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Richt on FSU: 'They're a team that has to be beaten ... they're not going to beat themselves' - Sun Sentinel
Credit to sun-sentinel reporter Christy Chirinos.
Florida State opened the season with a pair of losses, is playing without its regular starting quarterback and has dropped out of college football’s biggest polls for the first time in years.
But Hurricanes coach Mark Richt knows better than to assume the Seminoles will be an easy out for unbeaten No. 13 Miami. And he’s going to make sure that as the Hurricanes continue preparing for Saturday’s annual rivalry game his players know the same — especially since Florida State has won the last seven matchups between the Hurricanes and Seminoles.
“You work so hard for these kinds of moments. We’re looking forward to going there and playing a great team. There’s nothing changed about their defense. They’re unbelievable in that regard,” Richt said during his weekly appearance with WQAM-560’s Joe Rose. “There’s nothing changed about anything other than they’re breaking in a new quarterback [freshman James Blackman] who’s getting better every snap. Even the way he finished the game [against Wake Forest on Saturday], throwing that touchdown pass when they needed it the most had to be great for his confidence and everyone else’s confidence in him. They’ll be ready to go.”
After win over Duke, Hurricanes enter FSU week on high note
And Richt is hoping the Hurricanes will be, too.
Miami enters this year’s matchup against FSU riding an eight game win streak, dating back to last year. Its defense is coming off an impressive showing in Friday’s 31-6 win over Duke, a Coastal Division foe. And receiver Ahmmon Richards, a Freshman All-American last year, is back after dealing with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for Miami’s first two games of the season.
Still, the series against Florida State has been lopsided of late. Does that mean the Hurricanes will press too much against the Seminoles? Richt told Rose he hopes that’s not the case.
“I think you just have to get them to focus on what really does matter and that’s their job and how do you go about doing it. Just playing hard and physical and not turning the ball over. Just playing the whole game and knowing that things may start out good, it doesn’t matter. Things may start out bad, it doesn’t matter. You have to play the whole 60 minutes and do what you have to do to finish,” Richt said. “And I’ll say this, too: guys have to make plays when they present themselves. You don’t have to make a spectacular play, but you know, if you’re running a slant route and somebody’s all over you and the ball hits you in the hands, you have to make the play. Or DBs have to rake the ball out. There’s going to be so many times opportunities for a linebacker to make the tackle in space. When it’s time for you to make the play, make it.”
On the win over Duke:
“It was a good victory. Went on the road and I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t been at Duke in probably 18 years or so when I was at Florida State. … I went there every other year and it’s amazing the transformation of the place. The field was pristine. The stadium was beautiful. They have all types of new facilities and Coach [David] Cutcliffe is doing it right.”
On the big plays against Duke:
“It’s big. We struggled, just down after down churning out rushing yardage. I think part of it had to do with Mark [Walton] not being at full strength. We had some success running the ball, but not as much as we would have liked. And they were playing a lot of man coverage. They were doing what they did all along. They’re one of the highly-ranked defenses in America. Part of it was just locking down and playing man coverage and putting everyone else to stuff the run. So, you know, you’ve got to make some big plays. There were times we hit Walton out of the backfield, simple little routes … and he did a good job of that, 79 yards receiving. We hit Ahmmon [Richards] on the big touchdown, hit [Braxton] Berrios on the big touchdown. And I’ll say this…Malik [Rosier], he did a bunch of really great things, but one thing he probably did the best was stand in there. Protection’s not always perfect and when people are coming after you, he stood in there and threw some strikes. I’m really proud of him.”
On whether he expected senior Braxton Berrios to play this well early in the season:
“We did, especially the way he practiced in the spring and fall…it’s amazing. Not that Braxton wasn’t a great worker and all that kind of thing, but there’s something special about your senior year. I think a lot of college kids are missing out on what it’s like to be that senior leader. Here he is a senior, he’s teaching the young guys what to do, he’s setting the tone on special teams, setting the tone offensively and in that wide receiver room and now it’s paying off for him. I’m really happy for him.”
