Mario Cristobal shares challenges of Florida State defense

Miami and Florida State state battle this weekend at Hard Rock Stadium in one of the ACC’s best in-state rivalries. Both teams are fresh off of big bounce-back victories, both highlighted by strong defensive performances from both squads, as Miami head coach Mario Cristobal spoke on the strength of the Seminole’s defense ahead of their matchup.

“FSU, they’ve done a great job defensively, I think they’re a top 15, top 12 defense in just about every statistic and category,” Cristobal said. “They do it a number of different ways, they play really sound defense, they’re very technical, they’re explosive, and fast on the edges.”

Florida State held Georgia Tech to just 16 points in their last game, the fourth time this season they’ve held an opponent to under 20 points. They’re a talented group from their defensive front, to their defensive backs, and everywhere in between, which Cristobal elaborated on.

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“They’re thick, powerful guys on the inside that have great pass rush ability, their linebackers run really well, they’re strikers. The secondary is long, physical, can run, they do a great job of communicating back there and they’ve play great defense all year long,” Cristobal said.

The Seminoles have a stout defensive front, led by defensive lineman Jared Verse who’s contributed 4.5 half sacks to the team’s total of 22 on the season, which rank in the top five of the conference. Their secondary has also been elite this season, holding opponents to just 178 yards in the air per game this season which is second in the ACC.

The status of Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke is still uncertain, as he missed the team’s last game with an injury. But regardless, whether it’s Van Dyke or backup Jake Garcia under center for the Hurricanes, Miami’s offense will need to dot their i’s and cross their t’s this weekend against the Seminole’s defense.

Mario Cristobal says Miami is ‘optimistic’ about Tyler Van Dyke’s status

As we inch closer toward the kickoff for Saturday’s huge rivalry contests in the ACC between the Miami Hurricanes and the Florida State Seminoles, Miami’s head coach, Mario Cristobal, provided another brief update on starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke.

“So, Tyler is practicing getting; better every single day. We’ll have a decision closer to the game, certainly optimistic,” said Cristobal.

While Cristobal has yet to disclose whether or not Van Dyke will play on Saturday, it appears all signs during the Hurricanes’ practice are trending in a positive direction.

Despite his rough start to the season, the red-shirt sophomore quarterback has looked the most polished of the two starting options for this week. The other possible candidate to lead the Hurricanes into battle against the Seminoles is freshman quarterback Jake Garcia.

Garcia played the majority of Miami’s 45-21 home loss against Duke after Van Dyke was knocked out of the game in the first half. He was named the starter in last week’s 14-12 four-overtime victory over Virginia, picking up his first college career win. In those two games, he completed 28 of his 50 pass attempts for 323 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He is also accredited with 12 rushes for -34 yards.

Van Dyke has had his share of troubles, which was highlighted during a Hurricanes’ three-game losing streak that included a home loss to Middle Tennessee State 45-31. The loss to MTSU was arguably his worst performance of the season, completing 16 of his 32 pass attempts for 138 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. However, on the season, Van Dyke has thrown for 1737 yards with a 64.1 completion percentage, ten touchdowns, and four interceptions.

On3’s Justin Rudolph contributed to this report