From the Ashes.

[Soapy]

Mario Cristobal's gamble to leave Oregon, Phil Knight has already paid off but the cherry on top awaits
Carlos Navarro -- The Athletic Staff Writer

Mario Cristobal did not become one of college football's most polarizing head coaches until he began patrolling the University of Miami's sidelines. It was one of the many risks that Cristobal took when he left Oregon and the resources of a program backed by one of sports' biggest names and brand in Phil Knight, founder and CEO of Nike. The Miami native and alum had already built the Ducks back up, winning two Pac-12 titles and a Rose Bowl in his four seasons in Eugene.

Cristobal is close to wrapping up his seventh season since leaving Oregon and after a tumultuous start, the Hurricanes have won four ACC Championships, made the playoffs each of the last five seasons and are on the cusp of winning their second straight national championship. The only thing remaining? Beating his old team, the Oregon Ducks, who the Hurricanes will face off against in the CFP Semifinals at the Sugar Bowl.

The Oregon program that Cristobal left is very different than the one he'll be facing off in New Orleans. For one, they play in the Big Ten now and while the Ducks have a 61-22 record since joining the Big Ten in 2024, they've yet to win a conference championship. The furthest they've made it into the College Football Playoffs was the Semifinals in 2025, losing to Colorado. Since then, the Ducks have been bounced out in the first round in 2026 by Kansas State, in 2027 by Kansas State and last year, got bounced out by Georgia Tech. Dan Lanning recorded his first playoff since 2025 in the first round, beating out Florida and then took down undefeated UNLV in a blowout win for the Ducks.

But perhaps more important and more germane to their upcoming matchup, the Miami program that Cristobal took over is very different than the one he inherited. The Hurricanes are 76-11 since 2024, the most wins by a wide margin (+13) in that time span with seven playoff wins and four conference championships, most in the country. Only Georgia (11), Alabama (10) and Texas (9) have more first round picks than Miami (8) since 2024. In the previous ten seasons, the Hurricanes had just six first round picks. They're second to Georgia with 35 draft picks and have recorded five top-five recruiting classes, tied with Georgia.

The once ridiculed Cristobal, and Miami program, is now atop the college football world and are one game away from having the opportunity to capture their seventh national championship, putting them in the upper echelon of college football's bluebloods. The only thing standing in their way? Cristobal's old program.

[Soapy]

Sugar Bowl CFP Semifinals Preview: vs. #12 Oregon Ducks
Record: 10-4, 7-2 Big Ten
Head Coach: Dan Lanning
Offensive Scheme: Spread
Defensive Scheme: 3-4

Team Schedule
at #10 Texas Tech (9-4): W 28-24
vs. Wisconsin (6-7): W 46-7
vs. Oregon State (5-7): W 48-10
vs. Utah State (8-5): W 40-0
at Northwestern (4-8): W 38-17
at #25 Iowa (7-6): W 52-14
vs. Minnesota (8-5): W 35-7
vs. Indiana (3-9): W 37-31
at Rutgers (9-4): L 27-26
vs. #7 USC (11-4): L 37-19
at #14 Washington (9-4): L 38-23
at #13 Penn State (10-3): W 45-31
CFP R1 vs. #4 Florida (9-4): W 31-17
CFP QF at Peach Bowl vs. #6 UNLV(13-1): W 37-7

Team Leaders
Passing: Alex Lord (62 cmp%, 4426 yards, 46 TD, 9 INT, 172.0 passer rating)
Rushing: Tyler Jefferson (838 yards, 4 ypc, 7 TD)
Receiving: Tavares Goodley (62 receptions, 1200 yards, 16 TD)
Blocking: 20 sacks allowed
Defense: Kevin Pianalto (65 tackles, TFL, 4 INT, 4 PBU)

Last Meeting
CFB 1958 Regular Season Week 10 - Miami Stadium, Miami, Florida
(4-6) Oregon Ducks 0 - 2 Miami Hurricanes 2

Injuries
QB Keke Hagg (out)
C Daniel Garcia (out)

