Everything Mario Cristobal Said Ahead of First Road Game Against No. 18 Florida State

A weird schedule has granted No. 3 Miami the chance have a bye week ahead of its third ranked opponent and possibily final ranked opponent of the season against No. 18 Florida State.

This is another rivalry game, but this one means a bit more than the Florida Gators game. The Hurricanes are looking to take a massive claim in the ACC and stop one of it's superpowers in FSU while continuing the historical dominance over the program is priority.

Winning is also the goal of head coach Mario Cristobal. The look in his eye can tell all. He is focused, and he is not letting anyone get in his way. He spoke with media on Monday to discuss FSU and how they tackled the bye week.

Opening Statement…

"Really good bye week. A lot of everything, right? Self scout, healing up, strength, conditioning, competitive reps. A lot of young guys getting reps, as well as our older guys, staying sharp, getting more sharp, recruiting, getting ahead on the opponent, everything in the and then some. Certainly getting ready for a very talented, physical and well coached Florida State team that's playing at a high level, statistically in the top 10 in just about every meaningful category."

On staying in the moment in a rivalry game...

"Think the best way always is with honesty and transparency. It's always worked well for us, and it's all about the work. Anyways, you know, there's not a single bit of noise, hype, not a single member of the audience on TV or in the stadium that's going to be able to make a play one way or the other. It'll be determined by those that are on the field, you know, playing and coaching. So I think that's something that our guys digest really, really well and understand well. And so we're focused on making sure that we could do our job to the best of our ability."

On the different systems on both sides of the ball FSU is playing with year over year...

"They certainly have done a great job enhancing themselves on both sides of the ball. Very unique systems that are very challenging, from the use of personnel to the tempo to a lot of the, you know, they disguise and hide the ball really well. It's hard to find, and there's so many plays that come out of these distinct formations, while making it challenging with both pace, with physicality and with execution. On defense, they've done a great job just becoming a very physical and aggressive defense with multiple looks on the back end and playing very strong and physical football up front."

On navigating teams trying to simulate the snap count...

Certainly, it's something you look around college football, right, week in and week out, something you want to eliminate. You want to eliminate pre-snap penalties and make sure your communication is on point. I mean, football is football. The trenches get nasty and crazy in there, and everyone's always looking to get advantage, and you got to deal with whatever comes, right? And so you got to make your communication processes that much more airtight as it relates to getting interfered with and causing you to jump. So we've been working on that. If we see anything that's causing that on the other side that's illegal, we turn it in, but we got to take care of ourselves. We got to take care of our stuff and not get caught up in all the other nonsense."

On RB Mark Fletcher's progression since arriving at Miami...

"I think everything. His approach to the game has always been strong, professional. The physicality that he runs with is a byproduct of what he is naturally gifted at, being a great running back, but also the fact that he's been healthy and he's been able to train and really work at it, and he has the benefit of running in a scheme and behind some really hard-working, tough offensive linemen and tight ends. So love seeing the part of him from a leadership standpoint that has really come out. A vocal guy, a always-present guy an uplifting guy, someone who, I mean, you want your own son of grow up to be like him. He's awesome. Proud of him, and he'll tell you himself that he's got a lot of improvement, a lot of improvement to make, and his best football is ahead."

On people still bringing up with 1991-92 'Wide Right' against Florida State...

"I mean, we always knew this as the best rivalry in football. Coming up as a player, that was always a reason why players chose to go to one of the two respected schools. I mean, college football is the best sport in the world, so the fact that people bring up, you know, historical moments and whatnot. It's not surprising. I do think that our players, alumni bases, fans, they all understand how intense this rivalry is and but I think our players, more importantly, understand the importance of practice and preparation, and that's what our focus is right now."

On maintaining an edge during the bye week...

