As the final seconds ticked off the clock last Saturday during the Miami Hurricanes' annual spring football game, there were generally two ways of thinking coming from a majority of the team's fanbase:
'The 'Canes aren't going to win six games this season' or 'Get ready for the national championship parade next January through downtown Miami!'
It's something not just something Miami deals with, but some 'Canes fans do have a tendency to be the best at: blowing things out of proportion well before the necessary time. It's been that way from the moment Mario Cristobal returned as UM's head coach last December.
For a program that has had more losing seasons (three) than bowl wins (two) since the start of the 2006 season, it hasn't stopped some of the orange and green fanbase from believing that a team who lost to three teams with records of .500 or worse in 2021 will somehow win 10 games during the upcoming campaign.
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It didn't stop on Saturday either, despite the fact the offense didn't show much of the big play splash that was expected. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, who some experts have said should be a contender for the Heisman Trophy, threw for just 172 yards and a touchdown. His backup, Jake Garcia, threw for 117 yards.
Thankfully, Cristobal was realistic in what he saw after Saturday's game.
“There’s always a gap between where you end the season and where you want to go next year. We’ve made ground toward where we want to get to. We have a lot of work to do. And we know that," he said after the game.
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Will that do enough to temper the expectations of those fans who believed Cristobal's arrival means a 12-0 season and first ACC title in program history will follow? Probably not.
For a program that won five national titles over a 19 season period, to have not played for a national title since the 2002 season has fans desperate for any reason to say the 'Canes are back.
Is Cristobal, as someone who won two titles with UM as a player, the type of coach who can lead Miami back to championship glory? Of course. But until he can be the first coach in a while to bringing consistent titles to the 'Canes, fans might want to be less chirpy in the offseason and wait until the results actually back up the talk.
