Head coach Mario Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes are now preparing for the Pittsburgh Panthers after the team was victorious this past weekend over the Florida State Seminoles 43-35 in double-overtime at Hard Rock Stadium.
Before we turn our attention to the Panthers, Cristobal spoke to the media ahead of Saturday's game to recap the win over the Seminoles. Check out everything he had to say down below:
Opening statements: First, I'd like to start off by thanking our fans and the tremendous amount of appreciation for them. They were a difference maker on Saturday, tremendous impact, and it was awesome to see the community come out like that, the alumni. Just an incredible environment, and need them again. Their presence is requested again on noon on Saturday to make it a tremendous home-field advantage, and looking forward to seeing everybody there. That being said, proud of our guys for the tremendous amount of resiliency that was shown on Saturday. Certainly, there were moments where we weren't playing our best football, but we kept battling, kept working until we were able to swing the momentum back our way and start creating the plays and the opportunities for us to eventually win the football game. Hard-fought game, always is against our rival, but really proud of our guys. Found a way to take the momentum and finish the game like we did. On top of that as well, from an injury standpoint, we came out relatively clean. And it's the first time in a long time we get that. So, that being said, probably the biggest here, a couple guys being sick, the flu's going around and whatnot, but that's come and gone, and I think we're going to be in a good spot. And then all focus right now is turned to Pittsburgh. Really good football team, top ten as it relates to just being disruptive, tackles for losses, pressure on the quarterback, high-pressure operation, high-movement operation. Very veteran offensive and defensive line, very disruptive. On the defensive side of the ball, their secondary does a great job holding the picture in there, disguising coverage. Their linebackers get downhill in a hurry. I think they're number seven in the country in terms of interceptions. Their offense is top ten in, you name it: yards, total yards, passing offense, running the football, and just a very big and physical offensive line that they know what they're doing, they communicate really well, really good footwork, and playing really, really good football. So, question please.
On JaBoree Antoine status: He's progressing well. He's still going to be out for a significant amount of time. We see it more towards the end of this year.
On Miami being ranked No. 1 and the program’s return to national relevance: Relevance is great. I think that comes in other forms aside from the ranking. Like I think all of us think the ranking only matters when the last game of the season is played. That's probably the best answer I could give. I know it's not an interesting answer and a juicy one to the question, but hopefully it fits.
On Miami’s resiliency and composure during its win over Florida State: Well, they took messaging and the whole objective of the game to heart, understanding that in all these rivalry games, you never all the way close them out, and you're never all the way out of them. They just keep going, and you keep playing till they shut off the lights and the scoreboard and everybody goes home. And this certainly was the case on Saturday. We had sustained some drives and we didn't convert on fourth downs. And we felt like we were really close to popping through. We just have to keep playing, right? Eventually, if you keep playing, if everyone keeps doing their job, you're going to be able to seize the momentum and have a chance to take over. In typical fashion, this rivalry coming down to the last play of the game or whatnot. Really proud of our guys because leadership and maturity showed up strong in the toughest moments.
On the legacy of Miami’s 2001 national championship team ahead of its 25th anniversary reunion: I'm sure the '91 team and the '87 team, '83 team and such, they'd have a little discussion with you about who was really best and whatnot. But what they brought back is at the end of the day, what makes everything cool, and that's winning. I remember being a graduate assistant and holding up scout team cards for some really impressive young super studs like Santana Moss and Vince Wilfork and Jerome McDougle and Jon Vilma. And they didn't spend much time on the scout team. They were moved up pretty quickly. But it represents a time where guys that had seen Miami be really good took a chance to come to Miami when Miami had to dig itself out of a hole. And they were young men of action. They were builders. They were willing to go through the painful steps necessary to rebuild the University of Miami, and they did it to the highest level. So certainly, I know a lot of people are excited to see them, and they'll bring a lot of energy to the stadium.
On his message to the offense after having a lot of penalties: We did a poor job in the first half. We really put ourselves in terrible situations. I think our average field position in the first quarter was the eight-yard line, something of that nature, and then the 13-yard line in the second quarter. So when you combine those two things, that's the recipe for a really bad start. So I think it was as simple as let's do what we do. We were uncharacteristically penalized in areas that we have been good at in pre-snap discipline and post-snap composure, and just made a conscious decision, right? You're responsible for your own self-determination, and we went in the locker room and came out, I think, a more focused football team. I think we were intense in the first half. We were just a little bit wild a little bit out of character and out of sync. And I think the more that we focused on doing our job and just stayed where our feet were and working one play at a time, I think that the play's performance in general just became more consistent and led to a better result.