"A combination. Because as much as we love to practice and prepare, part of preparation for the rest of the season is to get certain guys healed up. And you still provide them with competitive reps so that they can stay sharp. You still have to have good-on-good you still have to have your two-minute drills, your block destruction, your inside runs, and whatnot. But you also want to take some of that contact load off some of your players, especially ones that have logged up multiple reps. And at the same time, you want to continue pushing and developing some of the guys that are right there, and so many different parts of our football team, offense, defense and special teams and and putting them in situations where you're just calling football and playing football, and letting them go out there and play you gain yourself. You gain almost 100 plus reps with those guys. So that was a positive for us this past week, and we do feel that we're our depth is improving, competitive depth, and that we look forward to seeing some more of these guys seeing more playing time."

ON FSU's running game...

"Starts with their offensive line. They're a big, physical bunch, real heavy-handed. They're light on their feet. They mix up the tempos. They mix up their formations. They're very versatile. They run it all: power counter, inside, zone, wide zone, toss, everything. Quarterback's a really good runner as well. He's really good at everything that he does, but I think it starts and ends with physicality. They get downhill, they finish runs, they run their feet through contact. And I believe they're number one in total offense, and not by a little, by a lot, and a large part of that's because they run the ball really well."

On managing the mobility of Thomas Castellanos...

"Really good football player. Makes a lot of things happen. Everybody has to do their jobs really well."

On the importance of sustaining drives by holding onto the ball...

"Executions at a premium, right? Games like this, one thing that really stands out across the country. I might be a little bit off, but I believe that there were over 20 games that were one-possession games this weekend, and several of them were overtime games as well. That's because conference play has started, and conference play is basically playoff football. Everybody's alive, everybody's vying for a spot. And so the margins for error, the margins between winning and not winning, become smaller and smaller. So every part of your preparation and leading up to execution, the details that come with that, they have to be practiced, reps emphasize, reemphasize, made airtight as much as humanly possible to give you the best chance for success, because the levels just get more and more difficult. And I think that's the best part of college football at this time of year. You're getting everybody's best, and you're giving everybody your best."

On getting freshmen ready for a tough road enviornment...

"Everything we do when we're playing an opponent, we make sure that we give it the absolute best look on Green Tree practice field, and Green Tree is our responsibility to make sure that Green Tree simulates or exceeds anywhere we play."

On the tight end play...

"They've been a major part of the game plan. Some people have done a good job taking them away. They know we have good playmakers there. They've made, for the most part, what they can out of their opportunities, but they've been instrumental in not only the passing game, but obviously in the running game. They've been really good on the perimeter as well, on special teams. They're as valuable as any other position on our roster."

On QB Carson Beck bouncing back...

"Like we do any game. Every single time we go back in there, good or bad, we assess what we did well, what we need to get better at, and we attack it directly with honesty and with transparency, and do our best to coach them to the best level of their ability and challenge them to get the most out of them."

On the status of OL Samson Okunlola's injury...

"He did well. He got banged up in that game pretty good. Had a great week of just resting, rehabbing, and looks really good. So we expect him to play well."

On RB Jordan Lyle and WR Jojo Trader...

"They're all doing well. Same status. They will play at some point in time."

On DT Ahmad Moten...

"I would say, his ability to make an impact at the line of scrimmage, in the run game, hold his gap, better use of hands, pad level, feet in the ground, ability to take on double teams has certainly improved a bunch. His ability to create pass rush inside, really collapse the pocket, has improved. Versatility have played him at the nose, at the three technique, the two technique, the 2i of the 4i. He's done a little bit of everything. And his approach to the game has certainly improved. He's out of body weight where he is the leanest he has been about 300-305, and so his conditioning levels have improved a bunch, thus playing more plays. There's a lot of improvement and growth in him, and it's been fun. It's been fun watching him grow, and it's been fun challenging him and seeing the response."

On the challenges of facing a 3-down defense from an offensive line perspective...

"Communication, identification, right? Certainly, everything starts with understanding who you're blocking and how you're blocking them. So I think anytime you, especially when you go on the road, you have to be on the same page. So, they do go back and forth. They're very even in the amount of times they spend in a four down front as well as the odd front. The way they use their safeties are very active. They're very downhill players. They're excellent tacklers, and they're complimented by some really good cover guys as well. So that's the challenge, is making sure that you have a plan for everything that they've shown this year, plus everything that they've shown in years past at their respective schools."