Head Coach Mario Cristobal addressed the media after its 53-31 win over Duke.
The Hurricanes remain undefeated and will travel to Georgia Tech to play the Yellow Jackets on November 9th.
Opening statement:
“Alright, guys, good afternoon, and thank you for being here. Really love the way our team closed out the game after a fast start, and then kind of slowed down a little bit. Credit to Duke, them, the players and their staff for having a good plan to slow us down some. But a lot of it, also, we have got to do a better job. We had some miscues that were uncharacteristic and just regrouped at halftime. The decision was simple: let’s play Hurricane football and play as a team and play together and put forth our best effort, and execute at a high level. [I’m] really proud of our guys for that second-half performance and taking control of the game and being 1-0 on the day.”
On the resiliency of the Hurricanes…
“Well, I think a couple things. They know they are capable. That’s number one. There’s a lot of trust and confidence in each other. Number two, I mean, football now, especially with technology, the cat and mouse game, the adjustment back and forth game, is really different. It’s a whole new level. I mean, you saw it. They were creating some match-ups there in the second quarter that were difficult to contend with and we had to change some things up and disguise some things a little bit better and then just flat-out execute on some other things. There’s just no flinch in the group regardless of a bad play, an injury, a tough call we have to deal with, a deficit. It’s awesome being around this group, and, you know, chapter nine ended in 1-0, and after today, it’s on to chapter 10.”
On the record-setting performances of Cam Ward and Xavier Restrepo…
“Yeah, Cam [Ward] owes me a touchdown back. And [Xavier Restrepo], they both played their behinds off. They always do. They have a unique chemistry, but I think the quarterback room and all that the receivers and tight ends do is very different than it was two years ago. That was very difficult. It was a hurdle, a mountain to get over quite honestly. I just think a lot of good people and hard work come together to make it happen. Those two guys as much as they are gaining all these accolades, they don’t talk about it. Do they want it? I’m sure they do. I think we all like to be recognized, rewarded, and praised, but that’s not the end all be all for them. They want to win, and I think that the best thing that they do is, when we’re behind like we were, is the way they just go back and forth on the sideline encouraging their teammates, pushing their teammates and just knowing and trusting that if we just keep playing, we are going to find a way.”
On building the chemistry between Ward and Restrepo…
“They build, and I think it’s neat to watch them go at it because they’ll fight like an old couple as well, now, and that’s a good thing. That means there is a competitive edge to both of those guys where they want to win. They want to be right all the time and they are not afraid to be headstrong and to be an alpha about it. That’s what you see. You see it on the practice field. You see it in extra reps after practice. And then, in turn, on gameday, it shows up. And we had a couple drops today, now. We had a couple really critical ones as a team that we’ve got to get back and work on. Our contested catch rate, I think, was a little bit better in previous games. It wasn’t great today, but that’s okay. We have a chance to get back and work on that, some of our third down stuff, and tighten up our passing game.”
On Duke’s play during the first half…
“They created a matchups. You know, we were playing a lot of man; some switch routes, pick routes. The tailback adjusted out of the backfield, saw the linebacker out there on him, that’s a tough match. And, by the way, great throwing by the quarterback Maalik Murphy, and some great catches by them, too. They had some snags that were pretty impressive. And then sometimes…the free safety made a couple of great plays and some of the middle open stuff, I think you saw that too…When you play a team like that, that is so reliant on the quick game, and you saw they had two three and outs, but then they started chucking it down the field and made some plays. It’s a matter of adjusting back and forth. That’s what we saw. Credit to them and their staff. They did a good job of that. And credit to our defensive line. Those guys really showed up and were a big impact in that second half.”
On Jadais Richard’s status…
“He’s a great one. He got hurt. He got hurt. We’ll evaluate and see where it’s at. Prayers up to him and the family.”
On the play of O.J. Frederique, Jr….
“He always plays really well. That guy is raised like the way you should raise your son. On the field, he’s an assassin, off the field he is a gentleman, a super polite young man, a hard worker. He’s always finding ways to make himself, his teammates better. He’s very quiet and keeps to himself, but his game speaks loudly, and he’s a guy who we have depended on since game one, and he’s exceeded expectations.”
On the impact of Xavier Restrepo…
“Xavier [Restrepo], I think, has an impact on our program every day. Today was special for the team because of the win, number one, the most important thing, and for him, becoming the leading receiver in Miami Hurricane history is also just a monumental accomplishment. So, credit to him for all that hard work. Credit to him and his family to all the sacrifices made to allow him to one day become a Miami Hurricane and again to his teammates for being such a great supporting cast because, again, number one, the [win] is the most important thing and, number two, being the all-time leading receiver at Miami is a really big thing.”
On the development in the quarterback and wide receiver rooms…
“Not the quarterback room, the chemistry between the quarterbacks and wide receivers, that’s what I meant. There was no connection. Do you know what I mean? In the summer, no not in the summer, it was before that. When Cam got here, the first thing he wanted to do was get everybody’s number, everybody’s contact information so he could round them up and spend time together, and one of the guys said, well, you know, I’m going to be throwing with a couple NFL guys in Fort Lauderdale and he said, ‘Well, you better be playing in the NFL this year because I ain’t throwing the ball to you, they better throw the ball to you,’ and that receiver came back down in a hurry. Why is that important? When you have command of a room, and you have the performances and the ability to back up that type of command, that’s strong. And then there’s buy-in. And when alphas get together, you know how it is, man, they start banging heads, right? And the key to getting these alphas that are banging heads is to keep working together and work their way to go against the team on the other side, and that’s what Cam and all those wide receivers have done.”
On impressive performance of the offense this season…
“Well, I mean, it’s always the goal. It’s unique. What’s going on is unique. But again, it kind of works hand in hand. You look at the way we’re playing, there is a lot that goes too it. Time of possession has gotten really high. Yards per play is really high. We’ve had some ups and downs on defense, but either way, we find a way to play well when it really, really matters, and so we complement each other really well. Sometimes, the play count really favors the offense, which really helps the defense as well, and it allows you to just push ahead and get teams uncomfortable. You put pressure on them to try and keep up. When we went up by a second score, by 15 or 16, there’s a lot of pressure on the other side to keep up, and that’s when mistakes sometimes happen, and we’re there to get them, and that’s when the magic starts to happen. So, to your question, which I didn’t answer at all, it’s a great standard to set. Let’s keep pushing. Let’s keep getting better.”
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