On who stepped up the most in the win: In general, everybody. There was never sensed any panic, just the acknowledgement of, like, what are we doing? This is not us, and fortunately we have 30 minutes to make it right. And also acknowledging that's a really good team on the other side, and you're going to get their best shot. So there was never any sense of entitlement, any sense of panic. It was, let's get to work and let's dig this out one play at a time, knowing that it was going to be a dogfight all the way to the end.
On Miami’s offensive line and pass protection against Florida State: Well, they junked it up front a bunch, and let me explain that. When I say junk it up, a lot of twists and games they did. And some of that stuff at times was difficult, and other times it was blocked fairly well. One time on counter pass, our guard literally got tripped by the center and guard, so there was no one blocking the edge. He finds a way to get out of it twice, turns around, hits a deep shot to Daylyn. So there's a lot of good stuff on there when you have 560 yards of offense, I think everybody has a hand in it. And like every other position, a lot of positives and some other things to work on. But all in all, just proud of that unit and the way we continue to improve and gel.
On Daylyn Upshaw: Yeah, I think he embodied one of the things that Coach Dawson always preaches to our guys, is to take routine plays and execute them at a high level with max effort and ball security, and special things happen. Like you saw the quick out route thrown to him, makes a guy miss, 15-yard gain. You saw early we had a tough time getting to the safeties from a blocking standpoint, and we missed one where Mark could have probably hit a really, really big run, but then later, him and the other guys, they lock up pretty good, and all of a sudden we're getting 20, 25, and 30-yard chunks in the run game. And, in overtime, he hits, the three technique, retrace, and actually grabbed him by the shoulder and swung him out of not ease course, on that one as well. So Daylyn is a guy that since the day he's gotten here, he's just put his head down and worked really hard, and he's starting to see so many positive results, and he's a guy that we all trust and is on his way to being a great player. So really, really proud of him and looking forward to him just getting more and more involved in the offense.
On recruits and develops young players to contribute early in their careers. Yeah, I mentioned it the other day. I think that a lot of times, people say, Well, Miami recruits well. Miami develops as good or better than anybody else in the country. And it starts with the type of players you bring in. They have to have the mindset to understand clearly they're going to get pushed and challenged in the right kind of way, maximize their potential, their ability and whatnot. And these guys that you mentioned, they've invested the time. They have a great supporting cast. They have very dedicated, committed coaches that really invest a lot in protection and the run game and the play-action game and the screen game, things that allow our guys to be in position to make plays. And when the opportunities come, they've taken that God-given ability and made it happen. So it's a combination of everything, right? We always talk about talent acquisition, player development, personnel use. I think it's all those things coming together.
On how Miami moves on from its rivalry win over Florida State and refocuses on Pitt. I think to meeting on, your debrief meeting, when you watch the film and you look at all the areas that need to be better for us to continue to improve and be able to go 1-0, that's number one. Because that hits you right between the eyes. The entire team is there watching, and they aren't, like in the days of, I remember Tom Brady said, there were no sacred cows in those meetings, right? No one is protected from confront and demanding one's best, right? And we go directly at those things. So that's the greatest form of respect, from us as coaches to the players. Do everything possible to bring the things and the issues that we have to correct to get better, and then you couple that with some really rigorous, challenging practice and preparation sessions, putting the focus immediately on the next opponent and highlighting the reality that we're playing an excellent football team that has great players, and we have to be at our best to give ourselves the best chance.
On what makes Pitt’s defense so physical, experienced and difficult to play against: The trademark of their team is the trenches. They're very disruptive. They are very senior-laden. You see a lot of upperclassmen on the two-deep, and they're just really explosive, physical guys, guys that play with relentless effort and that have a great understanding, which I think is important to point out. They have a great understanding of situational football. So it's not just playing fast and being reckless. They know where to be, how to get there, and what to do when they get there. And it's afforded them the opportunity to be one of the top defenses in the country, number one rushing defense in the country, and it's got a lot of good players, and they're doing a really, really good job, and it's a tremendous challenge and opportunity for our offense.
