CORAL GABLES - In four games played this season, Francisco Mauigoa has proven to be a defensive standout for the Miami Hurricanes.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound senior linebacker leads the team with 28 total tackles. He has also added three pass breakups, two sacks, and one forced fumble to date.

In last weekend’s game against USF (50-15 road win on Saturday, Sept. 21), Mauigoa led all Canes defenders with 11 tackles, with one tackle for loss and one sack. While he is making a meaningful impact on the team with his program, Mauigoa focuses on the team’s relentless pursuit of excellence.

Miami’s most recent game against USF featured some celebratory moments. While Mauigoa views this as an excellent thing for the program, he values the art of balance more than anything else.

“When it comes to playing football, you always gotta have composure,” Mauigoa said to media members in a press conference on Tuesday (Sept. 24). “You can have fun. But at the same time, you can’t be overdoing it because, as we’ve seen, we had a couple of plays last week we kind of got selfish there and got some penalties. I think for us, it’s good to have fun but always have a limit to it and just put the team first. As leaders, we have to emphasize that. I think everybody is doing a good job of putting the team first.”

Regarding penalties, the Canes had 11 for a whopping 113 yards against the Bulls. And in four games this season, they are averaging 7.25 penalties for 70.5 yards per game - two marks they would like to improve on in ACC play. This may be the most significant opportunity for the Canes, who are 4-0 and are ranked by the Associated Press as the nation’s No. 7-ranked team.

“If we see ourselves not doing what our standard is, we gotta check ourselves,” Mauigoa said. “We hold each other accountable on that.”

Mauigoa sees the team headed in the right direction but wants to emphasize staying focused on what is right in front of them.

“For us, we always have to goal and mindset to dominate every single play,” Mauigoa said. “We have a standard to dominate and win our one-on-ones. It happens here at Greentree first before it happens on the game field. Keep our mindset with the right pace. The coaches have done a good job emphasizing that the whole week.”

Now, with the Virginia Tech Hokies (2-2) on deck for the ACC opener at home on Friday night (Sept. 27; 7:30 p.m. kickoff time), the Canes have respect for their next opponent on the schedule. As far as the offense is concerned, the Hokies are led by junior quarterback Kyron Drones, who has completed 64 of 107 passes for 765 yards, four touchdowns, and three touchdowns.

Drones also has 52 carries for 209 yards and two touchdowns, which makes the 6-foot-2, 234-pound quarterback a dual threat in his own right. Drones is second on the Hokies in rushing yards behind senior running back Bhayshul Tuten, who has 67 carries for 391 yards and seven touchdowns in four games played. The 5-foot-11, 209-pound bruiser posted 15 carries for 122 yards and three touchdowns last week against Rutgers.

“I think Virginia Tech has a really good team,” Mauigoa said. “I think 2-2 is very misleading. They almost won against Rutgers. They lost by three points (26-23 defeat on Sept. 21). But they got a really good offense. The quarterback is very good with his feet and the running back is very explosive too. We got a challenge this week. It’s conference play, and we’re excited for the opportunity.”

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