CORAL GABLES - Gains have been made since the Miami Hurricanes' first scrimmage this past Saturday (Aug. 10).

Several players spoke on the team’s forward progress over the past week.

Fifth-year junior offensive lineman Jalen Rivers opened up on how his positional unit has been gelling together in fall training camp.

“We’ve been working on this throughout the spring, throughout the summer,” said Rivers, who earned All-ACC Second Team honors last season as one of the conference’s top offensive linemen. “It’s just extra preparation with everybody of the offensive line, especially the first five you see. That left guard is not set in stone yet. It’s important to work every different lineup we have. We gel really good together through spring, through now. We just gotta keep doing that with the next practice we are looking to face and obviously the scrimmage we’re about to take on Saturday.”

Rivers updated media members on the battles between the offensive line and defensive line.

“We’re not gonna win every rep, so it’s definitely 50-50,” said Rivers, who has been rated as ESPN’s Top 100 college football players at this time. “But we’re getting each other better. We’re going up against one of the best d-lines I feel we’re ever gonna face throughout the season. We’re getting that every single day. Iron sharpens iron every day.”

Junior offensive lineman Anez Cooper shared his take on the chemistry that has transpired within the unit in fall training camp. “I feel like everything is going well,” said Cooper, who was selected as an All-ACC Honorable Mention this past season.

“I feel like all of us, we’re building more and more culturally and building better relations with each other every day. Everything is coming together. We’ve been working hard with each other. We’re learning each other more.”

Cooper touched on his takeaways from last weekend’s scrimmage.

“I feel like the scrimmage was very good for both sides,” the 6-foot-6, 350-pound right guard said. “We could be a good offense if we just connect with each other and just talk with each other more. I learned a lot from the defense because all through practice, we go back and forth and back and forth. Both sides have very good talent. I feel like with all the talent we got on both sides, we really shouldn’t see another team that got the same amount of talent we got. I feel like we go up against the best guys every day.”

Sophomore defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr. spoke on the depth of his positional unit and how they can stay fresh.

“We’re so loaded,” Bain Jr. said. “When you have so much depth, we get to push each other every day in practice. We’re making each other better. But not only that, we’re making the o-line better. It’s just like one big puzzle.”

Bain Jr. spoke on what he learned from Miami’s first scrimmage this past Saturday (Aug. 10) and how he can get even better with the next one this Saturday (Aug. 17).

“I learned there’s a great offense,” said Bain Jr., who has been rated by ESPN as one of the nation’s Top 100 college football players. “They have a lot of explosive guys on that side of the ball. But also, I know that this defense is battle-tested and they’re gonna withstand anything that comes toward them. Obviously they got the best of the defense that day. But the good thing about that is we were able to wake up again and play some more football. The defense came back this whole week and reacted the way how they were supposed to. That’s something I was very proud of.”

Bain Jr. did not stop there.

“It shows that no matter what happens, we have that next play mentality,” the 6-foot-3, 275- pound defensive lineman said. “That’s what we really need, especially in the game of football. That’s what Coach [Mario] Cristobal harps on every day. We ain’t gonna win every day. As long as we want to and give our best, I’m proud of our guys.”

Redshirt senior defensive back Mishael Powell has been a force on his side of the ball since transferring from Washington this offseason. With five years of college experience already under his belt, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound defensive back shared his experience from last weekend’s scrimmage.

“What I learned from the defense is how competitive we are,” said Powell, who registered 92 tackles, 12 PBU’s, four tackles for loss, three interceptions, and one forced fumble over three playing seasons at Washington. “We’re never gonna back down, regardless of whatever situation we’re in. Coach Cristobal put us in some situations where the offense had the upper hand, and we were able to respond and make plays. We go up against a guy like Cam Ward. If he scores on us, we gotta be able to bounce back. That’s what we did on Saturday. And the offense, it’s amazing to see Xavier Restrepo, Sam Brown, Jacolby [George], Cam Ward, Anez Cooper, all those guys lining up against them. It gives me even more confidence going into the season.”

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