No. 8 Hurricanes just ‘want to get better’ as strong start continues. Next up: The USF Bulls

Just about everything has gone right so far for the Miami Hurricanes. They made quick work of the Florida Gators on the road to begin the season and followed it up with home blowouts of overmatched opponents in Florida A&M and Ball State.

Now, the only thing that stands between the No. 8 Hurricanes (3-0) and a perfect record heading into Atlantic Coast Conference play is a Saturday road game against the USF Bulls (2-1). Kickoff from Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium is set for 7 p.m., with the game televised on ESPN.

The Hurricanes are starting to look like the team coach Mario Cristobal envisioned them being when he took over three years ago. They are starting to be recognized as one of the top teams in college football after three dominant efforts to begin the 2024 season.

But Cristobal knows the team needs to sustain this level of production as the season continues.

“We really pay very little attention to that,” Cristobal said. “We acknowledge it. We’re proud that we are being acknowledged, but it’s so in the back of any thought as it relates to our progress, to our drive, to our determination. Honestly, we just want to get to work. We just want to get better. We just want to go play football.”

That continues Saturday with arguably their biggest test yet this season against the University of South Florida.

The Bulls were impressive in their two wins — 48-3 against Bethune-Cookman and 49-24 against Southern Miss — and were within one score of Alabama on the road before the Crimson Tide pulled away for a 42-16 win in Tuscaloosa.

“There’s a lot to them that has made them successful,” Cristobal said. “Tremendous amount of respect for their head coach, their coaching staff. Know them and have seen them work at other places, and what they have been building at USF as well. They got a great football team, and it doesn’t take but three or four clips watching them play the University of Alabama for everybody to realize how drastic, how big of a step, how good of a team that really is. So the tape doesn’t lie, and our guys have a chance to see it. So we’re excited for a great challenge.”

The Bulls’ offense has a dominant run game, with them averaging 268.67 yards per game on the ground, which is the eighth best in the country. They play a horizontal game, utilizing speed and a sideline-to-sideline approach to wear out defenses.

“They use every blade of grass,” defensive coordiator Lance Guidry said of the USF offense. “They are split very wide. They try to stretch you out as much as they can so that can try to run the football and throw the vertical passing game. They will go extremely fast and so you can’t have defensive calls that have a lot of words to them… It is hard to simulate because it is like option football. You can have a plan and make your scout team do it, but you can’t get in a rhythm and flow of it until you get into the game.”

Added linebacker Francisco Mauigoa: “Throughout the past three games, we haven’t went against a fast-tempo team, so there’s gonna be a great challenge for us. The offense and our scout team has been putting up a good look for us to get at least close to what they do. Just being able to prepare for that and play fast and have good communication on the field will put us in the right position to play ball.”

The Bulls’ defense, meanwhile, is pesky at the line of scrimmage and has the ability to sustain consistent pressure. USF and Miami are tied for eighth nationally with 27 tackles for loss.

It will be a test for Miami’s offense that, led by quarterback Cam Ward, has averaged a staggering 609.3 yards and 53 points per game — marks that respectively rank third and fifth nationally.

“It’s gonna be one of our toughest looks yet,” Miami receiver Xavier Restrepo said.

Even with Miami’s offensive success, Ward said there is still plenty of room for the team to grow.

“We have to be more consistent,” Ward said. “We can’t have lulls. Every play has to be a statement. The more we can just keep having urgency and keep playing hard every play, I think it’ll end up helping us in the long run.”