On Xavier Lucas first game back since his injury: Minus two plays, he looked good, and I take responsibility for not finding ways to get him more in one-on-one situations in practice, because when you miss six weeks, it's great to say, Yeah, he's back, he's ready. Oh, he made a lot of big plays, recovered a fumble, great tackle on the screen, and then a couple times on coverage, one of them, you know, is always going to be contested with a some people say push. We're not going to complain about any calls or whatnot. But I think we got to do a better job preparing him for that, because he has the full confidence of our team and staff. He has my full confidence. I've seen that guy play. I've seen that guy go, and I can't wait to watch him work this week and get ready to go back in there and do a great job for the Miami Hurricanes.
On being the No. 1 team and preparing for every opponent’s best shot: We don't worry about, what, teams, programs, media say about us. I mean, our complete focus is on practice and preparation and giving ourselves the best chance to be 1-0. And, when we say 1-0, it's not just the game. It's all the things leading up to the game, because you really play the game before you play the game, right? And to me, it's always on the coaches. Their greatest responsibility is to conduct elite practices, because if it happens in a game, it has to have a drill, and it needs to mimic as close as humanly possible to what it looks like in the game: the speed of it, the distribution of the defense, the alignments, the assignments, the angles, and whatnot. And the focus is completely—you have to go 1-0 at those things, whether it be Indy, seven-on-seven run, block destruction, one-on-one, twos on twos, five-on-four, seven-on-seven, all that stuff before you can cut it loose on Saturday. So, in a noisy world where everything moves really, really fast, and I'm sure their phones and whatnot and inboxes are flooded with all kinds of messages, both good and bad, let's get it back to the fact that we are extremely grateful to be at the University of Miami and have this opportunity that we have, and the only way to maximize it and honor it is by playing our butts off. And the only way to play our butts off is to keep our mouths shut and go prepare.
On his thoughts on the 24 team playoff: I mean, at the end of the day, I am for whatever helps our conference, you know, because you have to be a team player. Me personally, not a fan. But again, back to the team player thing: if it's what's best for the conference, then all things are being looked at, and whatever's best for the team, we do.
Before we turn our attention to the Panthers, Cristobal spoke to the media ahead of Saturday's game to recap the win over the Seminoles. Check out everything he had to say down below:
Opening statements: First, I'd like to start off by thanking our fans and the tremendous amount of appreciation for them. They were a difference maker on Saturday, tremendous impact, and it was awesome to see the community come out like that, the alumni. Just an incredible environment, and need them again. Their presence is requested again on noon on Saturday to make it a tremendous home-field advantage, and looking forward to seeing everybody there. That being said, proud of our guys for the tremendous amount of resiliency that was shown on Saturday. Certainly, there were moments where we weren't playing our best football, but we kept battling, kept working until we were able to swing the momentum back our way and start creating the plays and the opportunities for us to eventually win the football game. Hard-fought game, always is against our rival, but really proud of our guys. Found a way to take the momentum and finish the game like we did. On top of that as well, from an injury standpoint, we came out relatively clean. And it's the first time in a long time we get that. So, that being said, probably the biggest here, a couple guys being sick, the flu's going around and whatnot, but that's come and gone, and I think we're going to be in a good spot. And then all focus right now is turned to Pittsburgh. Really good football team, top ten as it relates to just being disruptive, tackles for losses, pressure on the quarterback, high-pressure operation, high-movement operation. Very veteran offensive and defensive line, very disruptive. On the defensive side of the ball, their secondary does a great job holding the picture in there, disguising coverage. Their linebackers get downhill in a hurry. I think they're number seven in the country in terms of interceptions. Their offense is top ten in, you name it: yards, total yards, passing offense, running the football, and just a very big and physical offensive line that they know what they're doing, they communicate really well, really good footwork, and playing really, really good football. So, question please.
On JaBoree Antoine status: He's progressing well. He's still going to be out for a significant amount of time. We see it more towards the end of this year.
On Miami being ranked No. 1 and the program’s return to national relevance: Relevance is great. I think that comes in other forms aside from the ranking. Like I think all of us think the ranking only matters when the last game of the season is played. That's probably the best answer I could give. I know it's not an interesting answer and a juicy one to the question, but hopefully it fits.
