For No. 11 Miami, College Football Playoffs may start now with Wake Forest matchup
Officially, the College Football Playoff field gets announced on Dec. 8 and the first game of the tournament is on Dec. 20.
Those dates don't really apply to Miami. For the Hurricanes, the CFP may as well start now.
A win this week means Miami's playoff chances live on and a loss this week means hope is almost certainly over for the Hurricanes. No. 11 Miami (9-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 8 CFP) plays host to Wake Forest (4-6, 2-4) on Saturday, now with little room for error after falling to Georgia Tech two weeks ago.
"We're going to be locked in regardless," Miami quarterback Cam Ward said. "We're not really worried about no room for error. Play like that, you mess up. Even when you play good, you're going to mess up at some point. So, that has no meaning to us."
If Miami wins Saturday and again next weekend at Syracuse, the Hurricanes will be heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference title game in Charlotte on Dec. 7. But coach Mario Cristobal's mantra all season has been that no good comes from looking ahead. It has become cliche at Miami: "go 1-0 this week" is the phrase that has been uttered by players and coaches countless times.
"There's too much going on in the outside world," Cristobal said. "There's too much clutter, there's too much coverage and hype and noise to really do anything else but make sure your guys are focused on the task at hand. ... Without a doubt, that's been emphasized and that's not going to change."
There's much on the line for Wake Forest as well this week. The Demon Deacons aren't going to the ACC title game or the CFP, but an upset win Saturday and then a victory over Duke next week would get Wake Forest to 6-6 and likely to a bowl. Wake Forest didn't make a bowl last year, snapping a seven-year streak of reaching one.
"Our practices are good. They're lively. Guys are into it," Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said. "We have a bunch of guys that are in their last year of football and they're trying to, in the words of Warren Zevon, enjoy every sandwich. And then you have some young guys that are playing for the first time ever that are just excited to be playing."
Calling Miami and Wake Forest "conference rivals" is a stretch, since the schools haven't played since 2013. Clawson is in his 11th year at Wake Forest; he's had more ACC games against Stanford (one) and Cal (one) than he has Miami (zero). The schools next play in 2026 in what'll be Miami's first trip to Winston-Salem in 17 years. "I thought about all those years that they were struggling, and then the year we get them they're 9-1," Clawson said.
A trio of injured Hurricanes — cornerback Damari Brown, defensive lineman Elijah Alston and offensive lineman Ryan Rodriguez — are "close" to returning and could all be game-time decisions Saturday. Brown would be an especially key returnee, since Miami is getting very thin in the secondary. For Wake Forest, starting quarterback Hank Bachmeier is expected to play. He was knocked from last week's loss to North Carolina because of an issue with his left shoulder.
The Hurricanes will pay tribute to 27 seniors before their final home regular season game, including Ward, WR Xavier Restrepo, K Andres Borregales and ninth-year TE Cam McCormick — now healthy after years and years of dealing with injuries. "I wouldn't have changed my journey. If I could do it again, I would do it again," McCormick said.
Wake Forest is 4-0 this season when holding teams under 31 points, 0-6 otherwise. Miami is 9-0 when scoring that many, 0-1 otherwise.
The Hurricanes entered this week leading the nation in yards per game, points per game and yards per play, all a big reason why Ward is considered the Heisman Trophy favorite. He says Miami's offensive line deserves more credit. "If you don't have an O-line, you can't do anything," Ward said.