Mario Cristobal not letting players look back at past games because 'it means absolutely nothing'

Miami entered their bye week undefeated as they now get back in the swing of things in a road matchup against Louisville this Saturday. A team the Hurricanes definitely should not take lightly after the Cardinals appeared in the ACC Championship game last season.

Having not started a season 6-0 since 2017, there’s plenty to be excited about in Coral Gables. But head coach Mario Cristobal made it clear that he wants his team looking at what’s right in front of them over reflecting on their past wins.

“I don’t think anybody’s looking back,” Cristobal said. “We don’t let them, we don’t want them to, because it means absolutely nothing and everybody’s on the same plane. If you put up conference standings, everybody’s either 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 1-1, 2-1, and everybody’s alive and everybody will be mathematically alive for about till Week 10-11. And then there’ll be another handful alive all the way at the end and the more you win, the more you control your destiny.”

“So it’s no surprise, and no one should be surprised, that really most games are coming out to the last possession, or the final quarter, some the final play,” he added .”And you’re also noticing that maybe a lot of games are sometimes lost more than won because of a turnover, a mistake, an error of some sort.”

Miami opened up ACC play in dramatic fashion with two comeback wins. Coming back after being down 10 points during two separate occasions in their Week 5 win over Virginia Tech and then erasing a 25-point second half deficit to defeat Cal before the bye. Impressive performances in crunch time that will require more attention to detail as the stakes of the season continue to rise across the country.

“So the quality and the detail of preparation now becomes that much more important, because everybody is fighting for their lives right now, and everybody’s got to understand that if anyone loses sight of the urgency necessary to win right now, they’re out of their minds and they don’t understand football,” Crisotbal explained.

“Everyone’s going to get everyone’s best, because everyone has a chance. And that’s why we always felt that college football is the best sport in the world. It’s just intensity, energy, physicality, and everyone, all 11 against all 11, on every play for 180 plays a game. And man, that ball can bounce funny, but you always have a chance.”

The ball has certainly bounced the right way for Miami so far this season whether it’s been in dominant wins or down-to-the-wire thrillers. Now facing arguably their toughest test of the season on the road against rock-solid Louisville team that’s two losses have been by one score.

“I think the levels of urgency are where they need to be, but they’re going to be cranked up all week, and we need to have great days of practice to prepare for a great team,” Cristobal said. “Because they’re really, statistically, they’re top 20, top 15, and top 10 in just about every category offensively and defensively. And they are very difficult to prepare for so we have to take advantage of every minute we have to be ready to play our best.”

Miami and Louisville will square off at noon ET in an ACC matchup airing on ABC and streaming on Fubo.