This morning, Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal wrapped up his weekly conversation with Joe Rose on 560WQAM. Here are some notes from his conversation.
Cristobal was a bit surprised that Stanford was playing a lot of man coverage during Friday's contest. However, he was very pleased about Miami's passing game.
"Well, we were a little bit surprised that they were living in man coverage, you know, playing a lot of post safety and, obviously put that nickel and sometimes play base defense against 11 personnel against us. But, I mean, overall, you see it in practice every day. So we were excited about it. We never take it for granted, but overall not surprised, but really happy that those guys excelled at a high level and also that there's so much on tape to get better at."
Hurricanes' defensive back OJ Frederique sustained a shoulder injury during Miami's game against Stanford. Cristobal noted that the goal is to get him back by the end of the season and the Hurricanes have managed to swap in someone for his position.
"That's the goal. You'd like for that to happen, and that's what we're targeting. So I know him and medical and everybody is working their tails off to make that happen, but we'll have to wait and see, man. This really exemplifies why you practice versatility throughout fall camp. I mean, every nickel has gotten reps at the boundary corner and the field corner, actually the strong safety. Five and six guys on the field at a time, and they've all got to be, at least most of them have to be capable of playing at least two to three positions, and that's what comes into play now. I mean, the season has started. We got hit early, which is extremely unfortunate. No one's happy about it, but you know what? The ball's gonna be placed on the tee on Thursday at 8 o'clock, and it's time to roll, man."
Even though, the offensive line wasn't eye-popping, Cristobal was still impressed by the group, praising Jackson Cantwell and Max Buchanan.
"Yeah, for the most part, clean pockets, gave ourselves a chance to throw. We got hit a couple times, some things that we cleaned up on some funky looks, but overall did a really good job, and the run game had its bright moments and other moments we got to work at, but the right guys are in there. They're working their butts off, and we'll continue to find ways to get better at every position across the board."
"It was a solid start for [Cantwell]. [He] had some really bright moments, other ones where you got to get better at and work on, but overall, to get thrown in there as a true freshman at that position, it's a solid job. [Buchanan] is a guy that we have high expectations for, and we're gonna push him really, really hard because he's got tons of ability, and in his first start, really played, he played a good game, and so, yeah, we're excited about him."
Stanford's game plan was to stop the run. The Cardinal did a solid job at that, which forced Miami to throw the ball.
"Yeah, they were ****-bent on taking it away. I mean, again, they even sometimes play some of their base personnel, two our three wide stuff, and really dug the guys in the box. So you're gonna be one short, you know, most of the time, and that comes with stunts and movement. So sometimes we had some success, other times it was just all right, and other times it wasn't great, but all in all, it was muddy yards. But if you're gonna do that, you got to do exactly what we did. You got to throw the ball around and get them out of it, or make them pay for not getting out of it."
The Hurricanes head coach spoke highly on defensive lineman Marquise Lightfoot, stating that he played really well.
"Yeah, we thought he played really well. And got to the part that people were kind of questionable on, he holds the point. I did a great job on the line, just, shutting blockers, knocking people back, and getting off blocks, like block disruption, and then knocking guys back in the backfield. Also showing some split zone stuff, and then the physical nine, the pass game, really chase the quarterback around, hunting down ball carriers. So all in all, just thought that he was really, played a really good game. He started last year against Stanford. That was his first start, but ironically, in his first, like, full game, one-season start."
The team had over a dozen freshman get into the game. Cristobal was pleased in that as it was against an ACC opponent. He also noted the depth of the running back group.
"With the guys that we play, guys that earn playing time, and that's been a really strong push since day one here, is making sure that coaches are really focused on developing their position groups. And when you have to keep developing guys, because you don't know when you're going to get hit with these injuries. And obviously we're going through some of it right now. There is no midseason portal, man. You got to go with what you have and find a way to make it work. And I think a lot of guys showed a lot of promise. They're grinding. We got back and went right at it again, and practice has been really good, really strong this week, and we're ready to go against a really good team in FAMU.
"[Javian Mallory] played well. I thought Marty played really well. I thought Pringle almost came out of one and almost took it to the house as well. He was sick, going into the week, so it was good to see him out there as well. I just thought all the backs, they ran hard, right? They knew it was going to be muddy. They had to run behind their pads and make some, get some yards after contact. So all in all, again, pleased with some of that stuff and looking forward to getting a **** of a lot better."
