Francisco “Kiko” Mauigoa has picked up where he left off last season, posting 17 tackles, 3 TFLs and 1 sack through three games. He met with the media to discuss the LB group and the upcoming game against USF:
On USF’s offense presenting problems: The film says it's true. They've got a really good offense. It’s a very fast offense, too. They do a really good job functioning. They’ve got a really good quarterback that can run the ball and throw the ball. They’ve got a really good group of running backs that are tough. It’s all in the process of practicing and making sure that we get ourselves in the best spot to play that opponent.
On USF QB Byrum Brown: On film, he stands out as a true dual-threat quarterback. He can make plays on his feet and he can also throw the ball. Very accurate and he's sneaky fast, too. He's a very talented kid. We're prepared for it and are making sure we contain him and put him in a tough position.
On his brother, Francis, having early success: It's no surprise for me. He’s put in a lot of work. A lot of time working on his craft and putting himself in the best position to play tackle. You see it on film. He's very tough and he's very disciplined. You see it here in practice, too. He goes against guys like Tyler Baron and Rueben Bain. Iron sharpens iron and it showcases on the field.
On the run defense through three games: We did a pretty good job. There's still room to improve on playing disciplined football and reading our keys pre-snap. Just focusing on the little details to get our game to the next level, play the run first and react to the pass.
On Wesley Bissainthe: Wesley has made a huge amount of improvement and progress. I can't even tell you. It's crazy how much he grew in one year. Being able to be around him and play next to him, it's a blessing.
He brings a lot of truth to the team. He's very encouraging and he's very physical. Tape doesn't lie. He's very disciplined and very physical.
On avoiding the hype: The coaches and everybody in this building has done a great job ingraining in all of us to be humble and just work hard. It doesn’t matter what people say. It doesn’t matter what the media says. Just come in here, get the work done, get ourselves in the best position and play and win games.
That's our main focus. And that will always be our main focus, just getting better every single day. If you think our best game was the last week, we're going to get another edge and get another step ahead of what we did last week.
On going against tempo: Through the past three games, we haven't went against a fast tempo team. This is going to be a great challenge for us. Our scout team has been putting up a good look for us to get at least close to what they do. So just being able to prepare for that and play fast and have good communication on the field will put us in the right position to play ball.
On the expected crowd: If people show up, they show up. We won't let the outside factors get in our head. We practice it every single day when we have away games. It doesn’t matter if it's crowded, if it's a lot of noise, we'll just play ball and play at Miami Hurricane standards.
On USF’s offense presenting problems: The film says it's true. They've got a really good offense. It’s a very fast offense, too. They do a really good job functioning. They’ve got a really good quarterback that can run the ball and throw the ball. They’ve got a really good group of running backs that are tough. It’s all in the process of practicing and making sure that we get ourselves in the best spot to play that opponent.
On USF QB Byrum Brown: On film, he stands out as a true dual-threat quarterback. He can make plays on his feet and he can also throw the ball. Very accurate and he's sneaky fast, too. He's a very talented kid. We're prepared for it and are making sure we contain him and put him in a tough position.
On his brother, Francis, having early success: It's no surprise for me. He’s put in a lot of work. A lot of time working on his craft and putting himself in the best position to play tackle. You see it on film. He's very tough and he's very disciplined. You see it here in practice, too. He goes against guys like Tyler Baron and Rueben Bain. Iron sharpens iron and it showcases on the field.
On the run defense through three games: We did a pretty good job. There's still room to improve on playing disciplined football and reading our keys pre-snap. Just focusing on the little details to get our game to the next level, play the run first and react to the pass.
On Wesley Bissainthe: Wesley has made a huge amount of improvement and progress. I can't even tell you. It's crazy how much he grew in one year. Being able to be around him and play next to him, it's a blessing.
He brings a lot of truth to the team. He's very encouraging and he's very physical. Tape doesn't lie. He's very disciplined and very physical.
On avoiding the hype: The coaches and everybody in this building has done a great job ingraining in all of us to be humble and just work hard. It doesn’t matter what people say. It doesn’t matter what the media says. Just come in here, get the work done, get ourselves in the best position and play and win games.
That's our main focus. And that will always be our main focus, just getting better every single day. If you think our best game was the last week, we're going to get another edge and get another step ahead of what we did last week.
On going against tempo: Through the past three games, we haven't went against a fast tempo team. This is going to be a great challenge for us. Our scout team has been putting up a good look for us to get at least close to what they do. So just being able to prepare for that and play fast and have good communication on the field will put us in the right position to play ball.
On the expected crowd: If people show up, they show up. We won't let the outside factors get in our head. We practice it every single day when we have away games. It doesn’t matter if it's crowded, if it's a lot of noise, we'll just play ball and play at Miami Hurricane standards.
