Mario Cristobal Explains Miami's Offensive Struggles & Clutch Plays In Virginia Win
Mario Cristobal recapped the Miami Hurricanes' 29-26 win over Virginia on his weekly Monday appearance on the Joe Rose Show on 560 WQAM radio.
Rose asked Cristobal what he thinks the problem is right now for Tyler Van Dyke, who's thrown seven interceptions in his past three outings.
"I think every game is different," Cristobal said. "As it relates to this game, he'd like to have some throws back, that's the bottom line. They played coverage more than we thought. I'm never ever going to throw one of our players under the bus, you know that. Whenever a player doesn't perform to the level that he wants to or to the expectation, we say we have to find a way to make every player better."
"We were off in the passing game. It's obvious. We all know that. The things we were off in are things that we're pretty good at or have been good at. We've gotta get it right, fast."
On Saturday, Van Dyke went 20 for 30 with 163 passing yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.
Cristobal was asked about taking a knee into overtime, rather than taking shots down the field in the final seconds of regulation.
"The ball is at our 25 with 25 seconds left and our passing game was completely off. It took about everything we had to get the game to where it was, tied. We had a big stop, so let's take it to overtime and ride our best players."
The Hurricanes stepped up big time on defense, special teams, and in the running game.
"We had a tough time finding our rhythm and the defense kept finding a way to get a stop."
Kicker Andy Borregales went three for three, hitting clutch kicks of 47, 48 and 50 yards.
Cristobal broke down the defense. They struggled early on against Virginia's tempo, but settled down quickly.
"After that first drive, they were making great stops," Cristobal noted.
"James Williams played an outstanding game. Rueben (Bain) continues to get better. Kam (Kinchens) had that monster interception for a touchdown. Branson Deen really came on strong. I can't say enough about Kiko (Mauigoa) and the rest of the linebackers. Corey Flagg, KJ Cloyd, and Wesley Bissainthe played really well."
The hero in overtime was running back Mark Fletcher. He scored an eleven yard walk-off touchdown, running behind guard Javion Cohen.
Fletcher had missed the previous four weeks with injury. Cristobal said he was on a rep count and "hit his rep count right at the touchdown mark. I'm glad he got in (the end zone.)"
The Hurricanes survived and improved to 6-2 on the season. Miami will face NC State on the road this Saturday at 8pm.
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