Oregon Ducks Key Players
QB #1 Alex Lord, Rs Junior » 88 ovr, 81 spd, 83 acc, 86 cod, 93 thp, 98 sac, 92 mac, 88 dac
HB #29 Tyler Jefferson, Rs Junior » 87 ovr, 91 spd, 92 acc, 95 cod, 90 car, 87 trk, 86 jkm
WR #19 Tavares Goodley, Rs Senior » 86 ovr, 95 spd, 91 acc, 95 cod, 83 cth
EDGE #95 Brian Edmond, Rs Sophomore » 90 ovr, 91 spd, 90 acc, 87 str, 81 pmv, 90 fmv, 73 bsh
ILB #43 Cameron Epperson, Rs Sophomore » 90 ovr, 94 spd, 94 acc, 92 tkl, 74 bsh, 72 mcv, 82 zcv
CB #0 Kevin Pianalto, Rs Sophomore » 88 ovr, 96 spd, 93 acc, 93 cod, 80 mcv, 97 zcv, 76 press

Hard Rock Bet™
Spread: Miami -1
Moneyline: Oregon +117
Over: 61

Will be streaming the game at 1/8/2025 10am EST James mvp Caesar Captain Canada djp73
https://www.youtube.com/@dynastysportsgaming/streams

[six7]

dang they rode a 3 game L streak and still squeezed out a cfp spot

[Baze]

Losing to the good Lord here

[Soapy]

‣ 2030 CFP Semifinal at the Sugar Bowl - Sugar Bowl, New Orleans, Louisiana
(11-4, 6-3 Big Ten) #12 Oregon Ducks at #1 Miami Hurricanes (15-0, 9-0 ACC)

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ORE | 7 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 24
MIA | 21 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 36

Miami outlasts Ducks 36-24 in New Orleans to advance to National Championship Game
Former Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal took the high road all week leading up to his Miami Hurricanes' matchup against his former team, saying that the game wasn't personal and it was all love for the University of Oregon.

After rushing for over 300 yards against his former team, Cristobal couldn't help himself in the post-game celebration, stating that the Hurricanes were "truly rooted in substance", a likely dig at Oregon head coach Dan Lanning's viral speech from the 2023 season.

The Ducks had no answers for Miami's offense and despite quarterback Alex Lord throwing for 431 yards, it wasn't enough as the Hurricanes cruised to a 36-24 victory play Michigan in the National Championship Game.

The Hurricanes jumped out to an early 14-0 lead thanks to a Manuel Arcuri pick-six and never looked back. The Ducks made it a one possession game with their second half opening drive touchdown to make it 30-24 but the Hurricanes would respond right back with a touchdown of their own as Kaseem Dalton scored his second touchdown of the night.

In the fourth quarter, the Ducks would punt from their own 21-yard line, their own 24-yard line, turn the ball over on downs on their own 31-yard line and after completions of 28 and 40 yards got them to Miami's red zone with less than a minute left, Lord would be intercepted by Elias Raines for good measure to close the game out.

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Scoring Summary
Quarter 1
Etinosa Ha 32 Yd pass from Bernie Flowers (7:57)
Manuel Arcuri, returned interception 35 Yds (7:16)
Evan Winston 35 Yd pass from Alex Lord (6:48)
Kaseem Dalton, 1 Yd run (0:52)

Quarter 2
Josh Lemon 15 Yd pass from Alex Lord (10:36)
Team Safety (5:36)
Bernie Flowers, 5 Yd run (0:52)
Mike Clutts, 22 Yd FG (0:01)

Quarter 3
Tyler Jefferson, 1 Yd run (10:23)
Kaseem Dalton, 2 Yd run -- 2pt failed (3:51)

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Player Stats
QB Alex Lord: 21-33, 431 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT, sacked twice
QB Bernie Flowers: 16-26, 180 yds, TD, sacked 3 times, 9 carries, 39 yards, TD

HB Tyler Jefferson: 7 car, 12 yds, TD
HB Deron Tryon: 15 car, 101 yds
HB Kaseem Dalton: 15 car, 88 yds, 2 TD
HB Aidan Teague: 12 car, 54 yds