Cristobal was a bit surprised that Stanford was playing a lot of man coverage during Friday's contest. However, he was very pleased about Miami's passing game.
"Well, we were a little bit surprised that they were living in man coverage, you know, playing a lot of post safety and, obviously put that nickel and sometimes play base defense against 11 personnel against us. But, I mean, overall, you see it in practice every day. So we were excited about it. We never take it for granted, but overall not surprised, but really happy that those guys excelled at a high level and also that there's so much on tape to get better at."
Hurricanes' defensive back OJ Frederique sustained a shoulder injury during Miami's game against Stanford. Cristobal noted that the goal is to get him back by the end of the season and the Hurricanes have managed to swap in someone for his position.
"That's the goal. You'd like for that to happen, and that's what we're targeting. So I know him and medical and everybody is working their tails off to make that happen, but we'll have to wait and see, man. This really exemplifies why you practice versatility throughout fall camp. I mean, every nickel has gotten reps at the boundary corner and the field corner, actually the strong safety. Five and six guys on the field at a time, and they've all got to be, at least most of them have to be capable of playing at least two to three positions, and that's what comes into play now. I mean, the season has started. We got hit early, which is extremely unfortunate. No one's happy about it, but you know what? The ball's gonna be placed on the tee on Thursday at 8 o'clock, and it's time to roll, man."
Even though, the offensive line wasn't eye-popping, Cristobal was still impressed by the group, praising Jackson Cantwell and Max Buchanan.
"Yeah, for the most part, clean pockets, gave ourselves a chance to throw. We got hit a couple times, some things that we cleaned up on some funky looks, but overall did a really good job, and the run game had its bright moments and other moments we got to work at, but the right guys are in there. They're working their butts off, and we'll continue to find ways to get better at every position across the board."
"It was a solid start for [Cantwell]. [He] had some really bright moments, other ones where you got to get better at and work on, but overall, to get thrown in there as a true freshman at that position, it's a solid job. [Buchanan] is a guy that we have high expectations for, and we're gonna push him really, really hard because he's got tons of ability, and in his first start, really played, he played a good game, and so, yeah, we're excited about him."
Stanford's game plan was to stop the run. The Cardinal did a solid job at that, which forced Miami to throw the ball.
"Yeah, they were ****-bent on taking it away. I mean, again, they even sometimes play some of their base personnel, two our three wide stuff, and really dug the guys in the box. So you're gonna be one short, you know, most of the time, and that comes with stunts and movement. So sometimes we had some success, other times it was just all right, and other times it wasn't great, but all in all, it was muddy yards. But if you're gonna do that, you got to do exactly what we did. You got to throw the ball around and get them out of it, or make them pay for not getting out of it."
The Hurricanes head coach spoke highly on defensive lineman Marquise Lightfoot, stating that he played really well.
"Yeah, we thought he played really well. And got to the part that people were kind of questionable on, he holds the point. I did a great job on the line, just, shutting blockers, knocking people back, and getting off blocks, like block disruption, and then knocking guys back in the backfield. Also showing some split zone stuff, and then the physical nine, the pass game, really chase the quarterback around, hunting down ball carriers. So all in all, just thought that he was really, played a really good game. He started last year against Stanford. That was his first start, but ironically, in his first, like, full game, one-season start."
The team had over a dozen freshman get into the game. Cristobal was pleased in that as it was against an ACC opponent. He also noted the depth of the running back group.
"With the guys that we play, guys that earn playing time, and that's been a really strong push since day one here, is making sure that coaches are really focused on developing their position groups. And when you have to keep developing guys, because you don't know when you're going to get hit with these injuries. And obviously we're going through some of it right now. There is no midseason portal, man. You got to go with what you have and find a way to make it work. And I think a lot of guys showed a lot of promise. They're grinding. We got back and went right at it again, and practice has been really good, really strong this week, and we're ready to go against a really good team in FAMU.
"[Javian Mallory] played well. I thought Marty played really well. I thought Pringle almost came out of one and almost took it to the house as well. He was sick, going into the week, so it was good to see him out there as well. I just thought all the backs, they ran hard, right? They knew it was going to be muddy. They had to run behind their pads and make some, get some yards after contact. So all in all, again, pleased with some of that stuff and looking forward to getting a **** of a lot better."
