Is This the Year? Miami Looks to Prove Itself in Heated Rivalry at Florida State

RJ Young

FOX Sports National College Football Analyst

Michael Cohen

College Football and College Basketball Writer

Few teams in college football have made a louder early-season statement than Miami. The Hurricanes have stormed out to a 4–0 start behind an elite defense, a revamped offensive line, and the steady hand of transfer quarterback Carson Beck. 

Now, the Canes are set to face their biggest test yet — a trip to Tallahassee to take on rival Florida State in one of this weekend’s few ranked matchups.

FOX Sports college football writers RJ Young and Michael Cohen break down where the Hurricanes stand, what’s different this time around, and whether Miami has the pieces to make a legitimate run at a national title.

Carson Beck #11 of the Miami Hurricanes throws a pass against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first quarter of the game at Hard Rock Stadium. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

RJ Young: The Hurricanes are capable of winning the ACC title. But that was true last year, too. And even with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Miami couldn’t reach the ACC Championship Game because it lacked the wherewithal to finish the season as it started. 

This 2025 Miami team hasn’t revealed how good it truly is — not yet. The early signs are promising, but the competition has been anything but. Through four games, Miami’s opponents have a combined record of 11–8, and only one — South Florida — currently has a winning record.

Yes, Florida State will be Miami’s third top-25 opponent this season, and there’s a chance that Louisville could make it four when the Cardinals visit in two weeks. But the quality of those opponents is still up for debate. Then-No. 6 Notre Dame dropped all the way to No. 22 after losing at home to Texas A&M, and Florida, once a top-25 team, hasn’t beaten anyone besides Long Island.

After an unexpected overtime loss to Virginia, FSU returns to Doak Campbell Stadium, where the Noles remain undefeated this season.

For Miami, Carson Beck’s play is always going to be paramount, but its the defensive line that has looked like it belongs in the NFC East at moments this year with Rueben Bain and Akeem Mesidor. And the 11.9 points per game the defense allows — top 10 in that metric — is no fluke.

Watching how defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman uses those players to mitigate the dual-threat that is Tommy Castellanos will be as entertaining as it is instructive. Castellanos has thrown for 848 yards while rushing for 217 yards this season.

If the Canes can handle Florida State convincingly, Mario Cristobal’s team won’t just look like an ACC title contender — they’ll look like a legitimate threat to win their first national championship in nearly 25 years.

Miami head coach Mario Cristobal claps his hands on the field before a game between the Wake Forest Deacon Demons and the University of Miami Hurricanes. (Photo by Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Michael Cohen: More often than not, the four on-field areas that separate college football’s contenders and pretenders are quarterback play, offensive line competency, pass rush from the defensive front and coverage ability in the secondary. So let’s take a look at Miami through those four lenses: 

Quarterback: There were so many questions surrounding the Hurricanes’ decision to reportedly commit more than $4 million in NIL money to former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, who underwent elbow surgery toward the end of last season. But thus far, through four games, head coach Mario Cristobal’s faith in Beck has been richly rewarded. 

Entering the matchup with Florida State, which found its own quarterback success story via the transfer portal by plucking Tommy Castellanos from Boston College, Beck is tied for eighth nationally in completion percentage (73.2%) — a significant uptick from his 64.7% mark at Georgia in 2024 — and is tied for the eighth-fewest turnover-worthy plays (2) in the country, according to Pro Football Focus. That’s exactly the kind of poised control Cristobal was hoping for when attaching his wagon to Beck. 

Offensive line: Cristobal, whose background is in offensive line play, and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal deserve immense credit for the development that has taken place in the trenches. The Hurricanes brought back both starting guards (Matthew McCoy, Anez Cooper) and both starting tackles (Markel Bell, Francis Mauigoa) and paired them with transfer center James Brockermeyer, formerly of Alabama, to create one of the best units in the country. Miami is tied for second nationally in fewest tackles for loss allowed (11) and tied for 29th in fewest sacks allowed (five). Mirabal’s unit, which plays with immense physicality, has done an incredible job controlling the line of scrimmage thus far. 

Pass rush: Has there been a more effective edge-rushing duo in the ACC — and perhaps college football as a whole — than Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor? The dynamic Hurricanes’ pass rushers have amassed 19 quarterback pressures each and 4.5 combined sacks through four games to anchor a defense that enters the weekend ranked ninth nationally in scoring (11.5 points per game) and 13th overall (244.5 points per game). Individually, Mesidor’s pass rush win rate of 30.7% leads the country among all defenders with at least 75 rushes this season, according to Pro Football Focus, while Bain ranks fourth nationally at 28.9%. Missouri and Nevada are the only other schools with two edge rushers ranked among the top 20 nationally in win rate. 

Secondary: Undoubtedly aided by the aforementioned pass rush, Miami’s secondary is still among the deepest in college football thanks to an impressive blend of internal player development and external transfer portal aggression. In addition to snagging defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman from Minnesota, where he oversaw a unit ranked ninth in scoring last season, Cristobal also added a handful of immediate plug-and-play contributors in former Jacksonville State safety Zechariah Poyser, former Houston safety Keionte Scott, former Tennessee safety Jakobe Thomas, former Wisconsin cornerback Xavier Lucas and former Washington State cornerback Ethan O’Connor — all of whom have logged at least 100 snaps this season. Lucas and O’Connor are part of a rolling cornerback group that features four players with near-equal playing time through four games, as returners OJ Frederique Jr. and Damari Brown join them each week. All told, Miami is one of only 14 teams across the country — including just nine from the power conferences — that has yet to allow a pass of more than 40 yards. 

The Hurricanes are good enough to win it all. 

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him @RJ_Young.

Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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