On the Turnover Chain’s continued popularity:
“It’s great. Our defensive staff, I don’t know exactly who on the defensive staff thought it up. Together, they wanted to have something special. Around the country, people have certain things that are similar, but nothing like this. It’s a lot of fun. I think I mentioned before, our biggest problem is keeping our kids to keep their helmet on until they get on the sideline … you pop it off on the field. It happened again. The play [Pat] Bethel made, he should’ve gotten to wear the chain twice. He knocks the ball out and as he’s tackling the quarterback and everyone’s trying to get the ball, he has the presence of mind to hustle over there, just in case and sure enough, he’s the last guy over there because he’d already tackled the quarterback to the ground, got up, sprinted over to the pile and there it was, he jumps on the ball. So not only he knocked it out, but he landed on it. A great play by Pat.”
On the defensive performance against Duke:
“They did a great job. What happens too is you put a little pressure on the offense by putting points on the board. It helps. Even early in the game, they’re going for it on fourth down. … It’s fourth down and here comes Pinckney shooting the gap and we get the big sack in the red zone and they get no points. I think great red zone defense and certainly, rushing the passer extremely well. The run game, they still got a little bit more yards-per-carry than we like, but we did much, much better on third downs. That was huge.”
On how tight the UM-FSU game can be and the Seminoles’ streak:
“More than likely, it’ll be a tight ball game. I can’t imagine it not. I mean, of course, anything can happen. Even the touchdown we scored last year, fourth down play and we throw it to [Stacy] Coley, Coley makes the play. We made the play when it counted the most. That was impressive. We had a great punt return, we set up a chance to score, we score to tie it...what looks like a tie and we don’t get the ball through the uprights. The simplest thing you would think there is in football, we didn’t execute well …we’ve got to take care of everybody’s business and we'll be fine.”
On his biggest concerns against FSU:
“Their overall size and strength and athleticism. They’ll line up as strong as anybody in America. Their personnel is outstanding and they know what they’re doing. These guys have won. They’ve been behind many many times and come back and won. Nothing fazes them and they’ll be a team that has to be beaten. They’re not going to beat themselves.”
On whether there’s confidence going into FSU because Miami is undefeated:
“It’s just good to have an away game. Just the non-verbal cadence, the things you have to do in an away game, it’s just a little bit different. It was good to experience that. It was good to. … sometimes, it’s good to struggle. You don’t want to struggle. You want to line up and whip everybody’s tail, but you’ve got to struggle sometimes to to really appreciate victories. Duke’s a good football team. I think that will prove out as the season goes on.”
Credit to sun-sentinel reporter Christy Chirinos.
Florida State opened the season with a pair of losses, is playing without its regular starting quarterback and has dropped out of college football’s biggest polls for the first time in years.
But Hurricanes coach Mark Richt knows better than to assume the Seminoles will be an easy out for unbeaten No. 13 Miami. And he’s going to make sure that as the Hurricanes continue preparing for Saturday’s annual rivalry game his players know the same — especially since Florida State has won the last seven matchups between the Hurricanes and Seminoles.
“You work so hard for these kinds of moments. We’re looking forward to going there and playing a great team. There’s nothing changed about their defense. They’re unbelievable in that regard,” Richt said during his weekly appearance with WQAM-560’s Joe Rose. “There’s nothing changed about anything other than they’re breaking in a new quarterback [freshman James Blackman] who’s getting better every snap. Even the way he finished the game [against Wake Forest on Saturday], throwing that touchdown pass when they needed it the most had to be great for his confidence and everyone else’s confidence in him. They’ll be ready to go.”
After win over Duke, Hurricanes enter FSU week on high note
And Richt is hoping the Hurricanes will be, too.
Miami enters this year’s matchup against FSU riding an eight game win streak, dating back to last year. Its defense is coming off an impressive showing in Friday’s 31-6 win over Duke, a Coastal Division foe. And receiver Ahmmon Richards, a Freshman All-American last year, is back after dealing with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for Miami’s first two games of the season.
Still, the series against Florida State has been lopsided of late. Does that mean the Hurricanes will press too much against the Seminoles? Richt told Rose he hopes that’s not the case.
“I think you just have to get them to focus on what really does matter and that’s their job and how do you go about doing it. Just playing hard and physical and not turning the ball over. Just playing the whole game and knowing that things may start out good, it doesn’t matter. Things may start out bad, it doesn’t matter. You have to play the whole 60 minutes and do what you have to do to finish,” Richt said. “And I’ll say this, too: guys have to make plays when they present themselves. You don’t have to make a spectacular play, but you know, if you’re running a slant route and somebody’s all over you and the ball hits you in the hands, you have to make the play. Or DBs have to rake the ball out. There’s going to be so many times opportunities for a linebacker to make the tackle in space. When it’s time for you to make the play, make it.”
