No. 4 Miami dominated early and used a pair of late touchdowns to earn a 26-7 win over rival Florida on Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium.
The Hurricanes (4-0) scored on their first two possessions and held the Gators to 32 yards of offense in the first half. Of Florida’s six drives in the first half, five were three-and-outs. But the Hurricanes got only 13 points out of their first six trips into Florida territory. Miami appeared to add another score when CharMar Brown churned a fourth-and-1 conversion into a 48-yard breakaway, but officials blew the play dead. The drive stalled, and the Hurricanes punted.
Florida kept the game close and finally broke through in the third quarter with a 7-yard touchdown rush by Jadan Baugh and, on the next play from scrimmage, an interception from defensive back Cormani McClain. The Hurricanes’ swarming defense kept Florida from doing anything with the extra chance. Miami tacked on short scoring runs by Brown and Mark Fletcher Jr. in the final five minutes to secure a 4-0 start for the third consecutive season.
Canes. Keep. Fighting.
📺: ABC pic.twitter.com/acIP1DaE9O
— Miami Hurricanes Football (@CanesFootball) September 21, 2025
The Gators opened the season with a win against Long Island but have dropped three in a row against South Florida, LSU and Miami. They are 1-3 for the first time since 1986 heading into an idle week. The culprit was an offense that went 0-for-13 on third down — Florida’s first game without a conversion since 2016 against Florida State. Miami held Florida to only 141 yards. That’s the lowest by the Gators since amassing 151 in a loss to Missouri in 2013.
It might be the last time the Gators and Hurricanes meet in the regular season for a while.
“We don’t get to play these guys again,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “This game should be on the schedule every year.”
The in-state rivals aren’t scheduled to play in the future — and with the SEC adopting a nine-game league schedule beginning next season, it’s unclear whether the opportunity will arise going forward.
Questions about Napier’s future aren’t going anywhere
If Saturday was another referendum on Florida coach Billy Napier’s job, it was an ink-blot test that allows you to make whatever conclusion you wish. Critics will point to another loss that dropped him to 4-16 against ranked opponents and 3-12 against rivals (0-2 against Miami, 0-3 against Georgia, 1-2 against Tennessee and Florida State and 1-3 against LSU).
Napier and former Alabama colleague Cristobal took over peer programs in the same coaching cycle; Cristobal has now beaten Napier by multiple scores in back-to-back years. The fact that Florida appeared to field only 10 players on a Miami field goal — a recurring problem during the 2023 season — raises questions about how much progress there has been.
Unless I’m missing something pic.twitter.com/ZmROMqUz8f
— Matt Baker (@MattBakerCFB) September 21, 2025
On the other hand, Florida was competitive for 55 minutes against a top-10 team on the road, just like last week. The Gators have not quit on Napier, and they were playing without three key defensive linemen, including.NFL Draft prospect Caleb Banks. Those are points Napier supporters can cite, even as his overall record fell to 20-22.
Napier’s path ahead doesn’t get much easier. After an open date, Florida hosts No. 8 Texas and travels to No. 10 Texas A&M with No. 5 Georgia, No. 13 Ole Miss, No. 15 Tennessee and No. 7 Florida State looming later this fall.
Napier’s buyout is 85 percent of what’s left on his contract; that’s about $19.4 million at the end of this contract year. — Matt Baker
Was Beck’s performance concerning for Canes?
Mario Cristobal knew it wasn’t going to be easy to replace No. 1 draft pick Cam Ward and the receivers he had last season on the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense. But through three games, Carson Beck, Malachi Toney and CJ Daniels seemed to have pretty good chemistry.
Miami’s pass offense finally put up a stinker on Saturday. Beck, the Georgia transfer, had his worst night so far as a Hurricane, completing only 17 of his 30 passes for 160 yards and an interception.
At one point in the first half, Beck threw five incompletions in a row. A couple of Beck’s passes were batted at the line of scrimmage. Tight end Elija Lofton and Daniels each dropped a pass. It didn’t help that center James Brockermeyer had three illegal snap penalties. But Beck also missed open receivers when he had them.
Beck entered the game with the highest completion percentage among FBS passers at 79.3 percent. He just never got into a rhythm with his receivers against the Gators.
He targeted Daniels, who had a ridiculous touchdown catch Week 1 against Notre Dame, seven times. But Daniels finished with only four catches for 16 yards. Toney had a couple of key third-down grabs early, but he was limited to four catches for 40 yards.
Of the four pass plays that Beck had for 15 yards or more, two went to running back Marty Brown, who led Miami with four catches for 53 yards.
The one thing the Hurricanes could do consistently was run it against the Gators. After Beck connected with Lofton for nine yards down to the Florida 36, offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson called for runs seven straight times on the game-clinching scoring drive in the fourth quarter.
Miami finished with 184 rushing yards on 46 attempts and 344 yards of offense. When LSU beat Florida a week ago, the third-ranked Tigers tallied 316 yards of offense in a 20-10 win aided by a Tigers pick six on defense. — Manny Navarro
There’s progress at Miami
If you were underwhelmed by a Hurricanes performance that was sloppy at times and closer than it should have been, remember this: Previous Miami teams lost these types of games under Cristobal. The Hurricanes went up 21-0 on Syracuse last year and lost, squandering their ACC title and College Football Playoff hopes. They blew a 10-point second half lead in the bowl game against Iowa State and let Duke score the final 28 points in the second half of a loss in 2022. And, of course, they failed to kneel out a would-be win over Georgia Tech in 2023.
The point here isn’t to bring up old wounds. It’s to show how much the Hurricanes have progressed under Cristobal. Instead of finding a way to lose in the fourth quarter after too many missed opportunities early, Miami pounded its way to a pair of touchdowns in the final four and a half minutes to put the game away. — Baker
More trouble for Lagway, Florida offense
After Florida’s five-star quarterback threw five interceptions in last week’s loss at LSU, there were questions about how he’d fare in a pivotal game against a loaded defense. His performance wasn’t disastrous, but he didn’t play like one of the nation’s most talented quarterbacks, either.
Lagway finished 12-of-23 for 61 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. It was Florida’s fewest passing yards in a game since throwing for 60 in a 2014 loss to South Carolina — the defeat that cost Will Muschamp his job.
Lagway’s most noteworthy moments came in the third quarter when he rushed for a fourth-and-short conversion in the red zone and pounded for another 5 yards on the next play to set up a touchdown. Neither play was flashy, but they show his powerful running capability — a side the Gators have been reluctant to use because of his injury history and the lack of depth behind him. Lagway missed a start last season with a hamstring injury, then missed all of spring practice and much of preseason camp with separate shoulder and leg injuries. He has said he’s fully healthy, but the missed reps haven’t helped his development. — Baker
(Photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)
