Everything a passionate Mario Cristobal said after the Florida State game

No. 6 Miami celebrates a confident 36:14 win against its biggest rival, the Florida State Seminoles.

No. 6 Miami uses ball control offense to stuff Florida State 36-14

This was the first win in four seasons against the longtime in-state rival, as Miami Hurricanes head coach Cristobal led the Hurricanes to their best season since the 2017 season. That season, the Hurricanes ended up in the ACC Championship Game, where they lost to Clemson 38-3.

The Hurricanes head coach, who is now on his way back to another gig, spoke after the game of an extra fire after the game.

Opening speech…

“Good evening. I appreciate everyone being here. First of all, kudos to the environment created by our fans, our people and the Miami Hurricane family who came from all over, from the domestic and abroad. They were great. Just watching brought back some great memories of that game and certainly our players felt them and (they) influenced the game. And on top of that, of course, a very hard-fought game Lost the game, but it took us a while to pull away. I think they did a good job on some of their coverages. They put a little bit of pressure on the quarterback, but we hit the ball really well ran the ball well and got downhill, got hats on top of hats and ran through tackles. The defense was the story of the game. They put pressure on the quarterback. They made it really difficult to play football. They had 11 hats on the ball the entire time. They got rid of several calls that were just lariat collar holding, which we just have to keep getting better at. But all in all, we are just very proud of our team. You know, two years ago we were standing here talking about building, and it’s good to see a win like that a few years later and win a state championship.”

On the resilience of Mark Fletcher Jr.…

“This is as hard as it gets. We see the big Mark all the time. He’s always at training. It’s quite nice if you’re a local player. Parents, you find your way to practice. (They) move away from their bosses a little and come out to see their sons. It’s one of the greatest things in the world. I remember seeing my parents, may they rest in peace, and that was about as difficult as anything I’ve ever seen. Mark (Fletcher) Jr. is as good a person, competitor, teammate and brother as you could imagine. The entire organization felt this. I mean, everyone knows him. Seen from above, it will have the best seat in the house. I know he’s super proud of Mark. Mark even wanted to be with his friends and team that day, as emotional as it was. You trust this man with your life because he does everything right, regardless of the situation or circumstances. And then, just looking at him, just listening to him, that’s what he wanted, and more importantly, that’s what he deserves. I think he and Damien Martinez are super close and those two, along with of course Ajay (Allen), Jordan (Lyle) and Chris (Johnson Jr.) are a great tandem there and it was nice to see them one great team have day. I think if one of us were in this situation, can you imagine? Can you imagine doing that? He is simply an elite, unique, extraordinary human being. He’s just made of the right stuff and is a credit to his parents. He was raised a certain way. This guy is as resilient as they come. Our hearts, man. What can you say?”

What it means to beat Florida State…

“It feels good because it’s good for the team because the team is 1-0. I might think about some of the personal things in the offseason for a few minutes and then just let it go. That has never been the case. When we came here we knew we were going to get our teeth kicked in early. I’ve probably talked to several people in this room about this, man, wow, that’s a pretty monumental task. We have to turn this thing around. We need to turn this roster around. All these other state schools are way ahead. You have a foundation. They went to bowl games. They won conferences. We have to start with this. And that’s painful, especially when it comes to the trenches. I think the trenches tonight are a great sign of the progress and hard work of our entire organization, the recruiting staff, our offensive line coach Alex Mirabal, coach (Edwin) Pata, coach Reggie (Bain) and our defensive line coach (Jason) Taylor, ( Joe) Salave’a, (Todd) Stroud, (Devin) Santana. I mean, it’s a great example of working your butt off, keeping your head down, and not worrying about all the crap that comes with remodeling. I think it’s good for young coaches to never hesitate to start rebuilding if they believe in it. Deal with all the crap and nonsense for a while, but then start putting it all together and start making profits. We’re making progress, but we’re not even close to where we want to be.”

About the piece by Damien Martinez…

“He’s been in some big games. I think what people don’t realize is that he came here a little later than the others and so had a little different learning curve. Everyone wants it to happen now. Our summers are great. The way our training plan and our player-led sessions are run is top notch but it still takes time. We were throwing the ball around really well early on and today we were still throwing it back and forth pretty well, but not as effectively, but over the last couple of weeks you’ve seen that the running game is now in sync. You see we run a lot of different plays than he did when he was at Oregon State. And now he’s really comfortable in the system and you can see he’s just a very physical, tough guy. He’s hard to take down. You won’t attack him with a weapon, and he takes great pride in the first player to miss or run him over.”

On Cam Ward’s touchdown reception…

“Texas for Texas, that means (Elijah) Arroyo for Cam Ward. Two Texas Guys, that was the name of the play. Do you want the story behind it? There’s a lot of zero cover down there. It was just something Coach (Shannon) Dawson came up with with the rest of the staff and it was the right time to call it. It was the right time to say it and I think the fans enjoyed it too and Cam got a touchdown.”

On the significance of the fourth quarter…

“I know we win in the fourth quarter. We win the fourth quarter, that’s very important for us. When we throw up four fingers, it means something. We just have to always have intensity and energy. Those two guys back there illustrated that tonight. There’s nothing worse than a coach standing there with his thumb up his nose, you know what I mean. Whatever we can do to help our guys and bring energy to the sideline, we’ll do it. These guys are busting our asses. It’s great to have a crazy crowd, but it’s just as important to have a great support team and see your brothers and teammates supporting you and bringing the momentum.”

This week it’s 1-0…

“For me the most important thing is that we play our best football. Ultimately, all of these games are playoff games. They are all conference games. They all mean something. The goal is to be 1-0 and our goal is to be 1-0 and also play our best football. This was progress in that direction. Again, hats off to the defense. They set the tone. They did it with the front seven and then the back end guys, you know what they did tonight, they communicated really well. They just thought: lockdown, lockdown, lockdown. We did that at the beginning of the season. I think we’re back on track and we can do it. We need to clean up some things, but we’re definitely looking forward to being back and 1-0 this week. And again, going out and beating this program and staying undefeated at Florida State is critical. I think it sends a strong message. I think all recruits here and abroad can now clearly see the trajectory of this program compared to the trajectory of the other programs.

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