When USF football faces Miami in Week 4, which 'Canes team will show up?

When it comes to college football, no team has quite the undeserved level of swagger as the University of Miami, USF’s opponent in week 4 of the season.

Since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004, the Hurricanes have had just one season with double-digit wins. That was in 2017 when the ‘Canes started the season 10-0 and rose to No. 2 in the country, only to lose their final three games by a combined score of 96-41. Included in that splat was a 38-3 spanking by Clemson in the ACC title game.

That was Miami’s only appearance in the ACC’s conference championship game, by the way, and it encapsulated everything the ‘Canes used to be.

Mario Cristobal was supposed to fix all that when Miami gave him a 10-year, $80 million contract to leave Oregon for South Beach in 2022. So far, there hasn’t been much return on the investment. Cristobal’s teams are 12-13 in his first two seasons and 6-10 in the conference.

The 'Canes concluded their flop last season by losing to Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Ah, but this year is going to be different, right? At Miami, it’s always going to be different. Miami was picked third in the 17-team preseason ACC poll. Shouldn’t the Hurricanes have to prove it on the field first, though?

We’ll concede that at least it will look different. Miami brought in fifth-year senior quarterback Cam Ward from Washington State because, as the saying goes, the future is now.

He is joined by All-Pac 12 running back Damien Martinez from Oregon State. He was the top-ranked back in the portal.

There are questions about the secondary, which should bring a smile to USF quarterback Byrum Brown and his merry band of pass catchers. But the bigger issue about Miami’s fortunes is the open whisper that Cristobal isn’t getting the job done.

Miami has every resource to have a top-10 program, especially in today’s wild west world of NIL and college athletics. So what’s the problem?

For starters, UM lately has retreated when the spotlight got the brightest. Last year, after starting 4-0 – including a win over Texas A&M – the ‘Canes rose to No. 17 in the polls.

Just as quickly, they fell out of the polls after losing two straight and six of their next eight games.

Coaches don’t last long there, either. They’ve been through six head coaches since 2004 and had three in-season changes. That doesn’t even account for the cloud most of these coaches lived under. And, trust me, if Miami loses at Florida to open this season on August 31, the temperature under Cristobal’s will be turned up to full broil.

Most USF fans concede the Bulls will have trouble coming away from Alabama with a win in Week 2, but there is a quiet belief – and not so quiet – that beating Miami at Raymond James Stadium wouldn’t be the upset that people outside of Fowler Avenue might believe.

If that does happen, even if the Hurricanes beat Florida, you wouldn’t want to be Mario Cristobal. Patience is a four-letter word in Miami.