Everything Mario Cristobal said Ahead of Syracuse

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The Miami Hurricanes are coming off another hard loss that has caused them to hit a reflective point in their season.

The Hurricanes are still reeling from the loss to SMU, but they are turning their attention to Syracuse. However, it doesn't change the fact that this team has a lot of things to answer for, especially Mario Cristobal.

Cristobal took to the podium to break down the game against the Mustangs and look ahead to Syracuse.

Opening Statement…

"Getting back to work today after, I know, we caught up a little bit on Saturday, but after a disappointing afternoon. Again, really good to get back to work today to prepare for a really good Syracuse team coming into town this weekend, giving us an opportunity to get back to playing Hurricane football."

On Syracuse coaching staff changes and how that impacts game prep...

"I think it does. I think that every week we've seen wrinkles from the opponents that we play. We do a lot of good on good with our team, because that way our guys just get to see things that are outside of what the opponents have shown on film, and make the calls and adjustments necessary to try to, again, play every play to the best of our ability. So I'm sure there'll be something, what it's going to be, we certainly don't know."

On if the ACC has provided clarity on questionable decisions by referees...

"We have. We have not heard back yet. Yeah, there was a combination of holding, pass interference, pass interference picked up, and whatnot. So we're looking for answers on that. And certainly eagerly awaiting what the response is, as well as the roughing the passer one, which you know we certainly don't agree with, but at this point in time, the best we can do is turn it in and hope for a better result next time. But have not received an answer yet."

On his thoughts on the reversed strip sack...

"What we saw. We saw what we saw. If it has to be inconclusive, I don't know if that was there to overturn a call, but it was. Certainly we didn't have things go our way. And when you go on the road, the best thing you can do is not leave it in the hands of the officials, right? So, yeah, that one was certainly something that makes things different."

On if there are wrinkles to add to avoid tendencies being picked up...

"We always do, every single week. That's always at the forefront. Sunday starts with an evaluation of the game, a grading of the game, and then a self-scout session to make sure that anything we've done formationally, that we've done from a schematic standpoint, has some type of eyewash, a wrinkle, a compliment, so that teams can't get a beat on what we're doing. And I think there was progress offensively, and some of that stuff, we certainly pushed the ball down the field better. We rushed the ball better against the team that had been really good against the run this season. So that's always at the forefront of what we do. And I think that some of it had some progress on Saturday."

On the status of injured players...

"Mark [Fletcher] was injured. It doesn't look like he will be available, but I don't know that yet. Okay. OJ [Frederique\, you had mentioned, OJ will be out for a couple of weeks. CJ [Daniels] will be out for a couple of weeks. Ahmad Moten is more, I would say, I would put them. I don't know what the categories exactly I forget, but I would put as one of those 50-50's. But that's where we are from an injury standpoint, as of today. We really felt that those other guys had a chance. And certainly, we hedge on the side of optimism when we get word from the doctors, and when a doctor rules a guy in or out, that's when we go ahead and provide the information. That's where we're at with the information there."

On if there are signs of performance anxiety from the offense...

"I see pre-snap stuff. We had good play early in the season, and then we regressed a little bit. And then in the second half of the Stanford game, felt like we started getting back on track, and then we regressed with pre-snap issues this game. Now, between snap to whistle, there was a lot of good play. We drove the ball down the field at a good clip, we had more big plays of over 15 yards or so. We piled up a good amount of first downs. We didn't do well in the red-zone, and we didn't do well in short yards--two areas where we have been tops in the conference. And I think that's where our issues were this game. The drives that we didn't finish were execution related. I think we had five drops. We overcame the illegal procedures in terms of sustaining a drive. We didn't overcome the drops. And that's when I say drops. That's not a player--that's coaching, that's teaching, that's practice, we take that on all of us. So that is a summation of assessing exactly where our drives continued and where they stopped. Time of possession was good. Number of first downs were good. Third down was almost at 50 percent. We didn't finish drives, and that certainly were the margins. We didn't get it to go in."

On the mood inside the locker room...

"A very professional approach today. I mean, we have, at the end of the day, we have good people. We have hard working people, people that have a high care factor, and also people that recognize opportunity and know that the college football landscape and this thing down the stretch is as unpredictable as it gets, and that we will be one of a dozen or so teams that will have an opportunity if you take care of business, to continue to push into the postseason. Now, all that is great, but I think we all understand that we have to take care of number one, and that's us. We were frustrated, but we're not helpless, if that makes sense, because all of our answers are in the room. The self-inflicted stuff we can control, and there's a strong commitment to doing so. You didn't have to wait for players to step up and take charge and demand more of ourselves. And when I say that, I make sure that as a staff, that everything is joined at the hip, that everyone is pouring in to do more and do better by each other and for each other. They know that their best support group is right here in this building, their biggest fans, their best family, the people that really want to see them succeed, are right here in this building. And so they have a strong bond. I have zero doubts that this team wants to get to work and to play really, really good football, because we've done it before. We stubbed ourselves right toe, and we're ready to go ahead, ready to forward and get to Saturday."