WR Josh Lemon: 8 rec, 168 yds, TD
WR Clay Nester: 5 rec, 109 yds
WR Davon Momah: 5 rec, 61 yds
WR Miguel Escobar: 2 rec, 45 yds

LT Darrius Keyes: 78.6 PFF grade
LG Dominick Longo: Did not finish
C Jesus Angel: 60.8 PFF grade
RG Richard Cookus: 79.9 PFF grade
RT Damian Carmona: 35.8 PFF grade

S Ben Soto: 13 tkl, TFL
DE Brian Edmond: 8 tkl, 2 TFL, 0.5 sack
DT Collin McDowell: 8 tkl, 4 TFL, 2.5 sacks
CB Elias Raines: 5 tkl, INT
CB Manuel Arcuri: 5 tkl, INT, PBU

[Soapy]

[Soapy]

National Championship Game Preview: vs. #3 Michigan Wolverines
Record: 13-2, 7-2 Big Ten
Head Coach: Ryan Walters
Offensive Scheme: Air Raid
Defensive Scheme: 3-4

Team Schedule
vs. Western Michigan (3-9): W 38-24
vs. FCS: W 38-17
vs. Wisconsin (6-7): W 48-27
at Ball State (2-10): W 31-20
vs. #14 Washington (9-4): W 37-3
at #7 USC (11-5): W 17-10
vs. Purdue (4-8): W 27-10
at Maryland (3-9): L 31-24
at Northwestern (4-8): W 31-13
at Michigan State (5-7): W 49-17
at Nebraska (7-6): W 17-10
vs. Ohio State (5-7): L 41-38
Big Ten Championship vs. #7 USC (11-5): W 34-23
CFP QF at Fiesta Bowl vs. #5 Notre Dame (9-5): W 36-22
CFP SF at Rose Bowl vs. #7 USC (11-5): W 23-6

Team Leaders
Passing: Ja'Mario Downs (66 cmp%, 3907 yards, 36 TD, 8 INT, 162.7 passer rating)
Rushing: Delroy Alli (799 yards, 5.3 ypc, 10 TD)
Receiving: Dalton Kashama (75 receptions, 1207 yards, 10 TD)
Blocking: 32 sacks allowed
Defense: Alex Sims (55 tackles, 9 TFL, 22 sacks)

Last Meeting
CFB 1988 Regular Season Week 2 - Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
(2-0) Miami Hurricanes 31 - 30 Michigan Wolverines (0-2)

Injuries
QB Keke Hagg (out)
G Dominick Longo (out)
DE Darien Bequette (out)

Michigan Wolverines Key Players
QB #6 Ja'Mario Downs, Rs Junior » 82 ovr, 89 spd, 92 acc, 95 cod, 93 thp, 88 sac, 86 mac, 76 dac
HB #34 Delroy Alli, Junior » 92 ovr, 95 spd, 94 acc, 93 cod, 85 car, 92 btk, 86 spm, 95 jkm
WR #84 Dalton Kashama, Rs Junior » 81 ovr, 98 spd, 91 acc, 99 cod, 82 cth, 81 rls
EDGE #97 Alex Sims, Junior » 95 ovr, 88 spd, 87 acc, 87 str, 88 pmv, 96 fmv, 85 bsh
EDGE 90 Cory Pack, Rs Junior » 93 ovr, 84 spd, 85 acc, 91 str, 88 pmv, 90 fmv, 93 bsh
NB #7 J.P. Drango, Rs Senior » 83 ovr, 84 spd, 84 acc, 81 mcv, 78 zcv, 79 press

Hard Rock Bet™
Spread: Miami -1.5
Moneyline: Michigan +134
Over: 58

Will be streaming the game at 1/8/2025 3pm EST James mvp Caesar Captain Canada djp73
https://www.youtube.com/@dynastysportsgaming/streams

[Caesar]

Hail to the victors.

[djp73]

go blue

[Baze]

Losses to 3-9 Maryland and 5-7 Ohio State.

Never change, Michigan.