Everything Mario Cristobal Said About Injuries, Central Michigan, and Second Half Lull

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — All answers have a price, and for the Miami Hurricanes, all questions are pointed to the offensive struggles in the second half against Wake Forest and how explosive they could be.

Moreover, the No. 6 team in the country has an injury problem that everyone is trying to figure out.

It starts with Mario Cristobal and how he expects his team to respond. Moreover, he also expects some to step up when it's time to, and that time is now.

Here is everything he had to say during his Monday Press Conference ahead of the first Saturday game of the season for Miami against Central Michigan.

Opening Statement…

First of all, thanking all the Hurricane family and friends, fans that showed up. Their presence was awesome. It was felt by our players, certainly appreciated by all. Great to see. And then for our team, a solid conference win on the road against a really good team. Played really well for the most part, in two and a half quarters, and then found ourselves a little bit of an offensive lull. Up 31-7, a chance to get the ball back, force a turnover, have a penalty that nullifies that, and Wake Forest scores once and twice, and then our defenses took over the game when our offense had four successive three and outs. So good example complimentary football. Our defense forcing first a safety, then a turnover on downs, another turnover on downs, and then eventually an interception to seal the game. So some good stuff to build upon, some other stuff to improve upon, and moving forward and getting ready for Central Michigan."

On the status of WR Malachi Toney and RB Mark Fletcher for the Central Michigan game...

"Everything looks favorable. Looks like just banged up stuff."

On the running back and wide receiver depth with players out for the season...

"Well, it's certainly things that you don't want to happen. If you look around college football today, a lot of people are receiving not the best news in the world, and we got hit by it. We've been hit by it a little bit more this year than we have in really all the previous years, and so you really always emphasize with your coaches make sure that you're developing your entire room, right? Because you never know when they're going to get tapped on the shoulder, and be called upon. So certainly going to miss those guys. They are awesome. We have confidence that we can prepare and continue to develop the ones that are in that room to go earn the same status that these guys did themselves."

On reintegrating RB Jordan Lyle...

"Well, he didn't play the first three weeks. He served his suspension, obviously doing some other things to go with that. But we have had him in training to make sure that at the end of the day, player safety is at the forefront of everything. You have to keep guys in condition and engaged, so that if there is an opportunity to come and play again, they're ready, and that is the case with Jordan, and he's in good shape and doing the right thing, so he'll be able to contribute to the team."

On Lyle earning the coaches trust after the offseason incident...

First, I wouldn't say typically. You only play players that you can trust. There is so that we're clear at the University of Miami. There's one criteria for playing players, and that's playing people that give Miami the best chance to win. Period. Jordan has made a poor decision. This will be the last time I address it, not in any way, shape, or form disrespectful to you, but just to make sure we understand clearly. He has done and is doing the things necessary to put himself in a good place with his teammates in our program, and he is a trusted football player and person who is working hard to make sure that he has the full trust of everybody.

On what contributed to the offensive lull...

"Saw a lack of detail. I take it all as coaching and playing because I never want to point a finger at one or the other. I don't think that's fair. If you watch film, you're looking at really pretty much the same calls against the same calls, and the level of precision, the level of detail, the level of strain isn't quite the same. And credit to Wake Forest as well for playing well, for playing hard, mixing up some things, but there are opportunities there to be had. The pockets at times a little bit tighter. Maybe we didn't see the comeback or the curl route come open, right? Maybe we didn't finish on a block or finish on a tackle. Things of that nature is what showed up, and that's the difference in successful plays or not. Because the first thing you want to do is analyze. 'All right, what did we call?' And look, especially the first three series that were three and outs, and two of every three plays is, you're you're pushing, you're trying to push the ball down the field before it gets checked down or ended up in a you know play that wasn't a positive place, so that's what I see. That's what we, and then when you see that, you assess that, you point a finger right at all of us ourselves, making sure that we. It's got to be coached better. It's got to be emphasized better. It's got to be practiced better. And at the end of the day, when lights are on, got to understand that teams have really, really good players, and all these conference games are playoff games. They are. And you're going to get everyone's best. You're never completely out of a game. It's never completely over. So the level of strain and effort has to be at an all-time high and get better and better as the game goes on.'

On his team's response to adversity in the Wake Forest game...

