Ahead of Miami's clash against the FAMU Rattlers tomorrow night inside Hard Rock Stadium, signal-caller Darian Mensah took seven minutes of his time to talk to the media about the upcoming game and his final thoughts from the Stanford win.
I wrote a detailed transcript of his interview that you check out down below:
On his performance against Stanford: Yeah, I think there's always room to improve. I think just overall the biggest thing, when I watched it back was just communication as far as, like, protection or run blocking or routes. That's probably the biggest thing that showed up.
On his chemistry with Malachi Toney: Yeah, he's a special person, obviously a special player. Honestly just makes my job extremely easy as a quarterback. He's almost like another quarterback on the field, just the way that he understands defense. So it just makes it that much easier as a quarterback. But I think it starts with, you know, after practice throwing routes. He's one of the first people in the building, maps people out, like he really is that. He lives that. So he's just one of the hardest workers, and him and I have just collaborated on just trying to be great, and he truly is inspiring.
On watching film: My first year starting, I kind of just, like, winged it. Just would watch tape. I kind of really didn't know how to watch tape, and then I got to do, got a little bit more structure, and I would watch, you know, third downs. I would group them all up third downs and red zone and really just hone in on, you know, big-time plays, moments, or critical plays, critical moments. But here it's more structure here. Obviously I like to begin the week with third downs, and then I go to red zone, and then we'll go to open field, because third down and red zone is where, you know, how you keep your team on the field, how you score points. So that's kind of what I focus on when I'm watching film.
On the offensive line: Elite, and I think that that's the expectation here at Miami with Coach Mirabal as their position coach, and, Cristobal as our head coach, you know, being a former lineman, obviously protection is always a premium here. So big ups to them guys up front.
On Stanford forcing Miami to pass: Yeah. obviously we've got elite receivers. We got really talented dudes outside, and so leaving them one on one is, I think, great for me, to be honest, because it makes my job easier. I know where I'm going with the football before I catch the ball. So, yeah, I think that you got to pick your poison kind of. You either stop the run or you stop the pass.
On playing at Hard Rock Stadium: Super excited to get in front of all the fans. Scrimmaged there once, and I think the energy in there is just different, even with no fans in there, being an NFL stadium. So, yeah, I'm excited. Super excited.
On handling pressure: I'd say just having a lot of trust in my teammates to do their job. I think we work a lot of blitzes, and our O-line does a good job at just working a bunch of different looks. And so I just trust my guys to protect me up front, and obviously my preparation as far as, like, when I do get blitzed, knowing where to go with the football after that.
I wrote a detailed transcript of his interview that you check out down below:
On his performance against Stanford: Yeah, I think there's always room to improve. I think just overall the biggest thing, when I watched it back was just communication as far as, like, protection or run blocking or routes. That's probably the biggest thing that showed up.
On his chemistry with Malachi Toney: Yeah, he's a special person, obviously a special player. Honestly just makes my job extremely easy as a quarterback. He's almost like another quarterback on the field, just the way that he understands defense. So it just makes it that much easier as a quarterback. But I think it starts with, you know, after practice throwing routes. He's one of the first people in the building, maps people out, like he really is that. He lives that. So he's just one of the hardest workers, and him and I have just collaborated on just trying to be great, and he truly is inspiring.
On watching film: My first year starting, I kind of just, like, winged it. Just would watch tape. I kind of really didn't know how to watch tape, and then I got to do, got a little bit more structure, and I would watch, you know, third downs. I would group them all up third downs and red zone and really just hone in on, you know, big-time plays, moments, or critical plays, critical moments. But here it's more structure here. Obviously I like to begin the week with third downs, and then I go to red zone, and then we'll go to open field, because third down and red zone is where, you know, how you keep your team on the field, how you score points. So that's kind of what I focus on when I'm watching film.
On the offensive line: Elite, and I think that that's the expectation here at Miami with Coach Mirabal as their position coach, and, Cristobal as our head coach, you know, being a former lineman, obviously protection is always a premium here. So big ups to them guys up front.
On Stanford forcing Miami to pass: Yeah. obviously we've got elite receivers. We got really talented dudes outside, and so leaving them one on one is, I think, great for me, to be honest, because it makes my job easier. I know where I'm going with the football before I catch the ball. So, yeah, I think that you got to pick your poison kind of. You either stop the run or you stop the pass.
On playing at Hard Rock Stadium: Super excited to get in front of all the fans. Scrimmaged there once, and I think the energy in there is just different, even with no fans in there, being an NFL stadium. So, yeah, I'm excited. Super excited.
On handling pressure: I'd say just having a lot of trust in my teammates to do their job. I think we work a lot of blitzes, and our O-line does a good job at just working a bunch of different looks. And so I just trust my guys to protect me up front, and obviously my preparation as far as, like, when I do get blitzed, knowing where to go with the football after that.
