GLENDALE, Ariz. — Before the 15-play drive that would forever be etched into Miami lore, long before program legend Michael Irvin screamed into the air that the Hurricanes were heading home to play for the national championship or the golden confetti finally fell on the program to win their first Fiesta Bowl after four torturous trips to the desert, Mario Cristobal walked onto the field at State Farm Stadium to raise his fists in the air and pump them twice.
After mouthing the words, let’s go, he retreated back to the sideline, pulled the microphone on his coach’s headset down and got into a crouched position to watch the most consequential drive of the 175 games he’s been a head coach for. Trailing by a field goal with 3:13 left on the clock in the first of this season’s College Football Playoff semifinals, Cristobal turned it over to the quarterback he had relentlessly pursued last winter as the potential missing piece to get his alma mater back on the national stage after two decades of meandering well away from the standards set by his predecessors.
