While South Florida goes frantic over the Canes, the players and coaches have arrived at their home away from home at a hotel in Miami Beach before they make their trip to Hard Rock Stadium to take on the Indiana Hoosiers for the College Football Playoff championship.
The Canes have spent the week preparing for the epic matchup with the Hoosiers, knowing that many college football fans have been doubting them every step of the way.
In every round, the Canes have been the underdogs, with the top-ranked Hoosiers currently an 8.5-point favorite over Miami for Monday night’s game.
Canes players have been tuning that out, calling all of the outside noise irrelevant.
“Stay true to who we are, battle adversity with great maturity like we do with every game,” said Canes wide receiver CJ Daniels. “I think we’ll come out on top, you know, just the way we play, Coach Cristobal said, it’s about us.”
The Canes have their work cut out for them as they line up against the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner and former Christopher Columbus High School star Fernando Mendoza, who leads the Hoosiers’ explosive offense at quarterback. In the Hoosiers’ two playoff games leading up to the championship, Mendoza has thrown eight touchdowns, with five of those coming in their semifinals 56-22 rout of the No. 5 Oregon Ducks.
Canes quarterback Carson Beck said he’s not phased by any chatter about Indiana being the clear favorites.
“It has been a lot of situations in games this season where we have been the underdog, we have been doubted, and I think for us, the biggest thing is we’re always focused on the people in this building, we’re focused on the people on this team,” said Beck. “We don’t really listen to the outside noise. That keeps us locked in and keeps us focused, and we just cut distractions out, and it allows us to be consistent.”
Despite being the road team in the matchup as the lower seed, the Canes will have the benefit of playing on their home field, Hard Rock Stadium, in front of their own fans. Throughout the course of the regular season, the Canes had a 7-1 record in home games.
“Yeah, it’s a plus, man. We at home, we get to do it in front of the fans that we started with, man, so, you know, just getting back to them and us being at home, we get to take advantage of it,” said Daniels.
7’s Mike DiPasquale was at the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables, where large crowds lined up to wish luck to players and supporting staff as they boarded buses that would take them to the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. The team and family members will stay there until Monday night.
As Canes head coach Mario Cristobal boarded the team bus, he shared words of wisdom with 7News.
“Just looking forward to getting checked in, right? Blocking out all the outside noise, we’re gonna work on our next practice,” said Cristobal.
Cristobal went on to say the past week of practice has his players eager and ready to take the field.
“Great week of practice. Our energy and enthusiasm is always high. I feel like we get better with our process each and every week, and you’ve got a group of guys that have really invested their entire existence into elevating the program, so really excited for the opportunity,” said Cristobal.
When asked if he believed he could reach this point with the U after he was hired in December 2020, Cristobal kept his sights on the next task.
“I’m envisioning our next practice, brother. You know how I work. We’re process-oriented, let’s just get to work,” said Cristobal.
After making the roughly 15-mile trip to South Beach, Cristobal found time to drop the laser-focused intensity to greet fans with autographs and had encouraging words for one lifelong Canes supporter who traveled all the way from California to see the game.
“He cultivated vision; it came to life and, you know, when we see him, we get excited. Made kind of a crazy move, I don’t know, but it was worth it, it was exciting and he embraced it,” said Canes fan Casey O’Keefe.
With a road game that’s functionally a home game, Cristobal is also counting on fans to flood the stands in orange and green.
“Their support, their energy, their enthusiasm all year long has certainly been, I mean, very humbling for us and I remember as a player and that was, it changed the city, the dynamics of this city, how it galvanized an entire community and our players feel that,” said Cristobal. “So it’s really, really important.”