Notre Dame vs Miami: Hurricane Head Coach Mario Cristobal Has the Fighting Irish On His Mind

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - University of Miami coach Mario Cristobal did not want to talk about the season-opening game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the ACC Media Days. He would also not address the game when he met with the media at the beginning of fall camp.

Now, with the two teams scheduled to kickoff on Sunday night, he is finally prepared to address the Fighting Irish.

“You have to acknowledge good players where they have them,” Cristobal said Monday on Miami's flagship radio station WQAM’s The Joe Rose Show. “I mean, this is a team that played national championship and was really a drive away from winning the national championship.

"They return 11 of those starters and replaced some of the departed ones with starters from other places, so they have great players. [But] I don’t think you ever, ever shy away from doing your absolute best game planning and execution with the players that you have. We have trust and confidence in our players, and we’re going to go play our best football.”

Cristobal had his own weapons and arsenal. However, he knows as the Irish ground game goes, so go the Fighting Irish. He knows Miami needs to run the ball well, but they also must stop the Notre Dame ground game led by Jeremiyah Love.

“You’ve always got to be able to run the ball and stop the run,” Cristobal said. “If you can’t do that, then you’re going to get gutted."

Cristobal is also preparing for the passing attack Notre Dame will bring with them into the Labor Day weekend matchup. He knows that Marcus Freeman has more than one quarterback and he is prepared to see more than CJ Carr.

"They have talented quarterbacks. We know one’s been named a starter, and obviously [has] a tremendous amount of talent, and he’s bolstered by a massive offensive line, but they have a couple really good quarterbacks," Cristobal said. "In Game 1, you prepare for everything by just sticking to making sure that your systems and your processes are in place and you’re repping like crazy.”