Mario Cristobal met with the media after his team’s 56-9 win over the FAMU Rattlers. A transcription of his comments is below:
On the overall performance: Fast start, and then offensively we got in a little bit of a rut and made some careless errors. We’ve got to coach and play that part better, but a really good response in the second half. We have to be better at the post-snap penalties, but all in all, it was good to play a lot of players tonight.
A lot of young guys got action and actually played at a high level, particularly defensive line. They seemed to get relentless pressure on the quarterback and did a good job stopping the run. Good to see those freshman linebackers get in there, get a couple of interceptions as well. So all in all, we handled our business and there are lots of areas to get better at.
On the reps for the young players: There's nothing like repetition. There's nothing that you can do in practice, there's nothing you can do in a meeting room or walk-through that could ever replace the value of that. The value of those reps are tremendous.
That's why we kept playing. I think both sides respect that. They want their guys to get reps, and we want our guys to get reps. You saw a lot. I don't know the number of players that actually play, but it's most of the roster.
On left tackle: Jalen was a little bit banged up, so we decided to hold him this week. I think he'll be back really soon. There's nothing that's too serious there, but it was the right thing to do.
Proud of Markel. I know he had the one holding call, but we kind of played “ring around the rosie” on that one. That's hard to protect, but he played really well.
On the value of playing young guys like Bell: The honest truth is we’ve got to do a better job coaching the other half of the roster and developing it. Games are going to come down to who's next that steps in. And not just mop-up duty, during critical times. We have a very strong commitment to developing those guys in practice, spending extra time with them, watching the film, and learning the system so they can actually go out there and not only compete, but bring value to the team. I can't stress the value enough.
On Tyler Baron: He's built like an avatar and he's explosive. One of the most natural feels for the game of anyone I've seen. He understands leverage, angles. He's really smart. He's locked in. He's in tune with what's going on. He's always trying to figure out how to get better. He works hard. He's tough. He checks all the boxes.
He's full throttle, and I think he's showing everybody what he's about. That guy's another hungry, driven dude. We've been blessed with some really good players that have come to our program, and it's our job to push them and help get them better.
On the run/pass balance: I don't think it's ever a preset determination. Our coordinators put together good game plans and when those guys get on a roll, you let them go. If something doesn't quite work out, they're always assessing. These guys are trying to find ways to get yards and get points and move the sticks.
On first-team defense: I don't know what they held them to rushing wise (52 yards on 25 carries). I know they sprang that one run. We pulled the ones out early and got some reserves in, and they started bending a little bit, so we'd have to put them back in the goal line stand. But then when the reserves started playing well, we let it roll. Wesley [Bissainthe] has been off to a great start, had a great camp, and certainly the best is yet to come for him.
On Zaquan Patterson: He was locked in. He had an interesting realization this week, like, “Man, this college football stuff is hard. It requires a lot of time. I’ve got to learn my stuff to be effective and be successful.” He had much better practices and he earned the trust to go out there and to play and he did not disappoint. We’ve got to continue to do a really good job developing our young guys and playing them.
On Cam Ward: You can see what he brings to the table. For us, the exciting part with a guy like that is you find ways to challenge him. Because there's so much more that's in him and that he wants to do for the team. He's very hard on himself, but he is the alpha dog leader. I’ve stated that term to nausea. But it's what he is, man, and it changes things. Certain guys bring a spark right and it catches with everybody. He's that guy. On defense, it's been different guys. You see Tyler Baron do it, Wesley did it, Mesidor has done it, Meesh has done it. So [Cam] is an absolute real one, man. He's a stud.
On Cam diving for the pylon: He’s not one of those ceramic quarterbacks. He doesn't want to be that. This guy is a flat-out baller, man. He wants to play ball. And remember, he wanted to come to Miami to win a championship, and he wanted to improve himself as a player. He is doing all those things. He, actively and with purpose, has identified those things and is pursuing betterment in all those areas. That was one right there. I was kidding him about his speed on that. We'll check the GPS and see what it said, but great game and great play by Cam.
On FAMU QB Daniel Richardson: He looked pretty good to me. Great player. Tough. That guy knows how to play football. He's been playing football for a long, long time. Extends plays. He's on time with the ball. Great pocket awareness. Accurate. You saw him lower his head a couple times too. He's not afraid. I just saw him in the hallway right now and certainly wish him the best for the rest of the season. I respect him, Coach Colzie, the rest of their team. They're a bunch of really good football players and tough guys that are going to have a great season.
