Mario Cristobal is a Miami Hurricane through and through.

He grew up in the city rooting for the team. He played for the program as it was winning national championships. He’s coached there as an assistant and now as the head coach.

If anybody could unlock the power of The U once again, it would surely be somebody like him. 

In the wake of the Canes’ 10–3 win over Texas A&M in the College Football Playoff, it’s hard to deny that Cristobal has done as expected: He has built a national title contender in Coral Gables, Fla. 

There is little question that there is enough talent to make that statement true. 

Tailback Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for 172 yards on Saturday afternoon, breaking off a 56-yard run in the fourth quarter to set up the game-winning score and other bruising carries between the tackles that helped keep the game close throughout. The Hurricanes had All-Americans who played with that label along both lines, including menacing defensive end Rueben Bain Jr., who had three sacks and four TFLs. The group has young playmakers, too, such as freshman Bryce Fitzgerald, who undercut a receiver in the end zone with just 24 seconds left to pull down an interception that sealed the final result. 

But for all the talent up and down Miami’s roster, the way things transpired at Kyle Field should also lead to additional, creeping doubts. For as good as Cristobal has been at building up his program, actually coaching it where the Hurricanes can win titles again looks even more suspect. He’s got the Jimmys and the Joes part on lock, but getting over the hump with the X’s and O’s will be up for debate no matter when this season’s CFP run ends.

This isn’t just a narrative that has surrounded Cristobal’s tenure as a head coach dating back to his Oregon and FIU days, it’s under a giant microscope and plain to see when games get tight and decisions need to be made. Against A&M, the Hurricanes committed ill-timed or downright boneheaded penalties (some, including a key late hit out of bounds, were not even called by the officials). They ran just 49 plays and mustered just two offensive drives of more than 70 yards. Miami also leaned into being ultra conservative given the game state when it could have seized control of the game far earlier than it did late in the fourth quarter. Netting just three points from four trips inside the Aggies’ 30-yard line during the middle eight minutes of the game doesn’t help matters either.

Miami should rightfully celebrate its victory and look forward to a Cotton Bowl against No. 2 Ohio State—which has all the makings of the latest classic between the two programs. But in the back of everybody’s minds prior to kickoff on New Year’s Eve, people will have a few doubts about many of the decisions the Canes head coach is going to make between the lines and how that could be the one thing holding this group back from reaching its full potential.

Here are three other takeaways from a slugfest between the Hurricanes and Aggies: 

1. Thank you, Baby Jesus

Miami freshman superstar Malachi Toney lived up to his nickname on Saturday despite his late fumble that breathed life into many of the 104,122 swaying fans in maroon and white. He attempted a pass (it fell incomplete), he hauled in five catches and even found time to rush the ball three times, too. The overall numbers may have not been eye-popping or even to the standards he’s set this season, but the mere threat of a game-breaker like that was enough to draw plenty of attention from the A&M defense that allowed others like Fletcher to find some space they may not have. 

Maybe most impressive was how he responded to that ill-timed turnover (the team’s second lost fumble of the season, improbably). He didn’t pout, he went out and blocked if called upon or tried to stretch the field if needed. Mostly, he used his trademark speed and elusiveness to hit the corner and find the end zone for what proved to be the game-winning score. 

He may be just a freshman, but it’s quite safe to say that he’s lived up to the nickname he earned in high school at this level.

Hurricanes wide receiver Malachi Toney returns a punt against the Aggies during first half of their first-round CFP game.
Hurricanes wide receiver Malachi Toney returns a punt against the Aggies during first half of their first-round CFP game. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

2. The ACC—and the selection committee—doesn’t mind that kind of validation

The selection committee and ACC commissioner Jim Phillips are not ones to light victory cigars, but they had to have smiled quite nicely after seeing the first two games of the CFP result in a far cry of outcomes from what transpired last year. Instead of blowouts, we got thrillers down to the very end of the fourth quarter. Instead of home team domination, we’ve so far been treated to road victors. That’s something everybody can celebrate at home and a testament to these ends somewhat justifying the means that brought them about no matter how controversial. 

More than that, it was really a nice boost to the fortunes of the ACC, which had been 0–3 the last five seasons in the tournament. Given how much ink was spilled over the whole Miami–Notre Dame conundrum, the fact the Hurricanes survived and advanced should quiet down the retrospective chatter about their selection as the final at-large and give Ohio State a more than capable opponent in a few weeks for the Cotton Bowl.

3. Texas A&M and Mike Elko once again face questions over late backsliding

In a vacuum, this season was a smashing success for Elko and the Aggies. They won 11 games, made the playoff and had a shot at making it to the SEC championship game in the final weekend of the regular season. 

But if you were to sum up the feelings of many of the program’s passionate supporters, they also can’t help but see the ending as anything other than taking a rake directly to their faces after losing to Texas up in Austin and then being unable to sneak out a victory at home after not scoring a touchdown. 

Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed scrambles against Hurricanes defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor.
Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed scrambles against Hurricanes defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

In the Aggies’ last four games, they are a collective -9 in turnover margin and failed to score a passing touchdown against an FBS team since mid-November. The rushing defense gave up at least 120 yards in their last four games against power-conference opponents (and at least 175 yards in four of their last six games) and failed to get a stop when they needed one to stem the momentum of their opponents in the second half. 

Just as bad, they committed truly backbreaking errors just when the pressure ratcheted up the most to further undermine their actual tangible progress in terms of the overall record.

“We weren’t able to get it done,” Elko lamented after the game on Saturday. “We came up five yards short and we’ll have to live with that over the offseason.”

That they will. 

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mario Cristobal Built a Contender at Miami—Can He Coach It to a Title?.

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