Mario Cristobal watched his offense score on nearly every possession for a half, then watched it disappear entirely. Speaking with Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter after No. 5 Miami’s 33-20 win at Wake Forest on Friday night, the Hurricanes coach was not interested in treating the ending as a crisis.
“I like the fact that even though it got sloppy at the end, we did play complementary football,” Cristobal said after the game. “In the first half, the offense was on fire. After the first drive, the defense really turned it on. And then we found ourselves a little bit banged up, but we’ve got to be able to overcome that.”
His point was that the two units traded responsibility. When Miami’s offense went cold with a string of three-and-outs, the defense produced a safety and Ethan O’Connor’s late interception to close the game out. “When you go on the road and you’re playing in the conference, you’ve got to find a way to win,” Cristobal said. “We have some things to clean up, so we’re looking forward to doing that.”
The injuries are the real concern. Cristobal acknowledged Miami got banged up at running back and tackle, and that reserves suddenly faced a workload they had not seen through two blowouts. “We hadn’t played more than 35, 38 plays in our first couple of games because of the margin in the first half,” he said. “So tonight, we were tested a little bit there.”
He confirmed Malachi Toney’s reps were managed after halftime. “He got a little bit banged up. We don’t think it’s too serious,” Cristobal said of the receiver, who finished with 11 catches for 113 yards and a touchdown. He also credited Wake Forest for adjusting well in the second half.
On Darian Mensah, who opened 24-for-24 and finished 30-of-34 with three scores, Cristobal pointed to command rather than arm talent. “His consistency, the way he can master the offense, the way he could put us in good plays,” he said, praising Mensah’s pocket awareness and ability to fit throws into tight windows.
The first half was as clean as football gets. Miami moved the ball at will, and Mensah’s opening stretch of 24 straight completions put the game out of reach before the Demon Deacons could adjust. The second half was a different operation entirely, with the offense stalling and the defense forced to hold a lead that had looked safe at the break.
Cristobal framed the uneven performance as a road test passed rather than a warning sign. The Hurricanes had not faced meaningful fourth-quarter pressure in their first two games, both comfortable wins that allowed starters to rest early. Against Wake Forest, they had to finish a game that had become tight, and the defense answered.
Wake Forest’s adjustments after halftime made the difference. The Demon Deacons found ways to slow Miami’s rhythm, forcing the three-and-outs that Cristobal referenced. The Hurricanes’ lead never vanished, but the comfort level did, and the closing minutes required the kind of execution that had not been necessary in previous weeks.
Miami is 3-0 and hosts Central Michigan next Saturday. The schedule gives Cristobal’s staff a week to address the issues that surfaced in Winston-Salem, particularly the depth concerns at running back and tackle. The coach’s tone suggested those problems are manageable, but he did not dismiss them.
“Even though it got sloppy at the end, we did play complementary football,” Cristobal said. The quote captured his overall read on the night: the offense carried the first half, the defense carried the second, and the team found a way to win on the road in conference play. The cleanup work starts now.
According to Yahoo Sports.