Miami Hurricanes quarterback Darian Mensah met with the media following Friday’s scrimmage and discussed his first opportunity to play inside the stadium, the challenges presented by Miami’s defense and how he has handled the expectations surrounding the team heading into the season. Mensah praised defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman and the Hurricanes’ defense for pushing him throughout camp, while emphasizing the importance of staying grounded, sticking to his routine and focusing on the process.
Quarterback Darian Mensah
On Friday’s scrimmage:
“It went great. I think that to get out and play in that stadium for the first time, it was pretty awesome. [We] did some situational stuff, went live for the first time, so, a lot of fun, but a lot to work on as well.”
On how he thinks he’s been pushed the most during camp:
“I think [Defensive coordinator Corey] Hethermankind of pushes me the most. His defense and just the way he schemes stuff up, he does some really good stuff on that side of the ball. So, I think just trying to go out and be successful as an offense is probably the most challenging thing against his defense. …
“It just makes you that much better [as a quarterback] for sure. And I think practicing every day against and elite defense will make it easy when it comes to game time. I don’t think you’ll see a lot of defenses who can play like ours, so, yeah, it’ll just make you that much better.”
On staying focused amidst preseason expectations:
“Yeah, I think it’s just having an elite process and then, an elite routine. Just stay grounded. Try not to look at the opinions of others, even though it’s kind of hard. In this day and age, everybody’s got a phone, everybody’s got an opinion. But [have] an elite process and just stick to your routine and not let anything outside of this building creep in.”
Quarterback Darian Mensah
On Friday’s scrimmage:
“It went great. I think that to get out and play in that stadium for the first time, it was pretty awesome. [We] did some situational stuff, went live for the first time, so, a lot of fun, but a lot to work on as well.”
On how he thinks he’s been pushed the most during camp:
“I think [Defensive coordinator Corey] Hethermankind of pushes me the most. His defense and just the way he schemes stuff up, he does some really good stuff on that side of the ball. So, I think just trying to go out and be successful as an offense is probably the most challenging thing against his defense. …
“It just makes you that much better [as a quarterback] for sure. And I think practicing every day against and elite defense will make it easy when it comes to game time. I don’t think you’ll see a lot of defenses who can play like ours, so, yeah, it’ll just make you that much better.”
On staying focused amidst preseason expectations:
“Yeah, I think it’s just having an elite process and then, an elite routine. Just stay grounded. Try not to look at the opinions of others, even though it’s kind of hard. In this day and age, everybody’s got a phone, everybody’s got an opinion. But [have] an elite process and just stick to your routine and not let anything outside of this building creep in.”
