When winning matters the most, you have to prepare yourself to go the distance. For more than 20 years, Miami fought to regain relevance in college football. Now, after years of scandals and reputational damage, Mario Cristobal has led the program into the playoff finals. The result is a moment he is determined to make count for Miami.

“I’ve had 20 years of sitting from afar watching Miami get ridiculed and stomped on. It pissed me off,” Miami head coach Mario Cristobal said to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports. “I got to the f—ing point where I couldn’t stand the s— going on here and the amount of s— being thrown at it. My brother told me, ‘If you don’t f—ing do it, who the f— is going to do it?!’”

Mario Cristobal keeps his motivation high for the game against Indiana. What keeps him hooked is the framed pictures of four national championship–winning coaches in Miami history hanging in his office. They remind him of the greatness the program holds, and this is his chance to bring it back in his second stint with the program.

Four years after leaving Oregon, Cristobal is just one win away from restoring that glory by winning the national title for Miami for the first time since 2001. For years, Miami football carried a reputation shaped by controversy. The most damaging blow came in 2011, when Nevin Shapiro claimed he had secretly funded millions of dollars in illegal benefits for players over several years, making it one of the biggest scandals in the program’s history.

The NCAA later confirmed many players’ rule violations in creating their own cash bonus pool to reward teammates for good plays. And after the investigation, Miami lost scholarships and faced penalties.

These scandals made Miami’s image as a team that lacks discipline and cheats to win. Ironically, today’s players get money through NIL deals. This is their chance to finally erase that image, and that’s what Cristobal is building on.

This win means more to Mario Cristobal because his journey with Miami runs deep. His coaching path took him from Rutgers to Miami as an assistant, then to FIU—where he was fired—before stops at Alabama under Nick Saban and Oregon, ultimately leading him back home. Cristobal played for Miami from 1989 to 1992 and won two national titles with the Hurricanes.

With ties, the drive is also very personal, as during his first months on the job, he spent nights at a long-term care hospital beside his dying mother. She passed in 2022, but when asked if she would be alive and beside Cristobal, what would she have said? Cristobal didn’t hesitate to say, “Win the f—ing game!”

Cristobal’s success at Miami didn’t come overnight, as he went through a constant grind. He works 16–18-hour days fueled by plenty of cafecito—a Cuban coffee—while stacking top-10 recruiting classes and pushing the university to spend aggressively on the program, including a $4 million commitment to Carson Beck. Those efforts are finally paying off, as the coach who once won five games, then seven, and then 10 is now in the playoff finals with 13 wins this season.

Now, let’s talk about how Miami can come up strong against Indiana.

Can Mario Cristobal’s team win against Indiana?

Miami enters the national championship as an underdog against Indiana, but this year has been full of surprises for them. That’s exactly why Mario Cristobal’s team can turn things against the Hoosiers if they build on their strong sides.

The first key to winning for Miami is its pass rush. The Hurricanes lead the nation with 47 sacks. With players Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor, they can dominate the game against Indiana.

Controlling the clock is the second key, as their offensive line powers a physical run that helps in the time of possession, averaging nearly 34 minutes per game.

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On top of that, Indiana ranks just behind Miami; that means third downs and ball control will decide who holds the upper hand. The major concerns are penalties and turnovers.

As Miami struggles in both, Indiana holds an advantage as they build on clean football. Now, with everything at stake, it will be interesting to see how this game turns out for Miami.