On the overall performance: Fast start, and then offensively we got in a little bit of a rut and made some careless errors. We’ve got to coach and play that part better, but a really good response in the second half. We have to be better at the post-snap penalties, but all in all, it was good to play a lot of players tonight.
A lot of young guys got action and actually played at a high level, particularly defensive line. They seemed to get relentless pressure on the quarterback and did a good job stopping the run. Good to see those freshman linebackers get in there, get a couple of interceptions as well. So all in all, we handled our business and there are lots of areas to get better at.
On the reps for the young players: There's nothing like repetition. There's nothing that you can do in practice, there's nothing you can do in a meeting room or walk-through that could ever replace the value of that. The value of those reps are tremendous.
That's why we kept playing. I think both sides respect that. They want their guys to get reps, and we want our guys to get reps. You saw a lot. I don't know the number of players that actually play, but it's most of the roster.
On left tackle: Jalen was a little bit banged up, so we decided to hold him this week. I think he'll be back really soon. There's nothing that's too serious there, but it was the right thing to do.
Proud of Markel. I know he had the one holding call, but we kind of played “ring around the rosie” on that one. That's hard to protect, but he played really well.
On the value of playing young guys like Bell: The honest truth is we’ve got to do a better job coaching the other half of the roster and developing it. Games are going to come down to who's next that steps in. And not just mop-up duty, during critical times. We have a very strong commitment to developing those guys in practice, spending extra time with them, watching the film, and learning the system so they can actually go out there and not only compete, but bring value to the team. I can't stress the value enough.
On Tyler Baron: He's built like an avatar and he's explosive. One of the most natural feels for the game of anyone I've seen. He understands leverage, angles. He's really smart. He's locked in. He's in tune with what's going on. He's always trying to figure out how to get better. He works hard. He's tough. He checks all the boxes.
He's full throttle, and I think he's showing everybody what he's about. That guy's another hungry, driven dude. We've been blessed with some really good players that have come to our program, and it's our job to push them and help get them better.
On the run/pass balance: I don't think it's ever a preset determination. Our coordinators put together good game plans and when those guys get on a roll, you let them go. If something doesn't quite work out, they're always assessing. These guys are trying to find ways to get yards and get points and move the sticks.
On first-team defense: I don't know what they held them to rushing wise (52 yards on 25 carries). I know they sprang that one run. We pulled the ones out early and got some reserves in, and they started bending a little bit, so we'd have to put them back in the goal line stand. But then when the reserves started playing well, we let it roll. Wesley [Bissainthe] has been off to a great start, had a great camp, and certainly the best is yet to come for him.
On Zaquan Patterson: He was locked in. He had an interesting realization this week, like, “Man, this college football stuff is hard. It requires a lot of time. I’ve got to learn my stuff to be effective and be successful.” He had much better practices and he earned the trust to go out there and to play and he did not disappoint. We’ve got to continue to do a really good job developing our young guys and playing them.
On Cam Ward: You can see what he brings to the table. For us, the exciting part with a guy like that is you find ways to challenge him. Because there's so much more that's in him and that he wants to do for the team. He's very hard on himself, but he is the alpha dog leader. I’ve stated that term to nausea. But it's what he is, man, and it changes things. Certain guys bring a spark right and it catches with everybody. He's that guy. On defense, it's been different guys. You see Tyler Baron do it, Wesley did it, Mesidor has done it, Meesh has done it. So [Cam] is an absolute real one, man. He's a stud.
On Cam diving for the pylon: He’s not one of those ceramic quarterbacks. He doesn't want to be that. This guy is a flat-out baller, man. He wants to play ball. And remember, he wanted to come to Miami to win a championship, and he wanted to improve himself as a player. He is doing all those things. He, actively and with purpose, has identified those things and is pursuing betterment in all those areas. That was one right there. I was kidding him about his speed on that. We'll check the GPS and see what it said, but great game and great play by Cam.
On FAMU QB Daniel Richardson: He looked pretty good to me. Great player. Tough. That guy knows how to play football. He's been playing football for a long, long time. Extends plays. He's on time with the ball. Great pocket awareness. Accurate. You saw him lower his head a couple times too. He's not afraid. I just saw him in the hallway right now and certainly wish him the best for the rest of the season. I respect him, Coach Colzie, the rest of their team. They're a bunch of really good football players and tough guys that are going to have a great season.
