Mario Cristobal shower praises on Florida for dominating Texas 29-21, while responding to Steve Sarkisian’s criticism of Miami’s late touchdown vs. Pitt: He says:

The intense, often political, campaigning for a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff (CFP) field saw Miami coach Mario Cristobal deliver a sharp, fact-based retort to Texas coach Steve Sarkisian after Sarkisian criticized the Hurricanes’ late-game tactics.

The feud began when Sarkisian, making a case for his three-loss Longhorns on the SEC Network, subtly but clearly targeted Miami’s decision to throw a 33-yard touchdown pass with under a minute left to secure a 38-7 win over Pittsburgh. Sarkisian questioned the CFP committee’s focus, suggesting teams were unnecessarily padding stats for “style points” rather than playing quality football. He asked, “Throw fade route touchdowns with 38 seconds to go when you’re ahead 31-7 so that the score looks better. Is the committee really watching the games, or are they looking at a stat sheet…?”

The Florida Firing Line

Cristobal, whose 10-2 Hurricanes were vying with the 9-3 Longhorns for a key at-large bid, didn’t defend the late score directly. Instead, he strategically shifted the debate to a common opponent, the Florida Gators, to deliver a decisive counterpunch.

Speaking to On3’s Brett McMurphy, Cristobal dismissed the jab and offered a straightforward comparison of on-field results:

“That’s funny,” Cristobal said. “We had one common opponent: Florida dominated Texas 29-21, a team we beat convincingly 26-7. That settles that debate.”

The Strength of Schedule Argument

Cristobal’s argument weaponized the margin of victory against an identical rival. The Hurricanes not only won by a greater margin but also held the Gators to just seven points and limited their total offense to 141 yards. The Longhorns, conversely, were upset by Florida, losing 29-21 in a game where the Gators were able to run for 159 yards.

By bringing up the results against Florida, Cristobal cleverly diverted attention from the subjective sportsmanship of the late touchdown and forced the focus back onto the objective performance of the two teams against an identical opponent. His point implied that if Sarkisian is concerned about true quality of play, the Longhorns’ loss to a mediocre Florida team—a team Miami dominated—is a far greater obstacle to their CFP aspirations than any late-game touchdown. This highly public exchange highlighted the frantic lobbying and thin margins that separate contenders on the playoff bubble.