"I think this team's grown a lot. I think those moments are really important. I don't know if you look back a few years that this team would have found its way to continue to keep the separation, keep it a two-score game, which is important. I saw certain guys get tested and rise to the occasion, do a really good job. I saw a team that there was never ever a lack of fight, but a lack of detail, and that extra strain does put a play over the top, or it doesn't. So I'm not sure if I answered your question. I guess I'm kind of going through in my mind different scenarios that come with that, but I do see a team that wants to win, a team that cares about each other, a team that understands that the one team that can beat us is us if we don't play and achieve a certain level, if we don't hold things at a standard that we know we're capable of. Okay, and again, that's something that we all take together, and it's the best way to do it. It's the only way to do it. I think we've heard four years up in a row. I'm always going to say, 'You got to play it better. You got to coach better to get a better result.'

On the struggle to close out the game by running the football...

"Well, kind of like I said before, it's a level of detail and strain. Sometimes it's maybe a guy gets beat. Sometimes we miss a hole. Sometimes we didn't get a good enough kickout block by a tight end. Sometimes a receiver, supposed to push crack and he blocks a corner. It was like the blinking light, right? There was one thing that stood out on particular plays that prevented it from being a successful play because it's the same. It's a similar plays. You don't run the exact same plays. You run some of them. Some of them have eyewash, but schematically, they are plays that have a high chance, high probability of success, and the inability to sustain that level of detail and level of strain is, in my opinion, is what made the difference."

On putting an extra emphasis on missed tackles...

"Yeah, I think you've been to our practice. You know that we emphasize all the details that come with anything that's important from a technical and fundamental standpoint. And this game is about blocking and tackling and running to the football, right? Chasing and finishing is a big part of it because if you know where your help is at, and you get there and you happen to miss, at least you could force that thing the other way, leverage the ball, and get somebody on the ground. So it's practice. It's emphasized. You really don't live tackle during the year. You thud up, which is live ball, but staying up, and that will continue to improve. But it's always a point of emphasis."

On the offensive line rotation tightening and the approach moving forward...

"The same thing. We'll play the guys that give us the best chance to win. That's always, every single week assessed, evaluated, practiced, walk through meetings, how you conduct yourself in the classroom, right? All the things come into play as part of the decision-making. And at the end, when we put certain guys on the field, it's one criteria and one criteria only--the guys that we feel give us the best chance to win, whether it works out great, whether it doesn't, but that's what we always and will always go with."

On the evaluation of the offensive line play...

"The tackles and center had solid games. Guards had some positive moments and some growing pain moments. They're a very experienced front. They move a lot, a lot of bare fronts, NTs, TNs, twists inside right. Some of the different blitz patterns and third down packages are pretty extensive. And on some plays, we did some really good things at guard, and other plays, like I mentioned, had some growing pains."

On Central Michigan's quarterback run game...

"Yeah, they get after it up front now, and they do it in every way possible: quarterback stretch, quarterback power, power read, quarterback counter, toss away, quarterback counter the other way. They really have a lot of ways to not only run the quarterback but use them as a decoy and get the ball out on the perimeter, so it's one of those weeks where the level of eye discipline is critical to attain success. Because, what they're doing, people are losing sight of the ball, and they're really they're really schooled up well up front in terms of their combination blocks, their identifications. They don't miss, and therefore, I mean, a lot of those plays that quarterback or the running back, they're up to field four and five yards before the first defender shows up. So they execute at a really high level."

On the move from adidas to Nike...

"Yeah, I'm not sure I can answer those questions right now. Look right at compliance. That's a nod. So, not yet, but when the time is right, I'd be glad to address those questions to the best of my abilities."

On building confidence in the young offensive line while also holding them accountable...

"Growth and development. Systematic work is just the repetitions, right? And making sure you're giving guys the opportunity, and guys that have earned those opportunities. And as long as guys are busting their butts, you got to find ways to continue to find not only encouragement but positive wins in their routines and their dailies, and also create competition so that there's never there's never a feeling where, 'Okay I I got this.' We're improving in some aspects we're going to get better in the other ones we're going to play some season fronts, some really good front sevens, and the expectation is for us to get better and better, more confident we will."

On QB Darian Mensah and his mentality after the game...

"A lot of really positive play from him. He's obviously he's really accurate, right? And is a really good leader. And I think the best part about him is that there was no sign of contentment with the performance. He knows that we have to get better, us as a group, him as an individual, all of us. It's the only focus. I think the most important thing as the season goes on is that no one gets sensitive or moody because we kind of go at it direct. We go right between the eyes. We feel it's the greatest form of respect that you can give a player or a coach. Let's get right to it. Let's self-assess. Here's what we're doing good. Here's what's not so good. Let's go get better. And Darian Mensah is all about that. He was raised the right way, and he's made of the right stuff. So again, he's looking for some continued great play from him."

