Miami dominated FSU on Saturday night, 36-14. After the game, head coach Mario Cristobal met with the press and shared his thoughts and feelings about the game.
On the game…
“…it was obviously a very hard fought game. We never lost control of the game, but it took us a little while to start pulling away,” said Cristobal. “I think they did a good job with some of their coverages and they did put a little bit of pressure on our quarterback, but we pounded the ball really well. We ran the ball, got downhill, got hats-on-hats and ran through tackles. We were aggressive on fourth downs. The defense was the story of the game. They played their tails off. They put pressure on the quarterback and they made it really difficult to run the football. They were getting 11 hats to the football all the time.”
On the emotional meaning of THE game…
"Two years ago, we stood up here and talked about building it,” said Cristobal. “It is good to a couple years later to see a victory like that and earn the title of state champions."
"It feels good because it feels good for the team because the team is 1-0. I think about some of the personal stuff in the offseason for a few minutes and I just blow it off. It has never been about that. We knew when we came down here, we were going to get our teeth kicked in early. This was quite a monumental task because we had to flip the roster and all these other in-state schools were so far ahead because they had a foundation and had been to bowl games. We had to start it up. That was painful. I think the trenches tonight were a great indication of progress and the hard work by the entire organization. The offensive line coach, Alex Mirabal and our defensive line coaches. It is a great example of working your butt off and keeping your head down and not worrying about all the crap that comes with rebuilds. I think it is important for young coaches to not hesitate to take on a rebuild if they are ready for it. You deal with all the crap and nonsense for a little bit and then you start putting it together, but we are not anywhere near where we want to be yet.”
On a dominating win after weeks of close games…
"The most important thing to me is that we play our best football. At the end of the day, all these games are playoff games. The goal is to be 1-0 and play our best football as well. This was progress in that direction. The defense set the tone. The back end communicated really well and that is what we did earlier in the season. We have some things to clean up.
On Mark Fletcher…
Running back Mark Fletcher had a very rough week with the passing of his father.
”That is as hard as it gets. We would see 'Big Mark' all the time at practice. Local parents get to get away from work for a little bit and see their sons. It is one of the best things in the world. I remember seeing my parents, may they rest in peace. That is one of the most difficult things I have ever seen and Mark Jr. is about as good of a human being, competitor, and person as you could imagine. It was felt by the entire organization. Everybody knows him. He has the best seat in the house moving forward, looking from above. I know he is super proud of Mark.”
"Even on the day of [the passing], he made it clear he wanted to be around his brothers and his team. You trust that guy with your life because he does everything the right way, regardless of the situation and circumstances. Just hearing him out, this is what he wanted and this is what he deserves.”
“I think if any of us was in that situations can you imagine doing that? Just a unique, elite, off the charts human bing that is made of the right stuff. Credit to his parents. He was raised a certain way. He is as resilient as it gets. What more can you say?”
On Damien Martinez…
Running back Damien Martinez had his best game of the year after a slow assimilation into Miami’s system.
"I think what people don't realize is that he got here a little bit later than the rest of the transfers, so his learning curve was different. Everybody wants it to happen right now. Our summers are awesome with our training regiments and player led workouts is elite, but it takes time. We were chucking the ball around really well early on and today we threw it around ok, but the last couple of weeks you see the running game getting in sync. He [Martinez] is now feeling really comfortable in the system and what you see is a very physical and tough dude. You are not going to arm tackle him. He takes a lot of pride of either making the first man miss or running him over.”
On Miami’s passionate fans…
Miami’s fans turned out in mass (66,200) in support of the team Saturday night.
“I want to give a big shoutout to the environment created by our fans and our people that came from all over, whether it was local or from abroad. Just watching that brought back some awesome memories of playing in this game and our players felt them and impacted the game.”
On the importance of this game…
"It is critically important for this program to be undefeated in the state of Florida. I think it sends a strong message. All the recruits in state and out of state can now clearly see the trajectory of this program versus the trajectory of the other programs.”
Miami will welcome back former head coach Manny Diaz and his Duke Blue Devils next Saturday. Duke is having a strong season and will fight hard to knock the Canes from the ranks of the unbeaten.
PACK THE ROCK!
GO CANES!
Commentaires