CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami center Ryan Rodriguez seems unfazed about the Hurricanes being ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25. The rule at Miami is to keep things simple, which means focusing only on the next task.
And they take that policy very seriously.
“Don’t even look to tomorrow. Just be 1-0 in the next task you have to do,” Rodriguez said shortly after a morning practice session ended this week. “The next task I’m going to do is some mobility, some film and some lunch. Just go be 1-0 at that, do it at the best of my ability.”
Yes, he planned to go 1-0 — at lunch.
Players and coaches see the big picture. Fans don’t have the same obligation. There might have been 500 or so Miami supporters gathered in one of the concourses of Hard Rock Stadium about a half-hour after the Hurricanes (6-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) held on to beat Florida State last weekend, sticking around to watch the end of the Notre Dame-BYU game.
And when BYU won, a few Miami fans were chanting louder than others.
“No. 1, baby!” they shouted.
Sure enough, Miami on Sunday returned to the top spot in the AP poll for the first time since 2002, as would have been expected after a weekend with then-No. 1 Georgia and then-No. 2 Notre Dame both losing — clearing a path for the then-No. 3 Hurricanes to climb atop the rankings.
But being there in October isn’t the goal, Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal insists. He says some version of the same thing every week: Going 1-0 in the next game — in this case, Saturday at home against Pitt — is all that matters, and that messaging is crystal clear to his staff and players.
“I mean, relevance is great,” Cristobal said. “I think that comes in other forms aside from the ranking. I think all of us think the rankings only matter when the last game of the season is played. So, as it relates to that, that’s probably the best answer I could give. It’s the one that, to me, makes the most sense. I know it’s not an interesting answer or a juicy one, but hopefully it fits.”
There’s a reasonable chance that some people with Miami quarterback Darian Mensah’s number texted him congratulations about the No. 1 ranking. Those texts haven’t gotten a response; Mensah got a new phone not long ago.
But even if they got through to the right number, Mensah wouldn’t have said much.
“I’m really just blocking out all the noise,” he said.
There is a greater, and obvious, goal. Miami finished No. 2 last season after losing in the College Football Playoff national championship game. That’ll be the poll — and really, the only poll — that the Hurricanes judge themselves by this season as well.
“Right now, we’re not worried about it. If we were No. 1, 30, 75, we’re not trippin’ about none of that,” linebacker Mohamed Toure said. “We’re just going out every single week and playing football — 1-0 mentality.”
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