Miami Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal and player reaction post Georgia Tech

Miami Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal and players weigh in after the Canes’ game tonight vs. Georgia Tech.

Tune in for what they are saying:

Opening statement…

“Thank you for your patience. Obviously disappointing in a lot of different aspects. Obviously, again, just fell short in so many different ways. Battled. There were some signs of life. Not having a great first half, but coming out in the second half, doing some things and falling behind and getting up again. And then, at the end of the game, had a chance to put it away and should have just taken a timeout right there and recalibrate. Just take a knee. Gave them a chance and they took advantage of it and scored. It’s that simple.”

On the final drive…

“When the drive started, it was going to be a 1:57 and we burned about 1:27 off and then it was recalibrated. We should’ve taken a timeout, right there at the end. Thought we could get the first down. We talked about two hands on the ball but that’s not good enough. Should have told them to take a knee. That’s it. Fumbled the ball at the 25 and they went 75 yards in two plays. No excuse.”

On whether Georgia Tech had timeouts left…

“There was no confusion. We were moving the pile and we had a pretty good drive going…I’m not going to make an excuse for it and say we should’ve done this or that. That’s it. We should have done it. Sometimes, you get carried away where they just finish the game and run it, but I should’ve stepped in and said, ‘hey, take a knee.’”

On Georgia Tech’s defensive scheme…

“They played coverage, so all the stuff was underneath. To be effective against what they were playing, you just have to be patient and methodical. So, we were moving the ball, get to midfield and maybe a little beyond and just weren’t finishing drives. We had penalties that hurt us. We had an option route where we weren’t on the same page, miscommunication, and threw an interception. We had a penalty that nullified a touchdown in the redzone. We had some miscues in the first half. You have to give them credit too, you don’t want to sound arrogant about it. We didn’t play to our standard, which means we didn’t coach to our standard. We felt like we had a good week of preparation last week and this week and that did not show up tonight. It’s very important that we’re very realistic with ourselves and bottom line is we have to get right back to work. We have a tremendous game and tremendous opportunity next week. In the locker room, everybody feels it and everybody’s down. It’s hard and it sucks. We have to take it like grown men and lift each other up. We are what we have and we’re all that we have and that’s all that we need.”

On what was said in the locker room postgame…

“We like to keep that stuff in the locker room, but very direct. I think in moments like this, less is more. We had our opportunities, even though we didn’t play well. Obviously, we could’ve coached better. Could have made a better decision. All of those things were on the table and we just didn’t do it. Saturday is going to be here in a hurry against an excellent football team and we have to go on the road and we have to get it done. Very simple.”

Georgia Tech HC Brent Key

Opening Statement…

“There is really one thing that matters and that’s playing for 60 minutes. That’s the thing we’ve talked about for several weeks now, we knew what type of team we were capable of being. We’ve shown what our identity could be at times, but we hadn’t put it all together yet. We hadn’t spent every second on the clock and played the way you’re supposed to play. So, the challenge this week was identity. We talk about ‘No scoreboard, play the next play,’ but it felt like a little bit different way to say it, develop an identity, that was completely independent of any clock. I truly believe they did that tonight. We got the outcome we wanted. Like every game, we’re going to take the good things we’ve done and continue to grow. The most important thing was the ability to play for 60 minutes and take the things we’ve got to correct. The bye week is coming at a good time, it really is, we’ve played six straight games, I think everybody needs a little bit of a mental break from it. This is a chance to get in and clean up this game and get some fundamental work done in practice and get ready to play the second part of the season. I can’t tell you how proud I am of these kids, this coaching staff. You talk about being resilient, and these guys have just kept on plugging away. It really started at the beginning of this past week. I’m excited for the kids, excited for the guys, they played the whole time.”

On if he was surprised Miami didn’t take a knee at the end of the game…

“Yeah, we kind of felt that he was going to take a knee at that point. He didn’t though. Kevin talked all week, we spent a lot of time on situational football this week. Kevin told the defense all week, he said, this game is going to come down to a fourth and one. They were marked short of the first down on third and one. In the huddle, it was ‘Guys, this is what Kevin has said all week,’ and we just happened to be able to play two of them, a third and a fourth (down). I think it was Paul who got the ball out and we were able to make a couple of plays there at the end and get the victory.”

On the last 26 seconds of the game…

“I usually have a pretty good recollection of the game, but what does Will Farrell say in “Old School”? I think I just blacked out. That’s what I felt like right then. I mean, we got the ball back with 26 seconds, we were able to push the ball. Obviously, we knew we didn’t have any timeouts, but we had plenty of time to be able to get down the field and we were shooting for the 33-yard line. Made a couple big plays there, a couple big catches, and on the last one Haynes [King] flushed and the unique thing about Haynes King is he’s a guy that he can run, he can scramble, but when he scrambles he’s keeping his eyes downfield and looks to throw. I don’t think that was more apparent than tonight with what happened. We scored, obviously, you could kick the extra point but it was a six-point game then, 23-17, with two seconds on the clock. We brought him back over, had him take the delay of game and put the offense back out there. The blocked PAT it’s a two-point differential, but on an untimed down it’s more the case of a 15-yard penalty occurring. That’s what I didn’t want to have happen was somehow, a 15-yard penalty happen, and all of a sudden it gets out of flux in another way and the momentum shifts and changes. That was the reason for the decision with that, one of those situations where we talk through hundreds and hundreds a week, and that was one that we had talked about just recently.”