On Saturday night, the Miami Hurricanes defeated the Central Michigan Chippewas 52-3 at Hard Rock Stadium. Following the game, quarterback Darian Mensah spoke to the media, recapping the game and to look ahead to the Clemson Tigers. Check out everything he had to say down below:
On the first drive: Yeah, just got to start faster, obviously. I think we got pre-snap penalties. We got to clean those up, and I think that's the whole reason why we kind of sputtered out the whole first drive.
On the two-minute drill right before halftime: Yeah, they gave us a lot of the same coverage throughout the whole night, the three double cloud, and so we tried to attack that backside little gap in the coverage, and so I think that's kind of what worked. And, I mean, we protected well. Obviously you got to throw in those two-minute situations, so I think our O-line did a great job there.
On his thoughts so far on the season: Yeah, I think we've came a long way. I think we've showed a lot of good things, but like Cristobal always said, we got a long way to go. Tonight, the story was our pre-snap penalties. I'm always happy with a win, but, you know, there's always stuff you can clean up as well.
On the defense creating more opportunities for Cooper Barkate to make plays: Yeah, he was just executing at a high level and just running to the grass, and I think he did a good job of that tonight. And I think he did a great job on the scrambles as well. When I got outside the pocket, he was coming back to me or just making his way open. So I think that's why the ball found him more tonight.
On Darian Mensah trusting his O-line and elite pass catchers: My O-line. I think they do a great job in protection up front, and I think that I've got elite pass catchers, and so I don't feel like I have to press or do anything spectacular. I just got to put it in play and my guys will do the rest.
On what makes Malachi Toney special both on and off the field: That kid is, he's special, and I think that the most special thing about him is just who he is as a person. He's obviously a spectacular player, but just a great person as well.
On using his feet tonight: Yeah, they drop eight pretty frequently tonight, and so obviously there's not going to be a lot of windows if they have that many defenders in coverage. I think my O-line, again, I mean they did a great job protecting all night, and a lot of the time it was just, the seat's kind of parted and I just took off, so.
On the depth: Yeah, we're deep, and I think those guys are also hungry, and I think they did a great job of taking advantage of their opportunity tonight. But as the season goes on, we're going to have to have more guys step up as well.
On having the oppourinty to play against Duke this season: Yeah, it's just another game to me. I played my old school last year. I played Tulane when I was at Duke last year, and I think the biggest thing to do is just play ball and not put anything else extra on it.
On the first drive: Yeah, just got to start faster, obviously. I think we got pre-snap penalties. We got to clean those up, and I think that's the whole reason why we kind of sputtered out the whole first drive.
On the two-minute drill right before halftime: Yeah, they gave us a lot of the same coverage throughout the whole night, the three double cloud, and so we tried to attack that backside little gap in the coverage, and so I think that's kind of what worked. And, I mean, we protected well. Obviously you got to throw in those two-minute situations, so I think our O-line did a great job there.
On his thoughts so far on the season: Yeah, I think we've came a long way. I think we've showed a lot of good things, but like Cristobal always said, we got a long way to go. Tonight, the story was our pre-snap penalties. I'm always happy with a win, but, you know, there's always stuff you can clean up as well.
On the defense creating more opportunities for Cooper Barkate to make plays: Yeah, he was just executing at a high level and just running to the grass, and I think he did a good job of that tonight. And I think he did a great job on the scrambles as well. When I got outside the pocket, he was coming back to me or just making his way open. So I think that's why the ball found him more tonight.
On Darian Mensah trusting his O-line and elite pass catchers: My O-line. I think they do a great job in protection up front, and I think that I've got elite pass catchers, and so I don't feel like I have to press or do anything spectacular. I just got to put it in play and my guys will do the rest.
On what makes Malachi Toney special both on and off the field: That kid is, he's special, and I think that the most special thing about him is just who he is as a person. He's obviously a spectacular player, but just a great person as well.
On using his feet tonight: Yeah, they drop eight pretty frequently tonight, and so obviously there's not going to be a lot of windows if they have that many defenders in coverage. I think my O-line, again, I mean they did a great job protecting all night, and a lot of the time it was just, the seat's kind of parted and I just took off, so.
On the depth: Yeah, we're deep, and I think those guys are also hungry, and I think they did a great job of taking advantage of their opportunity tonight. But as the season goes on, we're going to have to have more guys step up as well.
On having the oppourinty to play against Duke this season: Yeah, it's just another game to me. I played my old school last year. I played Tulane when I was at Duke last year, and I think the biggest thing to do is just play ball and not put anything else extra on it.
