Following Mimai's 41-13 victory over the Clemson Tigers, starting signal-caller Darian Mensah spoke to the media, recapping the win and to look ahead to the Florida State Seminoles. Check out everything he had to say down below:
On Miami’s toughness tonight: Yeah, I think we're a resilient bunch. I think we had some guys go down up front earlier in the game, and they came back in the game and really closed that thing out. So huge shout-out to our guys up front.
On the atmosphere: It was absolutely electric, these are the games that I live for. You score on the second play of the game, so shout-out to Coop. Execution and communication has got to be at a premium when you play at a place like this.
On Cooper Barkate 66-yard touchdown to start the game: Boy, it's just electric, right? How else would you want to start a game, you know? And it was an easy throw for me, but again, great execution from my guys up front.
On how the offense maintained steadiness while dealing with injuries: Yeah, you can't change your game plan for if you have guys go down. And that's what Coach Dawson told me. We weren't going to change the game plan, and those guys stepped up. They stepped up big time for us. So they held their own, and then when those guys were able to come back, they closed up the game.
On Miami’s 14-play drive in the second half and Malachi Toney's 4th down catch: Unreal catch from him. I really should have went outside and shot the whole shot out there to Coop, but great catch from him. But yeah, I think we relied heavily on those guys up front in the second half, and they stepped up.
On younger guys stepping into a bigger role: Yeah, it's awesome to have younger guys who can step into a role, into an environment like this. It's just big time, and we're going to need more of that as the season goes on. Obviously we're banged up, but we're going to use this week to reset and refocus before Florida State.
On Miami’s win over Clemson: Yeah, it's a huge win, and I don't want to try to focus on the negative things, but to be honest, we left 14 points on the board offensively, which just makes me pretty sick. So huge win for the Canes. I'm super proud of our guys for coming out here and playing the way we did, but we've got some stuff to clean up. Thanks, guys.
On Miami’s toughness tonight: Yeah, I think we're a resilient bunch. I think we had some guys go down up front earlier in the game, and they came back in the game and really closed that thing out. So huge shout-out to our guys up front.
On the atmosphere: It was absolutely electric, these are the games that I live for. You score on the second play of the game, so shout-out to Coop. Execution and communication has got to be at a premium when you play at a place like this.
On Cooper Barkate 66-yard touchdown to start the game: Boy, it's just electric, right? How else would you want to start a game, you know? And it was an easy throw for me, but again, great execution from my guys up front.
On how the offense maintained steadiness while dealing with injuries: Yeah, you can't change your game plan for if you have guys go down. And that's what Coach Dawson told me. We weren't going to change the game plan, and those guys stepped up. They stepped up big time for us. So they held their own, and then when those guys were able to come back, they closed up the game.
On Miami’s 14-play drive in the second half and Malachi Toney's 4th down catch: Unreal catch from him. I really should have went outside and shot the whole shot out there to Coop, but great catch from him. But yeah, I think we relied heavily on those guys up front in the second half, and they stepped up.
On younger guys stepping into a bigger role: Yeah, it's awesome to have younger guys who can step into a role, into an environment like this. It's just big time, and we're going to need more of that as the season goes on. Obviously we're banged up, but we're going to use this week to reset and refocus before Florida State.
On Miami’s win over Clemson: Yeah, it's a huge win, and I don't want to try to focus on the negative things, but to be honest, we left 14 points on the board offensively, which just makes me pretty sick. So huge win for the Canes. I'm super proud of our guys for coming out here and playing the way we did, but we've got some stuff to clean up. Thanks, guys.