On Miami’s resiliency and composure during its win over Florida State: Well, they took messaging and the whole objective of the game to heart, understanding that in all these rivalry games, you never all the way close them out, and you're never all the way out of them. They just keep going, and you keep playing till they shut off the lights and the scoreboard and everybody goes home. And this certainly was the case on Saturday. We had sustained some drives and we didn't convert on fourth downs. And we felt like we were really close to popping through. We just have to keep playing, right? Eventually, if you keep playing, if everyone keeps doing their job, you're going to be able to seize the momentum and have a chance to take over. In typical fashion, this rivalry coming down to the last play of the game or whatnot. Really proud of our guys because leadership and maturity showed up strong in the toughest moments.
On the legacy of Miami’s 2001 national championship team ahead of its 25th anniversary reunion: I'm sure the '91 team and the '87 team, '83 team and such, they'd have a little discussion with you about who was really best and whatnot. But what they brought back is at the end of the day, what makes everything cool, and that's winning. I remember being a graduate assistant and holding up scout team cards for some really impressive young super studs like Santana Moss and Vince Wilfork and Jerome McDougle and Jon Vilma. And they didn't spend much time on the scout team. They were moved up pretty quickly. But it represents a time where guys that had seen Miami be really good took a chance to come to Miami when Miami had to dig itself out of a hole. And they were young men of action. They were builders. They were willing to go through the painful steps necessary to rebuild the University of Miami, and they did it to the highest level. So certainly, I know a lot of people are excited to see them, and they'll bring a lot of energy to the stadium.
On his message to the offense after having a lot of penalties: We did a poor job in the first half. We really put ourselves in terrible situations. I think our average field position in the first quarter was the eight-yard line, something of that nature, and then the 13-yard line in the second quarter. So when you combine those two things, that's the recipe for a really bad start. So I think it was as simple as let's do what we do. We were uncharacteristically penalized in areas that we have been good at in pre-snap discipline and post-snap composure, and just made a conscious decision, right? You're responsible for your own self-determination, and we went in the locker room and came out, I think, a more focused football team. I think we were intense in the first half. We were just a little bit wild a little bit out of character and out of sync. And I think the more that we focused on doing our job and just stayed where our feet were and working one play at a time, I think that the play's performance in general just became more consistent and led to a better result.
On who stepped up the most in the win: In general, everybody. There was never sensed any panic, just the acknowledgement of, like, what are we doing? This is not us, and fortunately we have 30 minutes to make it right. And also acknowledging that's a really good team on the other side, and you're going to get their best shot. So there was never any sense of entitlement, any sense of panic. It was, let's get to work and let's dig this out one play at a time, knowing that it was going to be a dogfight all the way to the end.
On Miami’s offensive line and pass protection against Florida State: Well, they junked it up front a bunch, and let me explain that. When I say junk it up, a lot of twists and games they did. And some of that stuff at times was difficult, and other times it was blocked fairly well. One time on counter pass, our guard literally got tripped by the center and guard, so there was no one blocking the edge. He finds a way to get out of it twice, turns around, hits a deep shot to Daylyn. So there's a lot of good stuff on there when you have 560 yards of offense, I think everybody has a hand in it. And like every other position, a lot of positives and some other things to work on. But all in all, just proud of that unit and the way we continue to improve and gel.
On Daylyn Upshaw: Yeah, I think he embodied one of the things that Coach Dawson always preaches to our guys, is to take routine plays and execute them at a high level with max effort and ball security, and special things happen. Like you saw the quick out route thrown to him, makes a guy miss, 15-yard gain. You saw early we had a tough time getting to the safeties from a blocking standpoint, and we missed one where Mark could have probably hit a really, really big run, but then later, him and the other guys, they lock up pretty good, and all of a sudden we're getting 20, 25, and 30-yard chunks in the run game. And, in overtime, he hits, the three technique, retrace, and actually grabbed him by the shoulder and swung him out of not ease course, on that one as well. So Daylyn is a guy that since the day he's gotten here, he's just put his head down and worked really hard, and he's starting to see so many positive results, and he's a guy that we all trust and is on his way to being a great player. So really, really proud of him and looking forward to him just getting more and more involved in the offense.
