Mario Cristobal addresses Miami's current issues with penalties

Miami is 5-0, has three wins against ranked opponents and is the No. 2 team in the country, but is far from perfect. On Monday, Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal revealed how he plans on helping his team clean up their penalty issues.

“When we hurt ourselves, it affected our drives. It affected the outcome of drives as well,” Cristobal said. “We overcome them sometimes, but when you play really good teams, those things could be fatal. The benefit of being able to learn your lessons without learning it through consequence, is great.

“But, it has to be driven all the way through because, certainly, it’s not a stat line that we want to be on. And, it starts with myself and every single person in this building and it’s not acceptable. It’s not what we preach or teach, but we’ve got to make sure we get the results that we want.”

Miami has committed 38 penalties this season, tied for the fourth-most in the ACC. In total, Miami’s penalties have cost it 314 yards or 62.8 yards per game.

Miami’s 28-22 win over Florida State on Saturday was its most mistake-ridden game yet. The Hurricanes committed 13 penalties for a total loss of 114 yards.

This season isn’t the first time a Mario Cristobal-coached team has struggled with penalties. In the 2024 campaign, Miami drew 86 flags, resulting in 878 total penalty yards.

Thus far, this year’s Hurricanes’ penalties haven’t led to any losses. However, the team will want to clean up their mistakes if they hope to avoid falling short of the College Football Playoff the same way they did last year.

With a bye this week, Miami should have plenty of time to work on cutting down on its penalties. After a hard-fought win over Florida State, Cristobal is looking forward to being able to slow down and evaluate for a week.

“Proud of our guys for our effort, toughness, got off to three great quarters of football, not so great in the fourth but enough to get the win,” Cristobal said. “Got significant contributions from a lot of guys. Looking forward to getting to work, getting better and an excellent Louisville team coming in.”

Miami will host Louisville on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. ET inside Hard Rock Stadium. The game will air live on ESPN2.