line of fandoms worked over by the CFP Committee. That’s 13th-ranked Vanderbilt. It was idle when Miami leap-frogged it two weeks ago in rankings for some reason. Vanderbilt’s two losses are at No. 8 Alabama and at No. 19 Texas. It navigated a tougher SEC schedule. It had a friendly SEC schedule, but whipped No. 19 Tennessee on Saturday.
Maybe we should just talk about Malachi Toney. There’s someone everyone can agree on. He might have wrapped up the 2026 Heisman Trophy with another electric game on Saturday.
Toney threw a 9-yard touchdown, caught a 22-yard touchdown and was a running touchdown away from a spectacular hat trick.
As it was, Toney had 13 catches for 126 yards. That gave him 84 catches, one behind Xavier Restrepo’s school record of 85 in a season.
Miami did more than flash Toney’s rare talent again Saturday. It went into the trenches and whipped Pitt. It controlled the ball offensively behind Carson Beck completing 23 of 29 passes for 267 yards and three touchdowns. It controlled the game defensively right from the start as Pitt was minus-12 yards after its first two drives.
Miami even showed the kind of on-field discipline that’s been lacking some moments. Twice on a third-quarter drive, Pitt players acted up after crucial stops to merit unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties. Miami took advantage of that with Mark Fletcher’s touchdown run to end a 75-yard drive for a 24-7 lead.
The Hurricanes looked at their best Saturday. Can that matter some? Mario Cristobal will press that point right to Tuesday’s vote. Just as he should. Before the game, ESPN’s Nick Saban went on the offense for Miami.
“If they get in this playoff, they’re going to be the most dangerous team that anybody has to play because of the talent level,’’ Saban said.
The former Alabama coach knows a few things about championships. He also knows how to come to the aid of a former assistant like Cristobal.
Saban’s point underlines the shame of it all. Miami does have great talent. It would be dangerous in the playoff.
Miami is a team the committee wants in, too. Don’t talk about some conspiracy theory or how everyone has hated Miami for years. That’s nonsense. Why was Miami-Notre Dame a prime-time showcase of the opening weekend? Why did Miami jump an idle Vanderbilt and close-win Utah on successive weeks? (Vanderbilt tops Miami on the outrage-meter. Its only two losses are on the road at Alabama and Texas).
“That’s a College Football Playoff team,” Cristobal said. “We’ve all seen it. We know it.”
It was Saturday. It’s been so many weeks. It just had two bad weeks that might keep them out.
