No. 7 Hurricanes fueled by ‘positive anger.’ That will continue as ACC play begins

The Miami Hurricanes are embracing what they have accomplished so far this season. They’re 4-0, a top-10 team and just about everything has gone right for them to this point. They’re having fun, celebrating each other’s success — at times at their opponent’s expense (see Mishael Powell doing the Gator Chomp at Florida after an interception and quarterback Cam Ward mocking USF fans’ Horns Up gesture last weekend).

“If you think about it, this sport is a kids’ game; we’re just playing at a higher level,” Powell said. “So I think that’s when the fun part comes in. I’ve been playing this game since I was 5, 6 years old. I just enjoy the fact of putting on pads every single day to go out and play.”

The Hurricanes are also keeping their focus toward what’s ahead. They still haven’t accomplished anything near what they want to accomplish, even if they ran through their nonconference slate of games in historic fashion.

There’s a balance to be had with that, knowing when to have fun and when it’s time to be focused on business.

But as coach Mario Cristobal describes it, he doesn’t have much to worry about. From his perspective, the Hurricanes are finding ways to play the right type of angry, pushing themselves to get better with every practice and every game even amid the strong start to the season.

“The guys have adopted that mantra because it kind of goes back to what they decided a while back and felt like they’ve had enough,” Cristobal said. “They’ve had enough of all the stuff in here for a couple of decades. And even though some of them weren’t from here or didn’t know much about it, they’ve learned it, and I think they’ve also realized that positive anger is that energy that burns clean. It just keeps going. And it’s real. There’s no gimmicks to it. There’s just watching that film, knowing that there’s a standard we haven’t achieved yet, and that there’s room to grow, so it’s full throttle and foot on the gas.”

Expect that to continue now that the schedule shifts to Atlantic Coast Conference play, with the No. 7 Hurricanes (4-0) hosting Virginia Tech (2-2) on Friday. Kickoff from Hard Rock Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN.

Miami is once again a heavy favorite, with Odds Shark listing the Hurricanes as 17-point favorite against the Hokies, but don’t tell that to UM players. They’re tuning out what the outside is saying and continuing to focus on what they can do to improve regardless of who they’re playing.

“We always have the goal and mind-set to dominate every single play,” said linebacker Francisco Mauigoa, who leads the team with 28 tackles. “We have a standard that you’ve got to dominate and we’ve got to win our 1-on-1s. And if we are seeing ourselves not doing what our standard is, we’ve got to check ourselves. We hold each other accountable in that, so it’s just being able to come out in the locker room and have the right mind-set. ... The coaches have done a pretty good job emphasizing that throughout the whole week.”

It has shown on the field.

The Hurricanes won their first four games against Florida, Florida A&M, Ball State and USF by a combined score of 209-41. The 209 points scored are the most in UM history through four games. Miami is one of four teams the top 10 nationally in both total offense (605 yards per game, second nationally) and total defense (232.8 yards allowed per game, 10th nationally).

“Just keep playing together like we are,” Ward said. “We’re playing good, complimentary football, even when we’re not having an explosive drive. If we get stopped, we know the defense is going to come up big for us. If the defense gives up a couple points, we know we’ve got them, so I would say we’ve just got to stick to playing for each other, playing complementary football and hopefully things continue to go our way.”

For Miami, that means continuing to not take their opponent for granted. In college football, anything can happen.

So the Hurricanes aren’t overlooking Virginia Tech just because it’s 2-2, with its losses being an overtime road defeat to Vanderbilt and a home loss to Rutgers. They know there are elements to the Hokies’ game that stand out, notably a pass rush led by redshirt senior Antwaun Powell-Ryland and his nation-leading six sacks and a run game headlined by senior Bhayshul-Tuten and his seven rushing touchdowns.

“It’s for sure going to come down to us executing and putting the ball in play,” Ward said. “They’re a very physical team. It’s the first ACC game, so both of us are trying to get a win. It’s going to be a good game.”

What happens starting Friday and over the next eight games will go a long way in determining if the Hurricanes achieve their goals — an ACC title, a College Football Playoff berth, potentially a chance to compete for the team’s first a national title since 2001.

The celebrations will be there along the way if they’re warranted, but the long-term focus will remain the priority.

“You’ve got to always keep composure,” Mauigoa said. “There’s time to have fun. You can have fun at the same time but can’t be overdoing it. ... Put the team first, have awareness of what we’re doing.”