On the defensive effort in overtime...

"They had a couple of plays that hit well. If you don't get a stop, it's never up to the standard. But certainly, we know we need to do better."

On WR Jojo Trader's limited opportunities after his dropped pass...

"JoJo came out, played a really good first, second drive, right? Had a big touchdown catch. Had another big catch, right? Had the one that got away and ended up being a turnover and a touchdown for the other team. There's a lot of stuff to be excited about, and then some stuff to correct. In terms of why he only had one more target? The coverage dictates where the ball is going to go. I believe he played 58-59 plays, if I'm not mistaken. So he wasn't limited in any other way, except that if the defense took something away, then the ball would not find him."

On the performance on young defensive tackles Donta Simpson and Justin Scott...

"Progress. Think a lot like Jojo, you saw some things that you get you really excited, and then you also see the opportunities of areas of improvement. Young players, talented players. That position requires a ton of just being callous, right? Being tough, being gritty. Those are the areas that I think those two guys will continue to improve in, but I think overall, them getting in there and giving us quality snaps, certainly it is some of the brunt of not having Ahmad [Moten] in there. Ahmad has been playing at a high level. He and the combination of David Blay have been a big reason why we have been so good against the run. So we're going to continue working with those guys, as well as Dylan Russell, who has shown a lot of improvement get the very most out of those guys and expect a great future for both of them."

On fixing the pre-snap penalties...

"Well, I think, you know me well enough, we dive in hard, man. Everything that doesn't go well because it's it's the only way to approach football and life, right? You have to adapt, you have to get better, and it hasn't been good enough. And you know what? Early on, it was good, and when something goes well, you try to make it better and roll with it. And we've reached a point in time where it's like we have tried, we have made the tweaks and adjustments, but it's not good enough. It's not. And it's hurt us, and we know that. So certainly there are some more adjustments coming to it, and there's confidence and faith that it's going to be better. I can say, with confidence, you'll see a better result in that area, because it's unacceptable, it's not good enough."

On WR Malachi Toney and getting him the ball more...

"Well, I think what you saw on Saturday was that attempt. But you also saw what teams will start doing: bracket coverage, right, trail coverage, right, making sure that everything is kept in front. And therefore, you see guys like Keelan Marion come up with the type of day that he had. He had a really, really good day. You see Jojo Trader get himself a couple of big catches. You see the ball being sprayed around a little bit more, but Malachi attracted a lot of attention on Saturday. So I think when we go into a game, we always think players over plays. I think we have to also acknowledge that defenses are going to think, 'Stop certain players over certain plays.' So if you watch this offensive, yeah, there's left and right receivers, but there's also receivers lining up in the slot. There's guys lining up in the backfield. We move guys around in order to just try to create eyewash, a different look, a different presentation, create a different matchup, you know? And so we have been doing that with the guys that have been really, really productive. Malachi is one of them, but he's he is attracting a lot of attention, and we expect that to keep happening. So it's a great opportunity for the run game to get better, for the other guys at receiver to keep just having some productive day so that that coverage has to be a little bit more evened out, and give ourselves more opportunity to just push the ball up the field."

On how practice changes throughout the season...

"We like to think of it in terms of, I would say, three-week cohorts, right? Camp is camp. And you roll from camp into the beginning of the season, and it stays very similar, except there's more opponent work involved. And then after game three, then you start really tweaking one day to take some off of the legs. And so you have a better, a more fresh team on Saturday. After week six, you really start tweaking maybe some of the periods. It could be the group period and some of the block destruction stuff we do. It could be some of the good on good stuff we do. And then again, after week nine, there's another time where maybe you take a period and make it a walk-through instead of a full-throttle period.

