The Miami Hurricanes may have defeated a 7-1 Florida State Seminoles football team, but that didn’t take away from the importance of this game.

The undefeated No. 6 Hurricanes (8-0) earned their first dominant win in over a month, defeating the Seminoles 36-14 in their big rivalry game. Miami never trailed and after winning their last three games by an average margin of just four points, the Hurricanes finally won a game that didn’t come down to the wire.

That’s a big deal for a defensive unit that had allowed 39 points per game over the last three games.

“The most important thing is that we play our best football,” Mario Cristobal said during the post-match press conference. “All of these games are playoff games – they’re conference games. They all mean something. The goal is to be 1-0, our goal is to be 1-0 and also play our best football. It was progress in that direction. Kudos to the defense, they set the tone, they did it with the front seven and the back end of the guys, they communicated really well. They thought: lockdown, lockdown.”

Perhaps most importantly, the win makes clear – and sends the message – that the Hurricanes have the best team in the state of Florida. There really hasn’t been a single season where Miami has held its own in the last two decades, with just one bowl win since the start of the 2007 season and zero ACC championships since joining the conference in 2004.

Following their win over the Seminoles, the Hurricanes are now 4-0 against in-state rivals this season after wins over the Florida Gators, USF Bulls and Florida A&M Rattlers. However, the win over the Seminoles — who had tormented the Hurricanes by a combined 72-27 points margin in Cristobal’s first two years — is just another big step for a program trending towards potentially finishing the season undefeated.

Cristobal even took a nice little dig at the Seminoles, a team that finished undefeated in the regular season last year, at the end of his press conference. However, they are 1-8 under coach Mike Norvell since losing their Orange Bowl game to the Georgia Bulldogs 63-3.

“Beating this program and remaining undefeated at Florida State is critically important,” said Cristobal, who played for the program from 1988-92. “I think it sends a strong message to all recruits in the state and out of state. “Clearly see the trajectory of this program compared to the other programs.”

Unexpected things can happen, and they usually do in college football. It wasn’t that long ago that the No. 2 seed Hurricanes lost by four wins to the Pittsburgh Panthers in the 2017 regular season finale. However, this team feels different.

The defensive unit obviously isn’t as stingy as this one – the “Turnover Chain” slogan has been bandied about this season – but the offense is a juggernaut, led by Heisman Trophy favorite Cam Ward. Even though Ward had his weakest game of the season – failing to throw a touchdown pass for the first time – he still took care of the ball, didn’t commit a single turnover and still led the Canes to 407 total yards of offense .

Add to that the two-headed rushing attack led by Damien Martinez and Mark Fletcher Jr., which combined for 249 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 8.3 yards per carry.

He even caught a receiving touchdown for the first time in his college career to tie the game for the Canes late on. Ward – who, despite his laid-back demeanor, is a huge perfectionist – emphasized that the Hurricanes had proven nothing with their win over the Seminoles.

That’s because the offense settles for three field goals instead of converting those chances into touchdowns.

“We didn’t prove anything,” Ward said after the game. “We weren’t good overall on offense tonight. We settled for three field goals, which is not good. We are not satisfied with field goals, but with touchdowns. We have to clean it up. But next week you’ll see a better offense.”

However, he did mention how “good” it felt to win his first rivalry game, especially against a Seminoles team that had won three straight games in the rivalry, including a 45-3 win over the Canes in Miami earlier that year 2022.

“It felt good,” Ward says. “It’s my first rivalry game that I won. It feels good to be on the winning side, especially in a rivalry like this. We accepted the challenge, they are a talented team and we knew this result would come.”

Entering Week 9, Ward led the nation with 24 touchdowns and 2,538 yards, including a 25-point comeback win on the road against California and two narrow wins against Virginia Tech and Louisville.

It’s no secret that the Hurricanes play in a weak conference in the ACC. There are only two other ranked teams in No. 9 Clemson and No. 22 SMU, and it’s clear that the Canes are the team to beat in this conference.

The undefeated Canes round out their regular season schedule with four games against unranked opponents. Assuming that remains the case – and it likely will, with Syracuse at 5-2 being their toughest remaining opponent – that means the Hurricanes will be without a ranked opponent all season.

While the team certainly doesn’t want to look ahead – Hurricanes players and coaches preach 1-0 every week – that means Miami’s only remaining tough test before the new 12-team College Football Playoff begins will likely be their ACC Championship Matchup against Clemson – which is a far cry from the super team it was when it beat the Hurricanes in their only conference championship game in 2017.

Assuming the Hurricanes win the conference, that means an automatic first-round bye and a top-four seeding in the playoffs.

With Ward at the helm — he will be one of the top quarterbacks selected in the 2025 NFL Draft — there is no reason to believe Miami shouldn’t finish the season undefeated.

If that’s the case in the end, Ward should remains a favorite for the Heisman Trophy, although he will face stiff competition from Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty, who has historic pace for running backs.

The Canes may not really be tested by an elite opponent until the playoffs begin. We’ll see if the defense can continue to make progress – as Cristobal points out – which will determine how far this team progresses.

But there’s no doubt that this Canes team feels different than the mediocrity that has plagued this program over the past two decades. Expect the 2024 Hurricanes to finish the year undefeated before they are truly tested by the other conference giants in the playoffs.