Mario Cristobal opens up on challenges in facing a Bobby Petrino offense

In 2022, Miami and Texas A&M battled in a defensive game that the Aggies ended up winning. To try and fix those issues that would plague the offense all season, Texas A&M brought in Bobby Petrino as its offensive coordinator. This presents a new challenge for Mario Cristobal.

As Cristobal explained, there are several challenges that the team is going to need to manage when facing Petrino’s offense.

“It’s a lot of years of great offenses, right,” Mario Cristobal said. “He’s done it every way imaginable. He knows how to use his pieces, they’ve got some great pieces over there — They got off to a great start. They got a great quarterback and he’s got some great supporting cast members.”

Bobby Petrino has long since been considered a keen offensive mind. It’s that mind that has landed him head coaching jobs in the NFL, with the Arkansas Razorbacks, and the Louisville Cardinals. More recently, Petrino was the Missouri State head coach and was set to become UNLV‘s offensive coordinator before taking the same job at Texas A&M.

“The most important thing is making sure that we study film really well and that our plan is as airtight as it could possibly be to give our players a chance to play fast and free,” Cristobal said.

Both Miami and Texas A&M got wins in Week 1 against over-matched opponents. The Hurricanes beat Miami (OH) in a dominating performance. In particular, Miami was suffocating on defense with a much improved running game. The Aggies beat New Mexico, flashing an explosive new offense under Petrino

The oddsmakers in Las Vegas seem to like Texas A&M on the road this week. In an early point spread from FanDuel, the Aggies are listed as a 4.5-point favorite.

Mario Cristobal says Elijah Arroyo has a chance to play against Texas A&M

In September 2022, tight end Elijah Arroyo suffered a torn ACL. It’s been a long road back for him but head coach Mario Cristobal says there’s a shot he returns against Texas A&M.

“We expect he has a good chance to be available,” Cristobal said. “He’s made a lot of progress. He’s tough and I’d love to come here and say [he’s] ready to roll or just be able to rule it out to make it clearer for all of us. But, it is progressing. It’s just hard to say. We’re very hopeful. And from what we saw today, we’re very encouraged.”