After 5-0 Start, Miami Hurricanes Prove National Championship Contender Status

After finishing off a road win at Florida State Saturday night, members of the Miami football team posed and paraded around the sideline with a sign that read, “Back to back state champs,” having won their fourth straight game against a team from Florida.

With how the Hurricanes have looked through five games, it’s fair to wonder if that’s the last championship they’ll be celebrating this season.

Miami (5-0, 2-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference) is not the No. 1 team in the polls at the moment. The Hurricanes sit at No. 3, although they may return to the No. 2 spot after Saturday’s win.

But they certainly have the best resume in the country through six weeks. Saturday’s 28-22 win over No. 18 Florida State was the Hurricanes’ third top-20 win of the season, adding a road rivalry win to home wins over then-No. 6 Notre Dame and then-No. 18 South Florida.

Anyone who looked solely at the box score Sunday morning may not be that impressed by what they see from Miami. The Hurricanes barely covered the 4.5-point spread and were handily outgained 404-338 in yardage.

Anyone who watched the game, though, knows how dominating a win it was for Miami. With 10:05 left, the Hurricanes led 28-3.

Their defense -- anchored by defensive end Rueben Bain Jr., a potential No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NFL Draft, and a transfer-laden secondary -- was flying around and playing with some serious physicality.

Long gone is the porous defense that kept Cam Ward and last year’s high-powered offense out of the College Football Playoff.

Quarterback Carson Beck, supplemented by a better offensive line and wide receiver unit than he was working with at Georgia, threw four touchdowns and managed the game effectively as he continues to thrive for the Hurricanes.

Freshman wide receiver Malachi Toney, who turned 18 just last month, had his first career 100-yard performance with two touchdowns in his Florida State-Miami rivalry debut. Five games into his career, he’s established himself as one of the shiftier and more electric playmakers in college football, amassing 375 yards and three touchdowns.

The Hurricanes aren’t perfect by any means. They took their foot off the gas -- something they also were able to overcome doing against Notre Dame and Florida earlier this season -- and allowed the Seminoles to score 19 fourth-quarter points.

But this sure looks to be shaping up as one of those years where there isn’t one unassailable front-runner.

Preseason No. 1 Texas suffered its second loss of the season on Saturday against a Florida team that entered with a 1-3 record.

Preseason No. 2 Penn State suffered its second straight loss on Saturday to a UCLA team that was 0-4.

There are still eight unbeaten teams in the AP top 15 after Saturday’s action. But it sure feels like defending champs/top-ranked Ohio State, No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 Miami are a cut above at the top of the title race.

At the very least, this Miami team looks like the one that will finally bring home that long-awaited first ACC championship in the program’s 22nd year in the league.

Beyond that, Miami looks to have the pieces of a true contender. If they all come together well, a national championship game in the Hurricanes’ home stadium in Miami Gardens is what’s waiting for them at the end of the path if they can make it there.