Monday morning with Mario: "We don't want these crazy nailbiters" ... bye week will be used to evaluate rotational moves, solidify depth

After a pair of heart-stopping wins, the undefeated Miami Hurricanes and coach Mario Cristobal get a breather of sorts with a bye weekend upcoming. But that doesn’t mean the work doesn’t continue. That’s what this team is all about, and after coming back from double-digit fourth quarter deficits to win against Virginia Tech and Cal it’s apparent this team does have some work to do if it’s going to continue to win games – without the dramatic finishes.

“We have to clean a lot of stuff up,” coach Mario Cristobal said Monday morning on 560 AM. “There’s a lot of routine stuff that’s head-scratching. Over the last couple of weeks there’s technique and fundamental and discipline issues, aspects which have deteriorated whether it be wear and tear, injury, there should be no excuse, you have to find away to tighten up those things. And that’s what this bye week is for. We have to attack and address those things while resting up the team. The bye week – we have to do a great job using this bye week because we have some really good games coming up. We don’t want these crazy nailbiters all the time. We feel we can be good enough to take control of games in the second half. It just so happens sometimes you have to find a way.”

The most recent game, of course, went into the wee hours of Sunday morning. And it certainly looked bleak for Miami with the team trailing midway through the third quarter, 35-10, after a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown and nine-yard Chandler Rogers rushing TD.

But Miami scored 29 of the next 32 points and won with 26 seconds left on an Elijah Arroyo five-yard scoring catch, 39-38.

“Early we were taking routine plays and screwing them up, weren’t executing to the standard, and I’m talking about basic stuff,” Cristobal said. “When we started doing that (correctly) the momentum gradually grew and led to an unbelievable comeback.

“All the guys kept saying is `We’re going to do this.’ Worked our way back into it, had a chance at the end and got it done.”

Cristobal spoke more about the Cal victory, starting with the continued heroics of QB Cam Ward. Ward did throw the bad interception that was taken back for a score, but he lit up Cal in the second half and had 437 passing yards with two TDS, adding a 24-yard rushing score.

“Early on we were running well, weren’t seeing the field great (in the pass game) and credit to them,” Cristobal said. “They made it difficult to see (with different coverages), did apply pressure before we got a little more stout. We knew it was a matter of time before he saw the field well. The guy is an Alpha dog, super resilient. Complete faith in the guy.”

Xavier Restrepo continues to wow in the receiving game with 163 yards on seven catches, including a 77-yarder to begin the final game-winning series that began at the UM eight-yard line. Restrepo now has 2,465 career receiving yards at Miami, passing Michael Irvin’s 2,423. He’s third on the all-time Miami list, trailing only Reggie Wayne (2,510) and Santana Moss (2,547).

So Restrepo will end this season as the No. 1 all-time Miami receiver.

“That guy is off the charts, unbelievable,” Cristobal said. “There is so much stuff you don’t get to see on TV that he does – elite competitor.”

On the other side of the ball Miami gave up 370 yards and really stifled Cal in the second half with the Golden Bears trying to rely more on the run to grind the game out.

Miami’s front line benefited from the return of Rueben Bain, who shared one of the team’s two sacks.

“That’s a difference-maker,” Cristobal said of Bain. “Just watch the film and watch some of the way he launches people and way he just destroys pockets and plays with great effort. It’s great to have him back.”

At linebacker it was Wesley Bissainthe with a third down tackle of scrambling QB Fernando Mendoza on Cal’s next-to-last drive to force a punt. It was close to being called a targeting on review, but refs ruled the hit was clean.

“Great hit, great tackle, sent energy up through our entire sideline, sent shockwaves through the stadium,” Cristobal said when asked about the hit. “It was awesome.”

The secondary had issues in the game, setting guys loose at different times in a first half that saw Mendoza hit on eight of 12 passes for 204 yards and two TDs through two quarters.

“We had poor discipline, poor eyes (on some plays),” Cristobal said. “We have to coach it better, execute it better.”

The final half? Mendoza was three for 10 (including 0-4 on the team’s final drive) for 81 yards with no TDs.

“Those last three defensive stops, that was the difference,” Cristobal said. “Tremendous respect for (Mendoza) – great football player.”

As close as the win was, it kept Miami undefeated and now ranked No. 6 in the nation.

The Canes don’t play anyone ranked in the top 25, so all signs are flashing green for what is shaping up as a special, special season. But to get to where it wants, Miami has to make strides this bye week.

“Certain guys that have done the same (not great) stuff, there has to be rotational moves to change that,” Cristobal said. “You have to learn, have to get better. We have to do a better job with the second part of the roster, our reserves that need to be playing winning football, not just eat up space or eat up time or `give guys a rest’ football. We have to get guys to play more meaningful football, have to get guys to mature, and that’s about coaching your butt off and developing guys to do that. So this week as it relates to those guys, we have to hammer down on getting guys ready to play winning football. Down the stretch here everybody needs to have a role, everybody needs to have an impact.”

*Cristobal spoke about the steamy conditions in the Cal locker room when UM first arrived at the stadium Saturday, saying “it was like a sauna.”

“We had to take a couple of cool zones from their sideline,” he said.