Mario Cristobal is 'Facing Reality' With Season Holding on by a Strand
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The Miami Hurricanes only have two choices now with two losses on the season: quit and let the season be, or try and make a miracle happen by making the College Football Playoff.
The Hurricanes' biggest opponents have been themselves all season, and again, they beat themselves against SMU.
Head coach Mario Cristobal knows that this was one game they wish they had back, and now they are facing the reality that they could be on the chopping block come Tuesday when the first CFP rankings come out.
"Just got to be a grown man and face reality," Cristobal said after the loss to SMU. "We didn't take care of business and that's completely on us. And uh you know, if you're raised the right way and you've got the right stuff inside you, you go right back to work. You don't know how things shake out. This is certainly a wild college football season and the focus has to be on us taking care of our business."
The message has been the same all season for Cristobal, but the question is whether it is going through the players' heads. The discipline is not there, the team is starting to crumble, and unless it's the inside taking control, it could be another wasted season.
Crisotbal knows that the Mustangs were a good team and gives them credit for winning the game. However, he also knows that they were helped because of the endless mistakes the Canes made.
"I mean, that's again you always give credit to the opponent because you know it's a good football team, and when you make that many mistakes and they are flat-out mistakes it's on everybody in the organization with myself every coach player and when you make that many mistakes as an organization you allow yourself uh to be put in a position where you can get beat and that's what happened today in overtime," Cristobal said.
Now the Hurricanes will return home ot play against the team that ended their playoff dreams last season in the Syracuse Orange. This is a revenge game for the Canes, who look to get back on track against another ACC team.
Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.