Everything Mario Cristobal said After First Loss of the Season

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — No. 2 Miami gets upset, and now they have to answer the call for the rest of the season.

First, it starts with the coaching staff and Mario Cristobal. Cristobal knew that this wasn't the best game on all levels from the Canes and believes that the team can get better.

He was also visibly frustrated post-game and answered the needed questions about how this team can bounce back from this:

Opening Statement…

"Obviously disappointing evening and outcome. At the end of the day, credit to them. We didn't coach well enough, we didn't execute well enough, and certainly came up short. Not good enough. Disappointing in a lot of different aspects. Certainly hurt ourselves with some penalties. Really, our guys played with great effort and gave ourselves a chance to tie or win the game, but did not overcome the issues that we caused ourselves, and, again, really good play by the opponent as well."

On the decision to throw while in field goal range on the last drive…

"Well, there was 30 seconds left and we had a couple of timeouts. We're at 48 yards for the field goal. We're still trying to make it closer or try to win the game as well, which is regular process from us."

On what he saw in the team to put them in a position to tie or win at the end…

"A lot of effort. Resilience. All the good stuff, but not good enough to overcome the issues we caused ourselves, particularly in the area of penalties."

On Carson Beck's struggles…

"I think the one shot, the deep one, was a really good play by the field safety. At the end there, I think we're trying to make a play there and we didn't execute it. Don't put that all on him. We're trying to get the ball out to the flat quick and that thing turned into another route that was not supposed to be that way, and it ended up being the final play of the game."

On the pressure that Louisville showed on the final play and throughout the night…

"That was something that they do. It's something that we prepared for. They go seven up, and they'll either drop into two, three, some type of cloud. They will stay in man coverage, they'll bring four, they'll bring five, they'll bring six, or they'll drop eight. Felt we had a safe throw on that and we just didn't execute."

On the lack of running game…

"We did not run the ball well. We need to do a better job at the line of scrimmage and give our guys a chance to make plays and move the sticks. We also got ourselves off schedule several times in terms of pre-snap penalties, and it changes your play calls, so all in all, flat out not good enough. We have to score more points."

On the early defensive struggles and how they recovered…

"They came out with an opening script plus that's really difficult to defend and they got those 14 points in a hurry. I thought we had a good call on the fake field goal, but we should have made that play, but we didn't. We have to coach it better so we can execute it better. I'm not blaming anyone on that. After those 14 points, I thought we settled down really good, got our cleats in the ground and started playing really good defense. They're a really good offense, a really good play-caller, but we've got to be able to move the sticks and put points on the board and help the defense as well and put some points on the board. On the evening, we only had 59 plays. A lot of that is due to not sustaining drives. That's not a good play-count for our offense."

On how Louisville was able to neutralize the pass rush with quick passing game…

"The ball was out quick. Good game plan. Got to be able to mix it up. Got to bring pressure, got to play tight coverage, got to get some room as well, and then got to play the run. They got a good running back and whatnot. Certainly when you play a good play-caller like that, you have to do your best to keep him off-balance without hurting yourself. I think for the most part, we did a lot of good things, but they got us with a couple as well."

On the message to the team…

"The message is being very real and honest. That's a really poor job of execution and discipline. That means all of us–everybody in the organization. Every coach, every player. We take it. We win together, we lose together. When we say execution, it falls on the players, it falls on the coaches, it falls on myself, and after having some really good performances and having some really good practices, that's really disappointing. We're all pissed, we're all upset. Sitting around and being pissed isn't going to do anything about it. If you're upset about a performance, you better get up and do something about it. It's complete commitment from everybody. There's no BS'ing, there's no excuse-making, there's no time to sit around and do anything but go back to work and go get better. That's what real men do. That's what we have to do and that's what we're going to do."

On how he believes Carson Beck will respond after this game…

"I think he will respond well. There is no other way. There is no other choice. When you play really good teams and you're playing conference teams, the margins are really small. One possession games reign supreme at this time of year. If you give away plays, it's going to get you. Tonight, it got us. Lessons have to be learned and we have to go do something about it. Talking about it ain't going to do anything."