After a long summer wait, we have officially made it to game week. The Hurricanes have a new signal-caller at the helm, Duke transfer Darian Mensah, who is arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
He spoke with the media ahead of Friday night's matchup against the Stanford Cardinal. He broke down the Hurricanes goals, tight end group, and more.
Check out everything he had to say down below:
On his goal heading into the game: Yeah, I think the goal is to be overly physical, overly violent. That's what Coach Cristobal preaches, and, just to go out and really lean on these dudes. I think that, our identity is to run the football, and so, I think we've got, you know, the tools to do that.
On the pressure being taken off of him: We've got so much talent on the field that, you've got to give the ball to your backs, obviously we're going to get out in space, but, that's all right. It needs to be physical, and, you know, I think that's kind of who we are.
On getting back on the field to play out West: Yeah, super excited for the opportunity. I'm going back home to California, have some people out there, but, the goal is to just go 1-0. It's a business trip, so, yeah, extremely excited to go out and play another defense.
On Ryan Rodriguez: He's worked his tail off. He's been here for a while now. He's been developed by Coach Mirabal. Now it's his time to shine. And so he's not taking, you know, this opportunity lightly. He's in here working all the time, and, I'm out here with him, and so just being, you know, taking snaps after practice, before practice, just getting extra reps, just making sure we're on the same page. That's kind of how I built that relationship up.
On his chemistry with the wide receivers: Yeah, I kind of just hang out in group setting. I try to, you know, take it—I try to hang out with certain groups of the offense, like running backs, tight ends, receivers. It's not like a one-on-one thing, but, yeah, just hanging out with them outside the ball. But as far as the relationship goes, just trying to throw extra routes after practice. If I miss the throw, that kind of stuck with me, I'll come back and hit it with the same receiver in the same spot. And so that's kind of how I attack that.
On having film on Stanford's defense: Yeah, it helps, but it's just one game. So, yeah, we're gonna—we watch that, and we're looking forward to going out there and going 1-0.
On if the time-zone difference will play a factor: Not necessarily. I live here now, so, there's gonna be an adjustment, but, leaving a couple days early is definitely gonna help. But, yeah, there will be an adjustment for sure.
On the Israel Briggs and Gavin Mueller: Seeing them come along has been a lot of fun. They're two young, talented dudes who kind of remind me of myself when I was younger, as far as, like, just the tenacity to get better and work on their game. So I think, eventually sometime late in the season we're gonna have to lean on those two, and I'll be counting on them.
He spoke with the media ahead of Friday night's matchup against the Stanford Cardinal. He broke down the Hurricanes goals, tight end group, and more.
Check out everything he had to say down below:
On his goal heading into the game: Yeah, I think the goal is to be overly physical, overly violent. That's what Coach Cristobal preaches, and, just to go out and really lean on these dudes. I think that, our identity is to run the football, and so, I think we've got, you know, the tools to do that.
On the pressure being taken off of him: We've got so much talent on the field that, you've got to give the ball to your backs, obviously we're going to get out in space, but, that's all right. It needs to be physical, and, you know, I think that's kind of who we are.
On getting back on the field to play out West: Yeah, super excited for the opportunity. I'm going back home to California, have some people out there, but, the goal is to just go 1-0. It's a business trip, so, yeah, extremely excited to go out and play another defense.
On Ryan Rodriguez: He's worked his tail off. He's been here for a while now. He's been developed by Coach Mirabal. Now it's his time to shine. And so he's not taking, you know, this opportunity lightly. He's in here working all the time, and, I'm out here with him, and so just being, you know, taking snaps after practice, before practice, just getting extra reps, just making sure we're on the same page. That's kind of how I built that relationship up.
On his chemistry with the wide receivers: Yeah, I kind of just hang out in group setting. I try to, you know, take it—I try to hang out with certain groups of the offense, like running backs, tight ends, receivers. It's not like a one-on-one thing, but, yeah, just hanging out with them outside the ball. But as far as the relationship goes, just trying to throw extra routes after practice. If I miss the throw, that kind of stuck with me, I'll come back and hit it with the same receiver in the same spot. And so that's kind of how I attack that.
On having film on Stanford's defense: Yeah, it helps, but it's just one game. So, yeah, we're gonna—we watch that, and we're looking forward to going out there and going 1-0.
On if the time-zone difference will play a factor: Not necessarily. I live here now, so, there's gonna be an adjustment, but, leaving a couple days early is definitely gonna help. But, yeah, there will be an adjustment for sure.
On the Israel Briggs and Gavin Mueller: Seeing them come along has been a lot of fun. They're two young, talented dudes who kind of remind me of myself when I was younger, as far as, like, just the tenacity to get better and work on their game. So I think, eventually sometime late in the season we're gonna have to lean on those two, and I'll be counting on them.
