Everything Mario Cristobal said after No. 5 Miami's comeback against Duke

No. 5 Miami storms back in the second half, dominating the Duke Blue Devils with a comeback win and proving the Hurricanes are a team to be reckoned with.

Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal took the podium to talk about the big win after the game:

Opening speech:

“Okay guys, good afternoon and thank you for being here. I really love the way our team finished the game after a fast start and then slowed down a bit. We thank Duke, them, the players and their staff for having a good plan to slow us down. But we also have to do a lot of it better. We had a few untypical mistakes and only regrouped at halftime. The decision was easy; Let’s play Hurricane football and play as a team and play together and do our best and perform at a high level. (I’m) really proud of our guys for their performance in the second half, for taking control of the game and making it 1-0 on the day.”

On the resilience of hurricanes…

“Well, I think a few things. They know they are capable. That's number one. There is a lot of trust in each other. Secondly, I mean, today's football, especially with the technology, the cat and mouse game, the adaptation game, is really different. It's a whole new level. I mean, you saw it. There were some duels there in the second quarter that were difficult to deal with, and we had to change some things and disguise some things a little better and then just do other things at full speed. There is simply no backing down in the group, whether it's a bad game, an injury, a difficult situation we're dealing with or a deficit. It’s great to be in this group and, you know, Chapter Nine ended 1-0 and today we continue with Chapter 10.”

About Cam Ward and Xavier Restrepo's record-breaking performances…

“Yeah, Cam (Ward) owes me a touchdown back. And (Xavier Restrepo), they both played their butts off. They always do that. They have unique chemistry, but I think the quarterback room and everything the receivers and tight ends do is a lot different than it was two years ago. That was very difficult. It was a hurdle, a mountain, that honestly had to be overcome. I just think a lot of good people and hard work come together to make this happen. These two guys, as much as they get all these awards, they don't talk about it. Do you want it? I'm sure they do. I think we all like to be recognized, rewarded and praised, but that's not the end for them. They want to win and I think the best thing they do when we're behind like we used to be is the way they go back and forth on the sideline encouraging their teammates, pushing them and just doing that knowing and trusting that if we just keep playing, we’ll find a way.”

On building chemistry between Ward and Restrepo…

“They're building up and I love watching them because now they're going to fight like an old couple too and that's a good thing. This means both guys have a competitive advantage if they want to win. They always want to be right and are not afraid to be opinionated while being an alpha. That's what you see. You can see that on the practice field. You can see this in the extra repetitions after training. And then again, on game day, it shows. And we had a few drops today. We had some really critical issues as a team that we need to get back on track and work on. I think our contested catches rate was a little better in the previous games. It wasn't great today, but that's okay. We have a chance to come back and work on that and work on some of our third-down stuff and improve our passing game.”

On Duke's play in the first half…

“They created a matchup. You know, we played a lot of man; Some switch routes and select routes. The tailback adjusted out of the backfield, saw the linebacker out there, that's a tough play. And by the way, great throws from quarterback Maalik Murphy and some great catches from them too. They had some hooks that were pretty impressive. And then sometimes…the free safety made some great plays and some open stuff up the middle, I think you saw that too…When you play against a team like that, there's so much emphasis on the fast game instructed, and you saw they did two, three and outs, but then they started throwing it down the field and made some plays. It's about adjusting back and forth. We saw that. Many thanks to her and her staff, they did a good job. And credit goes to our defensive line. These guys really stepped up and made a big impact in the second half.”

About Jadais Richards Status…

“He's great. He was injured. He was injured. We'll evaluate it and see where it stands. Prayers go out to him and the family.”

About the piece by OJ Frederique, Jr….

“He always plays very well. This guy is being raised the way you should raise your son. On the field he is an assassin, off the field he is a gentleman, an extremely polite young man, a hard worker. He always finds ways to improve himself and his teammates. He’s very quiet and holds back, but his game speaks volumes and he’s a guy we’ve relied on since the first game and he’s exceeded our expectations.”

About the effect of Xavier Restrepo…

“I think Xavier (Restrepo) has an impact on our program every day. Today was special for the team because the win was the most important thing, and for him to become the leading receiver in Miami Hurricane history is simply a monumental achievement. So we thank him for all the hard work. We thank him and his family for all the sacrifices he made so he could one day become a Miami Hurricane, and again to his teammates for being such a great supporting cast because, again, number one, the (victory ) is the most important thing and, number two, being the all-time leading receiver in Miami is a really big deal.”

On development in the quarterback and wide receiver rooms…

“Not the quarterback room, the chemistry between the quarterbacks and wide receivers, that’s what I meant. There was no connection, you know what I mean? In the summer, no, not in the summer, that was before. When Cam got here, the first thing he wanted to do was get everyone's numbers and contact information so he could get them together and spend time together, and one of the guys said, “Well, you know, I'm going to throw one.” A few NFL People in Fort Lauderdale said, “Well, you better play in the NFL this year because I'm not throwing you the ball, they're throwing you the ball better,” and this receiver came back with a hit, hurry up. Why is this important? When you have control of a room and have the power and ability to support that type of command, that's powerful. And then there is the buy-in. And when Alphas get together, they start butting heads, right? And the key to getting those Alphas to make a splash is to continue to work together and prevail against the team on the other side, and that's exactly what Cam and all those wide receivers did.”

Here’s to the offensive performance’s impressive performance this season…

“Well, I mean, it’s always the goal. It's unique. What is going on is unique. But here too it somehow works hand in hand. If you look at the way we play, there are a lot of things that go into it. The time of possession has become really high. Yards per game is really high. We've had some ups and downs defensively, but either way we find a way to play well when it really, really matters, so we complement each other really well. Sometimes the play count really favors the offense, which also really helps the defense and allows you to just push forward and make teams uncomfortable. They put pressure on them to try to keep up. When we went ahead by a second score, by 15 or 16, there's a lot of pressure on the other side to keep up and then sometimes mistakes happen and we're there to make them and that's when the magic starts to happen. So to answer your question, which I haven't answered at all: It's a great benchmark to set. Let's move on. Let’s keep getting better.”