Miami Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal and player reaction post Ball State

Miami Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal and players weigh in after the Canes’ game vs. Ball State.

Tune in for what they are saying:

Miami Hurricanes Football: Miami HC Mario Cristobal press conference

Opening statement…

“Alright, good evening everybody. I appreciate you guys hanging in. Certainly, appreciate the fans who hung in as well throughout the successive delays and certainly a good feeling. You know, they do a really good job and awesome to have them there and all the players were really happy to see them hang in there. I wanted to give credit to Coach Neu and his team. He’s got a good football team. From a personnel standpoint, we have a big advantage, but he has got a tough football team and I want to wish him the best with the rest of the season. But, you know, from start to finish, I thought we became a better football team. I thought we left the field different than how we entered, just finishing drives, getting them off the field [with] three-and-outs more successfully. [The] third down defense continued to play at a high level and got a shutout and really controlled the middle eight, which is a big thing for us so, all in all, just a really good performance and looking forward to a great opportunity next week.”

On playing in front of the 1989 team…

“Well, those are my teammates so there was some natural pressure and they better play well in front of my guys. In the springtime, when the alumni came for the alumni reunion and the spring game and they spoke to our team, we’ve been here for a couple years but that one hit different. I go back to what Michael Irvin had said to the team and what Andre Johnson and Devin Hester had said to the team and then those guys spent a couple hours just sitting at tables with our guys and talking to them. It just hit different. They understand Miami and what the Miami brotherhood is more now than when they arrived, a lot of these guys. So, it meant a lot to them and it meant a lot to the reunion guys, as well.”

On takeaways from last two weeks and using multiple players…

“We did. We cleaned up a lot of our stuff too, I mean the use of technology, the headsets, all that stuff, our systems, figuring out who can do what well. And then also, putting some guys in situations to play to see if they can perform at a level where we can win with them so, I think a lot of progress in those areas. The one area that was disappointing was the penalties. We certainly, on special teams, are trying hard to become a better special teams unit and we had some bright spots early on kickoff and then after we got tangled up on some of the return game stuff that is not us. We have got to do a better job. All in all, just proud of the team for handling the delay. They did a good job with that. I’m proud of them for making the decision to get better today. You know, [we’ll] see our families, get in bed and get ready for a big game next week.”

On positives from the run game…

“I thought we, early on, weren’t running the ball very well. Some of it was loaded boxes, some of it was, you know, we’ve got a do a better job. Maybe we sometimes missed a hole. I think it was a little bit of everybody contributing to our lack of really running the ball to our standard. As the game went on, we started wearing on them a little bit, started popping some runs. We’ll look at the film and we’ll certainly attack that because that’s a big part of what we do. We’re throwing the ball really, really well. We’ve had our moments in the run game and, if we combine the two, we’re going to be really hard to stop.”

On the ability to spread the ball to multiple players…

“Well, I think now that it’s year two of Coach Dawson’s system, I think everyone is really starting to feel comfortable, excel at it, understand timing and spacing because, in the passing game, that is the most critical thing along with protection. We’ve got a good offensive line. Cam [Ward] sometimes checks us and puts us in great protection and when he knows he’s not protected, he knows where to go with the ball. He gets to that person quickly. Again, we’re hitting on all cylinders in the passing game but, you know, you’ll ask Cam and he’ll tell you that he felt like he left some things out there that could have made it a better day and that’s the way we want to stay. We’ve got a lot of work to do and we’re looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow.”

Ball State HC Mike Neu Postgame Press Conference

On message to the team postgame…

“We got beat man. We didn’t execute well enough. We played a good football team that’s explosive and obviously they had two dominating wins the first two weeks. We knew it was going to be a challenge here, so I’m not worried about what’s happened tonight. You can’t change any of that. I’m worried about our football team leaving in that locker room and turning our attention to the first conference game.”

On playing a team like Miami…

“Well, obviously, it’s a challenge. It’s an opportunity you look forward to, but, in saying that they’ve done a great job, give them credit. They’ve done as good a job as any team in this country has in attacking the transfer portal, adding some key pieces. They’ve done a good job that way, give them credit for their evaluation and bringing the right guys in and, you know, they played well. There is nothing else really to be said about that. We didn’t play well enough, didn’t execute well enough and we’ve got to move forward.”

On what makes Miami a good football team…

A: The quarterback is…show me somebody who is playing better than him in the country through three games. Obviously, when you give him time in the pocket and they’ve got a great offensive line, they did a good job of adding some key pieces through the portal to a group that was already pretty experienced. They’ve got playmakers. They got three receivers out there on the perimeter that all have 850 or more yards receiving last year. We knew it was going to be a  challenge and obviously they bought in one of the top running backs in the country as well so they’re an explosive offense and we struggled with them in space today. We struggled to tackle and obviously the footing was a challenge for both teams, so that’s no excuse at all. You know, we weren’t able to contain some of their key players and obviously they’ve done a good job of featuring their guys and playing good offense through three weeks.”