There is only one practice left as the team gets ready for Saturday's spring game. Here is what Mario Cristobal is talking about as the team gets ready to perform in front of the fans:
On the progress of quarterback Carson Beck:
“It’s right there. We feel great about it. He’s taking part, not only in walkthroughs, but also in team setting drills that allow him to hand the ball off. Goes for every progression, stays up there and relentlessly watches film. Excited, excited about him. Also, you know the value of the reps continues to stand out because you see so many [other] quarterbacks today have the opportunity to get the ball to some younger receivers that haven’t played. You saw CJ Daniels now getting live work as well and he’s certainly going to help us a bunch. I got off track a little bit, but I think you know what I’m saying. We’re getting there. We’re real close [but] he won’t throw in the spring game.”
On how the defense impressed in last Saturday’s scrimmage:
“The intensity. They played with intensity, passion, physicality. They forced turnovers. They created negative plays. They disrupted the passer. They forced balls to bounce and roll off the edge. And there was always an answer there. The support player was in place. I thought we tackled well. I thought we were very aware of where our help was. Felt like we played like a unit. Communication was, I wouldn’t say completely spot on, but much improved. Guys ran to the football, which probably stands out as the number one thing we’re doing better in the spring. We’re running to the football and we’re getting there with intentions of making something happen. That’s what I would say. I think today the offense responded and got one back up on them in the form of some big plays, defense still made a lot of good plays.”
On the offense’s potential to be explosive:
“There’s no intention of going backwards on offense. The offense set such a high standard last year with points and yards. There’s a lot of ways to get points and yards and I feel like we have the capabilities of doing it both ways. Our running game is strong. Our offensive line is strong. Our quarterback room is excellent. It’s strong. Our receivers, some of them are young, but we’ve played with young receivers at Miami before for a long time and won a lot of games with that. And then some of the older guys have done a really good job as well, maturing and developing. The tight end room is something that you saw towards the end of the year was being used more and more. We’ve got to keep doing that. So, I do feel really good about our explosiveness capabilities and the ability of our coaches to put the ball in the hands of the guys that can make plays.”
On the progress of quarterback Carson Beck:
“It’s right there. We feel great about it. He’s taking part, not only in walkthroughs, but also in team setting drills that allow him to hand the ball off. Goes for every progression, stays up there and relentlessly watches film. Excited, excited about him. Also, you know the value of the reps continues to stand out because you see so many [other] quarterbacks today have the opportunity to get the ball to some younger receivers that haven’t played. You saw CJ Daniels now getting live work as well and he’s certainly going to help us a bunch. I got off track a little bit, but I think you know what I’m saying. We’re getting there. We’re real close [but] he won’t throw in the spring game.”
On how the defense impressed in last Saturday’s scrimmage:
“The intensity. They played with intensity, passion, physicality. They forced turnovers. They created negative plays. They disrupted the passer. They forced balls to bounce and roll off the edge. And there was always an answer there. The support player was in place. I thought we tackled well. I thought we were very aware of where our help was. Felt like we played like a unit. Communication was, I wouldn’t say completely spot on, but much improved. Guys ran to the football, which probably stands out as the number one thing we’re doing better in the spring. We’re running to the football and we’re getting there with intentions of making something happen. That’s what I would say. I think today the offense responded and got one back up on them in the form of some big plays, defense still made a lot of good plays.”
On the offense’s potential to be explosive:
“There’s no intention of going backwards on offense. The offense set such a high standard last year with points and yards. There’s a lot of ways to get points and yards and I feel like we have the capabilities of doing it both ways. Our running game is strong. Our offensive line is strong. Our quarterback room is excellent. It’s strong. Our receivers, some of them are young, but we’ve played with young receivers at Miami before for a long time and won a lot of games with that. And then some of the older guys have done a really good job as well, maturing and developing. The tight end room is something that you saw towards the end of the year was being used more and more. We’ve got to keep doing that. So, I do feel really good about our explosiveness capabilities and the ability of our coaches to put the ball in the hands of the guys that can make plays.”