"So you look at everything involving player, load, workload, repetition, the health of the team, and you make sure that you do everything possible to make your team physically stronger, because it will be reflected in the GPS--how hard you could run, how fast you could run, how much of like true acceleration D-cells you have, and those numbers have come out. They've come back, showing a very favorable result. So we're always trying to do that. We're always searching from different teams, both pro and college, what are the tweaks that you make to your roster? What are the tweaks you made to practice schedule as the year goes on? Because nowadays, especially with the roster being locked on what it is, you have to bring in a pro aspect model, because they can bring in a new guy, right? They could access people, bring them in. We can't. They might have 65, but they cycle through about 125 guys a year, right? And 125 healthy body. We have 125 to start. At the end, you don't have anywhere near that. So that's the challenge right now."

On the opportunity for RB's Jordan Lyle and Marty Brown...

"Would like to see us continue to improve in the run game. I think those guys are really good players. We've seen them play good football. I think it's an opportunity for Girard Pringle, Chris Wheatley-Humphrey. I think it's an opportunity for all those guys. But certainly, Mark [Fletcher] is a special player for us. He has set the tone a bunch, but we've seen really good play from both Marty and from Jordan, and we expect those guys to play really good football. They're ready."

On how he scouts the depth of his roster in the new transfer portal era...

"We won't scrimmage during the year. Just at the risk of losing bodies and injuries. We won't scrimmage. Do we see them on a daily basis in competitive situations? We do, in the form of one-on-ones, seven-on-seven, good-on-good. And then we also have our service periods where a lot of the two's and three's will simulate the opponent for the ones with the entire coaching staff on one field.

"What does that do? That gives everybody a better look on the opponent, but it also gives our two's and our three's an opportunity to run a lot of plays that we run against our very, very best players. So it is an evaluation system. You have to get it right this time because there's only one portal window. So if you get it right, it could be a home run. If you don't get it right, you could find yourself scrambling once that portal window closes and the players have been signed.

"So we feel really good about the way we've recruited and the way that we're structured and layered going into the future, and that's always taken into account. And obviously those conversations are always ongoing, and some of the more serious ones will be coming up in the next couple of weeks or so."

On putting together a new roster yearly like basketball has had to...

"Yeah, I think you have to now. I think the reality is that, and who knows what this is going to bring, right? Until there's a cap in their structure and professionalism or a professionalized system, I think you have to be prepared to coach a one-year team every single year, and so I don't think it involves changing principles and values or whatnot. It's just the adaptability of really figuring out what you have, what the capabilities are, what the internals are of each and every person on your roster and on your staff. You have to expedite that process, because you're counting on each other to make a push and go win at a high level. So I think all that, it's microwaved is what it is, and you have to be really just, I would say hyperly astute. I mean, you have to really take in a lot of information, be very aware, have your blind spots covered, and always just do your best by people. That always pays back right dividends in a big time way."

On how the transfer portal has changed the relationships and conversations with players...

"One thing that I am surprised at is that the ability to find transfers that you hit it off with. I think it was frightening at first for all coaches, thinking, 'okay, transfer portal man who wants to sign guys that are transferring? And then you quickly find out that, sometimes, change just provides a whole different mindset, mentality, opportunity for someone, and they're really grateful for it. We're very, very high on the guys that have come in from the transfer portal. I mean, these guys are, they're really good players, they're really good human beings, they're hard workers and competitors. And one of the most important attributes that no one talks about, they're grateful. They're grateful. Like the words 'please' and 'thank you' are very important to them. Know the extent to which a sports science worker and a weight room coach goes to make sure that their bodies are feeling right, that they're getting extra work on mobility, stretching, nutrition, vitamin supplementation, whatever it may be, those are things that maybe they didn't experience in another place. Personal relationships, which we take a deep dive into that. Because, make no mistake about it, we're we're very regimented. We are structure and discipline.

People sometimes mistake the word discipline as harsh punishment, and it is not. Discipline is a way to get everyone to get the best out of themselves by not compromising the principles and values of being a really high-impact person. But along with that comes the high-level relationships as well, and I think that's what we've seen in this wave of transfers. And I think I went around your question without answering it. I don't know if I did. But it is critical that every ounce of time you could spend with your guys, to get to know really why they're here, and that they align with the principles of the program is really important."

On why this team isn't playing their best football with so much at stake...

"The details have been the big difference. We have lost in the margins of the game, right? The short yardage opportunities that we came up short in, that's everything. That's coaching and playing. Some of the penalties that have hurt our drive, not let us finish our drives. That's coaching and playing. Communication lapses. These are opportunities that when you're playing conference football, you don't get them back. You don't. Is it a lack of effort? Absolutely not. I think it's very evident this team is always going to fight all the way up to the very end no matter what. But the margins we were winning in early in the season, in a couple of games this year, we have slipped up on those. Devils in the details, and we're going to work hard and find a way to get those details back and play Hurricane football and get it done."