Mario Cristobal met with reporters to discuss the Canes 41-17 thrashing of the Florida Gators. Everything he discussed is below:
On the win: Really proud of our players and coaches.They deserve all the credit. A total team win from top to bottom. Really appreciate our fans. They showed up strong. That's why we took some time after the game to go over and thank them and greet them. But their energy was real. Our guys felt it and they stayed there the entire time.
As it relates to the game, it's important to note that this game was won In January, through spring practice, again in the summer workouts, again in spring practice, summer workouts, fall camp, and then game week. Their practice and preparation became game reality. They did all the things necessary to start the season the right way against a very talented team.
Culture showed up strong in a couple different ways. We responded very well to any kind of adversity. We turned the ball over deep in our territory, and our defense goes out there and holds them to a field goal. But then they score a touchdown on a busted play, and our offense comes right out, scores a touchdown, ends the half, and then comes out in the second half and scores another touchdown. So tremendous response.
Really proud of the fact that we had zero pre-snap penalties and zero post-snap penalties. That's also a strong sign of culture developing and getting better, discipline improving and getting better. Handling the environment the way our guys did made the noise a non-factor. There was also a lot of self-control in moments where usually we haven't in the past. So a lot of growth and development there.
And then also physicality and effort and toughness. At the end of the day, they didn't affect our quarterback as much as we affected theirs. We had several yards after contact, some of those muddy, bloody yards that you get going through arm tackles. We handled and controlled the line of scrimmage well against a really physical and big front. And, again, affecting their QB and keeping ours clean was a big factor in the game.
We made some big plays. We also dropped a couple touchdown passes that could have helped us in the game. We made some mental mistakes, and special teams weren’t up to par, so a lot of things to clean up. All in all, a strong performance. Hard work went into that. A lot of talent acquisition, player development, personnel use went into that. Good start to the season and then moving on.
On Cam McCormick scoring the first TD: I don't think anybody expected that, right? That was the winning ticket in Las Vegas for somebody that Cam was going to score the first touchdown for the Miami Hurricanes this year.
You know what he's been through. Maybe one day it'd be good if you take some time and have a story on what he's actually been through physically, some of the surgical procedures he has had to be able to be where he's at. He's 100% healthy. Better than ever. But to get here, he's been through a lot.
A completely unselfish, hardworking, real deal human being who shows up every day and brings it. At his age, getting hit and toppling over backwards, I was a little worried about him. But no, the guy is awesome and I’m glad he started off the season that way.
I don't smile often. It brings a smile to your face. Imagine your own son going through all that stuff like he did. To go through it and [not] complain and do what he does, bring it every single day and make people around them better, that guy is going to be successful in everything he does in life. I think he'll be a great NFL player as well. He's just got a super bright future and is an absolute awesome mentor to young players.
On handling success: Well, I think it's pretty simple. You stay mad. You should be very driven and hungry and you should be ****ed. It’s not our best football. No offense to the media, but I'm sure the media had one article written in our favor and had another article ready to hit “send” bashing Miami and our people and our players.
They're so focused on winning. It's not hard to point out the things that have caused issues in the past in Miami. [It’s not hard] to bring to light the things that must be done to avoid any setbacks. So handling success is going to be as simple as realizing the truth. We're nowhere near as good as we could be. We left a lot of plays out on the table on Saturday. We're super excited about the progress that has been made and some things that were done. But we've had enough experiences going the other way, knowing that this is the best time to be our best.
On comparing this to his game against UF at FIU: It points to the importance of personnel in college football. We went up there [in 2009] and it's Tim Tebow at quarterback. Aaron Hernandez had a touchdown, he punted the ball to the crowd. We're trying to get the ball to T.Y. Hilton and you’ve got guys intercepting the ball with one hand and running it back for a touchdown. I remember their coach actually telling me just stick to the plan, hard work, good people, putting effort works out.
The [2024 Gators] have a lot of talent. They have almost 20 Senior Bowl invite candidates on their team. Very big, long, athletic guys, and they have the environment in their favor. We feel that our roster has become a lot more talented and has worked really hard and prepared well to go up there and be able to have that type of success. It’s rewarding and encouraging more than anything. It kind of whets your appetite for better things to come in the future.
On the importance of continuity: We were a little bit messy. We had some substitution errors that we’ve got to clean up. But continuity at the coordinator spots is as big as you can possibly get, especially when both made such big jumps in year one. Year One, you evolve throughout the course of the year, and you grow and develop as a system and as a staff. When you have an entire offseason and you enhance personnel and those guys get to go to work and really evolve their systems and grow and learn and travel around the country and network and study opponents, that's a massive difference. Lance Guidry and Shannon Dawson are elite, elite human beings and elite play callers and coordinators. We’re very blessed to have both of them and they did a great job.