On recruits and develops young players to contribute early in their careers. Yeah, I mentioned it the other day. I think that a lot of times, people say, Well, Miami recruits well. Miami develops as good or better than anybody else in the country. And it starts with the type of players you bring in. They have to have the mindset to understand clearly they're going to get pushed and challenged in the right kind of way, maximize their potential, their ability and whatnot. And these guys that you mentioned, they've invested the time. They have a great supporting cast. They have very dedicated, committed coaches that really invest a lot in protection and the run game and the play-action game and the screen game, things that allow our guys to be in position to make plays. And when the opportunities come, they've taken that God-given ability and made it happen. So it's a combination of everything, right? We always talk about talent acquisition, player development, personnel use. I think it's all those things coming together.
On how Miami moves on from its rivalry win over Florida State and refocuses on Pitt. I think to meeting on, your debrief meeting, when you watch the film and you look at all the areas that need to be better for us to continue to improve and be able to go 1-0, that's number one. Because that hits you right between the eyes. The entire team is there watching, and they aren't, like in the days of, I remember Tom Brady said, there were no sacred cows in those meetings, right? No one is protected from confront and demanding one's best, right? And we go directly at those things. So that's the greatest form of respect, from us as coaches to the players. Do everything possible to bring the things and the issues that we have to correct to get better, and then you couple that with some really rigorous, challenging practice and preparation sessions, putting the focus immediately on the next opponent and highlighting the reality that we're playing an excellent football team that has great players, and we have to be at our best to give ourselves the best chance.
On what makes Pitt’s defense so physical, experienced and difficult to play against: The trademark of their team is the trenches. They're very disruptive. They are very senior-laden. You see a lot of upperclassmen on the two-deep, and they're just really explosive, physical guys, guys that play with relentless effort and that have a great understanding, which I think is important to point out. They have a great understanding of situational football. So it's not just playing fast and being reckless. They know where to be, how to get there, and what to do when they get there. And it's afforded them the opportunity to be one of the top defenses in the country, number one rushing defense in the country, and it's got a lot of good players, and they're doing a really, really good job, and it's a tremendous challenge and opportunity for our offense.
On Xavier Lucas first game back since his injury: Minus two plays, he looked good, and I take responsibility for not finding ways to get him more in one-on-one situations in practice, because when you miss six weeks, it's great to say, Yeah, he's back, he's ready. Oh, he made a lot of big plays, recovered a fumble, great tackle on the screen, and then a couple times on coverage, one of them, you know, is always going to be contested with a some people say push. We're not going to complain about any calls or whatnot. But I think we got to do a better job preparing him for that, because he has the full confidence of our team and staff. He has my full confidence. I've seen that guy play. I've seen that guy go, and I can't wait to watch him work this week and get ready to go back in there and do a great job for the Miami Hurricanes.
On being the No. 1 team and preparing for every opponent’s best shot: We don't worry about, what, teams, programs, media say about us. I mean, our complete focus is on practice and preparation and giving ourselves the best chance to be 1-0. And, when we say 1-0, it's not just the game. It's all the things leading up to the game, because you really play the game before you play the game, right? And to me, it's always on the coaches. Their greatest responsibility is to conduct elite practices, because if it happens in a game, it has to have a drill, and it needs to mimic as close as humanly possible to what it looks like in the game: the speed of it, the distribution of the defense, the alignments, the assignments, the angles, and whatnot. And the focus is completely—you have to go 1-0 at those things, whether it be Indy, seven-on-seven run, block destruction, one-on-one, twos on twos, five-on-four, seven-on-seven, all that stuff before you can cut it loose on Saturday. So, in a noisy world where everything moves really, really fast, and I'm sure their phones and whatnot and inboxes are flooded with all kinds of messages, both good and bad, let's get it back to the fact that we are extremely grateful to be at the University of Miami and have this opportunity that we have, and the only way to maximize it and honor it is by playing our butts off. And the only way to play our butts off is to keep our mouths shut and go prepare.
On his thoughts on the 24 team playoff: I mean, at the end of the day, I am for whatever helps our conference, you know, because you have to be a team player. Me personally, not a fan. But again, back to the team player thing: if it's what's best for the conference, then all things are being looked at, and whatever's best for the team, we do.
