Everything Mario Cristobal Said After Dominant Victory over Stanford

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla — The No. 9 Miami returned to form in the second half, or in the words of head coach Mario Cristobal, they "started playing Miami Hurricanes football."

Cristobal was proud of what the Hurricanes were able to do, but understood that this is the standard that they want to set. Miami is doing to job they need to, but there is still more that needs to be done.

One down, five more to go for the Canes, who are looking to win out and likely host a College Football Playoff game in a few months.

OPENING STATEMENT

"Proud of the way our guys just stuck with it after starting a little bit sluggish on the offensive side of the ball. Just maintaining some composure and staying with it. The defense did a phenomenal job shutting down the opponent and giving us the opportunity to close out the half with a scoring drive and then build some momentum with great defense and great special teams. Then we started cooking and started playing Miami Hurricanes football."

ON GETTING BACK TO THE STANDARD VS. STANFORD…

"The standard is nothing but your absolute best in everything we do. In that game, we didn't get the result we wanted early. We drive down there and miss a field goal and we didn't convert on a fourth down pass and you have to trust each other to have the resilience and the trust as a staff to stay on course and stay on schedule and at some point in time, it is going to break. You could see on the iPad, hey you missed this cut or you dropped this ball. Nobody panicked and then the way the defense took over the game with as physical as they were and giving us good field position with special teams in the return game. All those things and then if we get a 4th-and-1 we have the opportunity to score on seven straight drives. It was a massive turnaround"

ON THE DEFENSE RESPONDING…

"We reduced pre snap penalties a little bit, but not to the standard we have spoken about. What we saw is communication. What we saw was if you line up correctly with confidence, you see what you saw. We were still a little bit out of sorts on the first drive, but then it was alignment and assignment and we just played fast and physical."

ON AKHEEM MESIDOR BEING OUT…

"We felt like Akheem was very close. We felt all week he was going to be there and then sometimes you can have the opportunity to play a player and you have a medical staff who has to calculate the risk. Can he be a full speed player in a couple of days? The assessment was made and it was the right thing for Akheem and the team."

ON THE RUN GAME GETTING GOING IN THE SECOND HALF…

"All these teams have good players across the country. You are going to see tight games. At some point, the execution of play calls and if you feel confident in them, then the opportunities will be there. That is what happened in the run game. It was a little bit more on hat position and finishing and pad level. We were a little bit more patient. There is a lot of schemes we showed. In my opinion as the game goes on, you should get better if you trust your offensive lineman and running backs. I think Mark Fletcher showed why he is such a good player and important to this football team. You get him the necessary carries and the entire game changes."

ON COREY HETHERMAN ADJUSTMENTS…

"He is a perfectionist. The standard is the standard and the first drive wasn't good enough. Every player in that locker room will echo the same message. He has made us a ton better. It was critical for us to get those stops because we weren't generating much on the other side of the ball."

ON MALACHI TONEY MAKING PLAYS…

"We have been looking forward to getting him more involved in the run game. Some times you have to be careful, but the opportunity was there tonight. We saw what you saw. He is an explosive guy that is always ready to make a play for his teammates. He is fearless and isn't afraid to throw his body around in there."

ON TONY JOHNSON AND THE RECEIVERS…

"We did some four-wide and created some air in the run game and he is a guy we think highly of. He has been working hard to earn playing time. Josh Moore has worked hard and JoJo Trader has worked hard."

Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.