The road back to title contention was long for Miami

Miami safety Jakobe Thomas enjoyed seeing the Hurricanes at their worst.

- By Tim REYNOLDS

CHARMAR BROWN (6) and the Hurricanes endured some dark days under coach Mario Cristobal. He “changed the culture,” says safety Jakobe Thomas.

(ROSS D. FRANKLIN Associated Press)

He was with Middle Tennessee State in 2022 when the Blue Raiders — four-touchdown underdogs that day — came into Hard Rock Stadium and used big play after big play to beat Miami 45-31, part of the Hurricanes’ spiral to a 5-7 season in Mario Cristobal’s first year back at his alma mater.

And it wasn’t like that MTSU team was some juggernaut, either. It went 0-3 in its next three games, losing by a combined 60 points. But it had no trouble with Miami.

That was then.

Miami's resurrection from that bad day and a lot of others over the last 20 years — a period during which the Hurricanes have had six coaches, three other interim coaches, 17 seasons that didn’t include a bowl win, countless headaches and zero Atlantic Coast Conference championships — is just about complete.

The Hurricanes (13-2, No. 10 College Football Playoff) play for the national championship on Monday night against Indiana (15-0, No. 1 CFP) at that same Hard Rock Stadium that was practically empty at the end of MTSU’s win four years ago.

“It’s completely different,” said Thomas, who transferred to Tennessee in 2024 before coming to Miami for his final college season. “The Miami team we played back in ’22 was not this team now. I think coach Cristobal changed the culture around this place.”