After a pair of heart-stopping wins, the undefeated Miami Hurricanes and coach Mario Cristobal get a breather of sorts with a bye weekend upcoming. But that doesn\u2019t mean the work doesn\u2019t continue. That\u2019s what this team is all about, and after coming back from double-digit fourth quarter deficits to win against Virginia Tech and Cal it\u2019s apparent this team does have some work to do if it\u2019s going to continue to win games \u2013 without the dramatic finishes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to clean a lot of stuff up,\u201d coach Mario Cristobal<\/a> said Monday morning on 560 AM. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of routine stuff that\u2019s head-scratching. Over the last couple of weeks there\u2019s technique and fundamental and discipline issues, aspects which have deteriorated whether it be wear and tear, injury, there should be no excuse, you have to find away to tighten up those things. And that\u2019s what this bye week is for. We have to attack and address those things while resting up the team. The bye week \u2013 we have to do a great job using this bye week because we have some really good games coming up. We don\u2019t want these crazy nailbiters all the time. We feel we can be good enough to take control of games in the second half. It just so happens sometimes you have to find a way.\u201d<\/p>\n The most recent game, of course, went into the wee hours of Sunday morning. And it certainly looked bleak for Miami with the team trailing midway through the third quarter, 35-10, after a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown and nine-yard Chandler Rogers rushing TD.<\/p>\n But Miami scored 29 of the next 32 points and won with 26 seconds left on an Elijah Arroyo five-yard scoring catch, 39-38.<\/p>\n \u201cEarly we were taking routine plays and screwing them up, weren\u2019t executing to the standard, and I\u2019m talking about basic stuff,\u201d Cristobal said. \u201cWhen we started doing that (correctly) the momentum gradually grew and led to an unbelievable comeback.<\/p>\n \u201cAll the guys kept saying is `We\u2019re going to do this.\u2019 Worked our way back into it, had a chance at the end and got it done.\u201d<\/p>\n Cristobal spoke more about the Cal victory, starting with the continued heroics of QB Cam Ward. Ward did throw the bad interception that was taken back for a score, but he lit up Cal in the second half and had 437 passing yards with two TDS, adding a 24-yard rushing score.<\/p>\n \u201cEarly on we were running well, weren\u2019t seeing the field great (in the pass game) and credit to them,\u201d Cristobal said. \u201cThey made it difficult to see (with different coverages), did apply pressure before we got a little more stout. We knew it was a matter of time before he saw the field well. The guy is an Alpha dog, super resilient. Complete faith in the guy.\u201d<\/p>\n Xavier Restrepo continues to wow in the receiving game with 163 yards on seven catches, including a 77-yarder to begin the final game-winning series that began at the UM eight-yard line. Restrepo now has 2,465 career receiving yards at Miami, passing Michael Irvin\u2019s 2,423. He\u2019s third on the all-time Miami list, trailing only Reggie Wayne (2,510) and Santana Moss (2,547).<\/p>\n So Restrepo will end this season as the No. 1 all-time Miami receiver.<\/p>\n \u201cThat guy is off the charts, unbelievable,\u201d Cristobal said. \u201cThere is so much stuff you don\u2019t get to see on TV that he does \u2013 elite competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n On the other side of the ball Miami gave up 370 yards and really stifled Cal in the second half with the Golden Bears trying to rely more on the run to grind the game out.<\/p>\n Miami\u2019s front line benefited from the return of Rueben Bain, who shared one of the team\u2019s two sacks.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a difference-maker,\u201d Cristobal said of Bain. \u201cJust watch the film and watch some of the way he launches people and way he just destroys pockets and plays with great effort. It\u2019s great to have him back.\u201d<\/p>\n At linebacker it was Wesley Bissainthe with a third down tackle of scrambling QB Fernando Mendoza on Cal\u2019s next-to-last drive to force a punt. It was close to being called a targeting on review, but refs ruled the hit was clean.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat hit, great tackle, sent energy up through our entire sideline, sent shockwaves through the stadium,\u201d Cristobal said when asked about the hit. \u201cIt was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n The secondary had issues in the game, setting guys loose at different times in a first half that saw Mendoza hit on eight of 12 passes for 204 yards and two TDs through two quarters.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had poor discipline, poor eyes (on some plays),\u201d Cristobal said. \u201cWe have to coach it better, execute it better.\u201d<\/p>\n The final half? Mendoza was three for 10 (including 0-4 on the team\u2019s final drive) for 81 yards with no TDs.<\/p>\n \u201cThose last three defensive stops, that was the difference,\u201d Cristobal said. \u201cTremendous respect for (Mendoza) \u2013 great football player.\u201d<\/p>\n As close as the win was, it kept Miami undefeated and now ranked No. 6 in the nation.<\/a><\/p>\n The Canes don\u2019t play anyone ranked in the top 25, so all signs are flashing green for what is shaping up as a special, special season. But to get to where it wants, Miami has to make strides this bye week.<\/p>\n \u201cCertain guys that have done the same (not great) stuff, there has to be rotational moves to change that,\u201d Cristobal said. \u201cYou have to learn, have to get better. We have to do a better job with the second part of the roster, our reserves that need to be playing winning football, not just eat up space or eat up time or `give guys a rest\u2019 football. We have to get guys to play more meaningful football, have to get guys to mature, and that\u2019s about coaching your butt off and developing guys to do that. So this week as it relates to those guys, we have to hammer down on getting guys ready to play winning football. Down the stretch here everybody needs to have a role, everybody needs to have an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n *Cristobal spoke about the steamy conditions in the Cal locker room when UM first arrived at the stadium Saturday, saying \u201cit was like a sauna.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe had to take a couple of cool zones from their sideline,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The post Monday morning with Mario: \u201cWe don\u2019t want these crazy nailbiters\u201d \u2026 bye week will be used to evaluate rotational moves, solidify depth<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After a pair of heart-stopping wins, the undefeated Miami Hurricanes and coach Mario Cristobal get…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72010\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}