They celebrated on the field and in the locker room. When Miami’s overnight charter flight landed Sunday after the Hurricanes’ biggest comeback win in 25 years, another surprise celebration was waiting.
Fire trucks welcomed the plane with streams of water as it rolled to the gate. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw that,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “That was crazy.”
A little bit of craziness on Sunday morning made sense, as everything about Saturday night in California was pretty wild too.
The Hurricanes were down by 25 points late in the third quarter and still trailed by 20 with 11 minutes left. Somehow, they came back to beat Cal 39-38—this was the biggest comeback win in FBS play this season and Miami’s largest since a 28-point comeback against Boston College in 1999.
Miami quarterback Cam Ward boosted his Heisman Trophy chances by throwing for 437 yards and accounting for three touchdowns in the last 10 minutes, including the game-winning pass to Elijah Arroyo with 26 seconds to go.
“I didn’t play my best ball,” Ward said. “Nobody played their best ball. We just can’t keep putting ourselves in these situations.”
Miami faced two nail-biting games in a row. They overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Virginia Tech on September 27, surviving a last-second Hail Mary touchdown that was overturned.
Then, just one week later, they came back from being down 25 points. The Hokies thought the replay review of the final play was mishandled, and Cal likely believed Miami’s Wesley Bissainthe should have been called for targeting against Golden Bears quarterback Fernando Mendoza in the final moments. If that call had gone Cal’s way, Miami would have needed an even bigger miracle.
“This team has so much trust,” Cristobal said. “Insane resiliency. We’re down 35-10 and nobody blinks. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Miami (6-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) moved up two spots to No. 6 in the AP Top 25 on Sunday. This is only the third time since 2005 that the Hurricanes have been ranked this high; they were No. 3 for two polls in November 2005 and spent two weeks at No. 2 in November 2017.
Miami has a week off before playing against Louisville on October 19.
“This was special,” receiver Xavier Restrepo said after the Cal game, where he moved from No. 9 to No. 4 on Miami’s all-time yardage list and set up the winning score with a 77-yard catch-and-run to start the final drive. “Wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
The plane taking the Hurricanes home was mostly dark during the five-hour flight; almost everyone was asleep or trying to sleep. One of the few lights came from Cristobal’s laptop as he watched the game a few times on the way back.
Running back Mark Fletcher, who rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown, had no trouble getting some rest.
“I slept good,” Fletcher said. “We just never quit. We had so much poise. There was no panic, no panic from players, no panic from coaches. We just played. It’s conference play now, and conference games are like playoff games. Just prepare every week like it’s the national championship and see what happens.”
Sleep, it seems, was not on Cristobal’s agenda after he returned on Sunday. He walked to his car still in his suit, holding a fresh cup of Cuban coffee. For those who don’t know, that coffee is very strong and not recommended for anyone who plans to nap soon.
“Sleep? Maybe later,” Cristobal said. “Maybe. There’s work to do. We just came a long way. We still have miles to go.”
