No. 13 Miami ended the regular season on a heater, hoping it’s enough to earn a spot in the CFP

PITTSBURGH AP A fourth straight dominant win to end the regular season still fresh Miami coach Mario Cristobal gripped both sides of the dais much in the way a politician would Fitting considering the circumstances While Cristobal believes the th-ranked Hurricanes have proven during a dominant finishing stretch to the regular season that they are deserving of a spot in the College Football Playoff when the -team bracket is revealed on Dec he s not immune to the fact that there are a few who wonder if the ACC is worthy of having two schools in the field And if he s being honest Cristobal is just about over it I just think people have got to stop lying and trying to place value on conferences Cristobal commented I mean just there s a lot of really good football teams in all conferences especially the ACC and we ve proven it The Miami unit that began November with an overtime loss at SMU that seemed to push its once-promising season to the brink is the same Miami gang that finished with a flourish The Hurricanes won four straight to finish the regular season the last a - demolition of No Pittsburgh at chilly Acrisure Stadium on Saturday that they hope will force the committee to think long and hard when the field is put together on the first Sunday in December Regardless of whether Miami reaches the ACC championship competition they believe they ve done enough to earn a chance to play for a national title Not only do we pass the eye test we pass the field test right Cristobal noted Especially as it relates to playing this brand of football down the stretch and in head-to-head competition versus others that are being judged Miami - overall - ACC responded to that listless overtime setback at SMU by spending four consecutive Saturdays exerting its will winning by an average of points The capper was a physical three-plus-hour clinic in -degree Celsius weather in which the guys in white from South Florida looked right at home The Hurricanes outgained Pitt - held the Panthers to yards rushing and rolled up first downs as a tight first half promptly morphed into a blowout over the final two quarters Required if style points are fundamental particularly for a organization with two losses on its ledger Miami quarterback Carson Beck didn t disagree after throwing for yards with three touchdowns and a pick I think winning football games matters Beck revealed I think looking good obviously matters as well And if you turn on the film the shows that we can go out and compete with anyone and not even just compete but dominate in various in specific scenarios and situations Or during preponderance of a gray late fall afternoon nearly all of them Miami scored on five of six possessions at one point the one non-scoring drive came on a kneel down to end the first half then sent a message to both the Panthers and the CFP selection committee after Pitt called a timeout trailing by with under minutes to go Rather than solely run out the clock Beck stood in the pocket and hit CJ Daniels for a -yard touchdown that made the final margin even more impressive We re like OK let s go number screw it Beck mentioned Beck pointed to his band s resiliency as one of the reasons it is worthy of playing for a national title The Hurricanes opened the year with an electric supremacy over Notre Dame and reached as high as No in the polls before losing twice in three weeks as October gave way to November Yet any concern Beck had about the Hurricanes pouting after falling at SMU vanished when they returned to the practice field a inadequate days later It was the best practice of the year he explained And to see our crew respond like that and bring force guys were flying around guys were making plays guys were running around the field And from there on out it kind of was just this new vigor An resource that sustained itself during a series of emphatic blowouts that offered proof the renaissance the effort has enjoyed since Cristobal returned to his alma mater has particular staying power Senior linebacker Wesley Bissainthe was part of Cristobal s first Miami organization in a group that began the season ranked in the Top and ended it at - the last loss a - embarrassment at home against Pitt Bissainthe and the Hurricanes came full circle in a way on Saturday and the senior just smiled while admitting that he grew emotional in the postgame locker room as he thought about the journey both he and the project have been on All involved just hope the journey isn t over yet I communicated the guys you know I love them and if the CFP committee gives us a chance let s keep it going he stated