On the win over Duke:
“It was a good victory. Went on the road and I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t been at Duke in probably 18 years or so when I was at Florida State. … I went there every other year and it’s amazing the transformation of the place. The field was pristine. The stadium was beautiful. They have all types of new facilities and Coach [David] Cutcliffe is doing it right.”
On the big plays against Duke:
“It’s big. We struggled, just down after down churning out rushing yardage. I think part of it had to do with Mark [Walton] not being at full strength. We had some success running the ball, but not as much as we would have liked. And they were playing a lot of man coverage. They were doing what they did all along. They’re one of the highly-ranked defenses in America. Part of it was just locking down and playing man coverage and putting everyone else to stuff the run. So, you know, you’ve got to make some big plays. There were times we hit Walton out of the backfield, simple little routes … and he did a good job of that, 79 yards receiving. We hit Ahmmon [Richards] on the big touchdown, hit [Braxton] Berrios on the big touchdown. And I’ll say this…Malik [Rosier], he did a bunch of really great things, but one thing he probably did the best was stand in there. Protection’s not always perfect and when people are coming after you, he stood in there and threw some strikes. I’m really proud of him.”
On whether he expected senior Braxton Berrios to play this well early in the season:
“We did, especially the way he practiced in the spring and fall…it’s amazing. Not that Braxton wasn’t a great worker and all that kind of thing, but there’s something special about your senior year. I think a lot of college kids are missing out on what it’s like to be that senior leader. Here he is a senior, he’s teaching the young guys what to do, he’s setting the tone on special teams, setting the tone offensively and in that wide receiver room and now it’s paying off for him. I’m really happy for him.”
On the Turnover Chain’s continued popularity:
“It’s great. Our defensive staff, I don’t know exactly who on the defensive staff thought it up. Together, they wanted to have something special. Around the country, people have certain things that are similar, but nothing like this. It’s a lot of fun. I think I mentioned before, our biggest problem is keeping our kids to keep their helmet on until they get on the sideline … you pop it off on the field. It happened again. The play [Pat] Bethel made, he should’ve gotten to wear the chain twice. He knocks the ball out and as he’s tackling the quarterback and everyone’s trying to get the ball, he has the presence of mind to hustle over there, just in case and sure enough, he’s the last guy over there because he’d already tackled the quarterback to the ground, got up, sprinted over to the pile and there it was, he jumps on the ball. So not only he knocked it out, but he landed on it. A great play by Pat.”
On the defensive performance against Duke:
“They did a great job. What happens too is you put a little pressure on the offense by putting points on the board. It helps. Even early in the game, they’re going for it on fourth down. … It’s fourth down and here comes Pinckney shooting the gap and we get the big sack in the red zone and they get no points. I think great red zone defense and certainly, rushing the passer extremely well. The run game, they still got a little bit more yards-per-carry than we like, but we did much, much better on third downs. That was huge.”
On how tight the UM-FSU game can be and the Seminoles’ streak:
“More than likely, it’ll be a tight ball game. I can’t imagine it not. I mean, of course, anything can happen. Even the touchdown we scored last year, fourth down play and we throw it to [Stacy] Coley, Coley makes the play. We made the play when it counted the most. That was impressive. We had a great punt return, we set up a chance to score, we score to tie it...what looks like a tie and we don’t get the ball through the uprights. The simplest thing you would think there is in football, we didn’t execute well …we’ve got to take care of everybody’s business and we'll be fine.”
On his biggest concerns against FSU:
“Their overall size and strength and athleticism. They’ll line up as strong as anybody in America. Their personnel is outstanding and they know what they’re doing. These guys have won. They’ve been behind many many times and come back and won. Nothing fazes them and they’ll be a team that has to be beaten. They’re not going to beat themselves.”
On whether there’s confidence going into FSU because Miami is undefeated:
“It’s just good to have an away game. Just the non-verbal cadence, the things you have to do in an away game, it’s just a little bit different. It was good to experience that. It was good to. … sometimes, it’s good to struggle. You don’t want to struggle. You want to line up and whip everybody’s tail, but you’ve got to struggle sometimes to to really appreciate victories. Duke’s a good football team. I think that will prove out as the season goes on.”