On Xavier Restrepo: He was always really, really good. Right now, he's really gone to a different level as a leader, as a human being, as a teammate. He's doing things in practice that are just completely unselfish. With all those incredible catches and routes and moves that he made on Saturday, one of his best plays was when we had that speed play to Arroyo. It’s kind of funny, the little guy's blocking for the big guy, should be the other way around. But the way he ran out there and threw his body around to create an extra 10, 12 yards for his teammate. I cannot say enough great things about X. The way he practices is the way he approaches everything he does in his life. He's got no governor. He's full speed. He’s fixing to have an incredible year.
On the tight ends: We have a strong tight end background here at Miami and the place that we had been in before [Oregon]. Coach Dawson has a really strong background in just about everything. He put some unbelievable plans together with the rest of the staff. [The need to involve the tight ends] was highlighted right after the season. It's like, “Hey, we have really good players. They have to be involved. They're going to help us win games. They do present mismatch issues for opponents.” And I think that was on display on Saturday, and the best is yet to come. Those guys are awesome to be around.
On Elijah Arroyo: All those that have watched him practice knew that it was going to happen for him. He's that talented, he is that hard of a worker. He's kind of a freakazoid in terms of his specs, his speed, his explosiveness, his power. He's become a really, really good blocker as well at the line of scrimmage, on the perimeter. He's a really good weapon, and you saw how he got moved around a bunch of different spots. We're gonna continue to do that.
On FAMU: The first thing was making sure we took care of business in practice today. The first thing you want to look for is anyone not going to get here early, because for us early is on time. Is anyone not going to be taped? Is anyone not going to be wearing the right gear? Because that's always a sign of an arrogance for not doing things the right way. And that's not the case with this group. This group was here early, ready to work, and they got after it and had a great practice.
They're excited to come back home and play at home. We want to make Hard Rock an intimidating place to play. We want to make Hard Rock a true home field advantage. We want to make our families, our community, our fan base, everybody proud,. These guys feel prepared and ready to do so, and they know that they're playing against a team that's coming off an awesome season. They have 13 straight wins, defending HBCU national champions. More than a handful of players that have been invited or gonna be invited to the Senior Bowl. Defensively, they were top 10 in every single category. Offensively, they present a lot of problems. Spread offense. A quarterback with a ton of experience that has played all over the place. Lots of players from South Florida on the team as well. They have a really good football team. James Colzie, he's a guy I have a tremendous amount of respect for. Local guy, their head coach. Not only a first class coach, he's a first class human being, and he's gonna have his team prepared to play. We will be prepared to play as well.
On Rueben Bain: Everyone could see a soft tissue injury. It's going to be a couple of weeks.I'll know more as these tests go on throughout the course of the day and the week, but he will not be playing this game. I can tell you that. The rest of the info regarding that, you know, I don't know if I can honestly say that I'll be transparent about it completely, but I'll do my best.
On the OL: He had a lot of time to throw. The offensive line played an awesome game. They really did. They were physical. They found a way. The play that was the best indicator of the type of day it was, was that last pass to Elija Lofton. He was all tied up, and then you saw five giant humanoids sprinting into that pile and just pushing another 6, 7, 8 yards. Those guys have a lot of fun playing together. They're really tight. They have great culture. They were physical in the running game as well.
It was going to be a muddy, bloody game because of loaded boxes, odd tight, bear fronts. And they just kept coming and coming and coming, and they provided him with a lot of time. We gave up a sack at the end, kind of a coverage sack, and Cam stepped up. But aside from that, yeah, we felt we did a really good job.
On OJ Frederique and Jordan Lyle: You saw no flinch in them whatsoever. OJ went out there and he did an unbelievable job. Sky's the limit for him. He's long, he's fast, he's strong, he's smart, he's physical, he is relentless. And Jordan Lyle is the exact same thing. You saw that one play where he gets wrapped up and spins out and comes out with balance and gets another couple yards. T
Two really talented guys that have been raised the right way. You want to talk about mentality and what you look for in recruiting? You draw them up just like those two guys right there. Strong-minded hard-working, relentless guys that have zero flinch in them whatsoever. They played for a great coach and a great program. Like a bunch of our guys here in South Florida, they do a great job with their players. Certainly, they have a lot of pride when they take the field wearing that U.
