Canes Camp Report: Aug. 17
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Hurricanes continue making their way through preseason camp and on Sunday, held their second scrimmage ahead of their Aug. 31 season opener against Notre Dame.
After the scrimmage, head coach Mario Cristobal shared his thoughts on the day with Hurricanes radio analyst – and former Miami lineman – Don Bailey, Jr.
Here’s what the coach had to say about the day that was on Greentree…
On how the offense performed in the scrimmage:
“The offense got in gear early and they did it both on the ground and hit some big plays in the passing game. Then the defense did respond, which is what you want to see. … Last week, felt the defense had the upper hand. Today, felt the offense had the upper hand. Had a lot of substitutions, put a lot of guys in really prominent roles today to see if they could handle it. We’ll check out the film to see who did well, who didn’t, and keep going from here to stay in a camp mentality mode.”
On how the defense performed:
“I think that we were really physical and fit the run well last week and we have all week and today, it showed up at times. And then we plugged in a bunch of different guys … at times they did, at times they didn’t. Then on offense, at times, guys stepped up and blocked the way they’re supposed to block, with the physicality and finish they’re supposed to. And then other times, like the 4th-and-1 stop by the defense, unbelievable play on defense and unacceptable on offense. So, we got what we wanted in terms of the back-and-forth. We got what we want in terms of a team that’s now on Practice 15 and you feel the fatigue and fought through it because we had to push today. You have to have a breakthrough when you’re tired, mentally and physically, and come out and play good football.”
On the special teams performance in the scrimmage:
“Every single phase, ones, twos, and I’d say most of the threes got work as well on punt, punt return, kickoff, kickoff return. I mean all of our kicking units got work. All of our place kickers got work as well. The return game got a lot of today. We feel really strongly about those units.”
On how the schedule changes now that classes are set to start at Miami:
“It doesn’t. It doesn’t. It never stops. Preparation never stops. And you’d like to think that what we do in camp prepares them and gives them, I would say, a foundation for being able to handle your classes, your schedule, your regiment and still being able to take care of football at the highest level. When you’re a Miami Hurricane, there’s no compromise. Academics are going to be held to an elite standard. Football’s going to be held to an elite standard. And they know that. So, now it’s just getting regimented. Time management is critical, right? A lot of new guys are starting their first year in college. This isn’t like high school, where the bell rings and let’s go to period two, and it rings again, you go to period three. We fill in the gaps with stuff for them to do.”