On which receiver he envisions stepping up with Josh Moore out...

"I say we go find out. You know, let's go find out. We're banged up group, but obviously Dre Jacobs has done a good job. So has [Daylyn] Upshaw. He's got really good experience. Cooper [Barkate] is very versatile. He's had a really good season so far. Somourian Wingo, Milan Parris, Vance Spafford. There's a lot of guys that can do a lot of things. We have some tight ends that could also split out there and do some things, also in misplace personnel. So I don't think it'd be of much value to crown a guy like right now and say, 'Hey, this side is the guy we expect to step up.' I think the guys that we expect to step up, you have seen them already in games, and I've gotten a chance to play, and it's really important that you know, starting with today, which we had a good glimpse of, but throughout the course of the week, that we provide opportunities to see how our guys respond, because there's a big difference of being a contributor as opposed to being a full-time starter from the get-go and going all the way through, right? So that's what we are fixing to find out, and we will start and play the game with the guys that give us the best chance to win."

On the special teams...

"We weren't very good. I thought we weren't physical. I thought the opening kickoff, to allow ourselves to get knocked back and yank a guy down, holding penalty, is unacceptable. It was probably the biggest, most emphatic, pissed-off moment of the meeting as it relates to the assessment of the game. We had a chance to get great field position a couple times with them kicking from their own 20-yard line, and we got a personal foul and a holding on it. I mean, really, those penalties. There's no other way to put it. They're senseless and they're selfish. If you're going to get your ass run over, do it with dignity, right? Make somebody go through you, and then they're delayed to get to the tackle. But to yank a guy down and to have a penalty on that. The levels of being upset that comes with that are something that at the end of the day we have to look in the mirror as coaches, coach it better, and put guys out there that can do it, and also guys that have done it well, get them doing it well again. Not just allowing a guy to--special teams is one of three phases you have to win. It is not that break in between where you catch your breath. You know what I'm saying? So the points of emphasis that come with special teams have been hammered the entire morning, and we expect to get a better result this coming Saturday."

On playing on a Saturday...

"Yeah. We're the only team in the country that hasn't played on a Saturday. Who's responsible for that? Anybody in this room? Nobody. But look, I'll say this because this is really important. This is, I mean, as it relates to my own kids at home or our players here, is whatever's thrown at you, just roll with it, man. You know, is it ideal that I ever want to say, hey, we're gonna play on a Friday, Thursday, Friday. Absolutely not. And the worst thing I can do is publicly go out and just start bashing away and 'What the heck.' No, whatever comes with it, whatever place, whatever opponent, whatever time. Let's go roll, right? Let's go do it. But to your point and a great question, yes. Very, very happy to be back at home, and to be able to play on Saturday."

On whether there is anything sports science or the medial team can link to the rash of injuries...

"You always look for a thread, right? To see if anything tips you off as to, 'Hey we maybe should have done this or should have done that.' They are contact injuries, and they're all different. It's a rarity as it relates to you know sequencing with these injuries, and you know, as the year goes on, you always make modifications like every three to four weeks or so, you modify a period. You certainly, if guys are really, really banged up, you modify their participation in the heavy-contact stuff, while you ramp up the guys that need work to become full-time players because they're going to need it. They need to experience the rigors that come with being a full-time guy. So that's always in play on the daily. We get internal load numbers, recovery numbers, resting heart rate, recovery rates, everything that goes with that, and all the numbers were optimal, really, every single week of the season so far. So, I'm heartbroken for these guys. These are legitimate, like awesome human beings, team leaders, guys that have just busted their butts to be in a great position to help us win. And Marty, and after an unbelievable play, Josh is unbeknownst to anybody. Just after the game, same thing with Zeke [Marcelin]. Zeke will be back in a couple weeks. So football is very unforgiving at times, and you know what to do. You again look right in the mirror. You support each other. You become each other's biggest advocates, biggest fans, biggest supporters, and you help your guys stay mentally strong and get them to a place where they're ready to contribute. Whether it be on the sideline cheering them on or being an extra coach before their time comes, because their time will come again, we'll be assured of that."

On when Josh Moore's injury happened...

"No, happened in the game. Happened in the game. So he'll be out, but he'll be out for the season."

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