Miami Hurricanes Football: Bethune-Cookman HC Terry Sims
Postgame Press Conference Transcripts
Sat., Sept. 3, 2022
Hard Rock Stadium
Opening statement…
“First off, I want to thank the University of Miami and the staff for having us down. [This is] a first-class operation and a good football team. We made some plays. I think they made the plays they were expecting to make and we left a lot of plays on the field. But that’s a first game, you know, first-game jitters and we had a lot of new guys in all three phases. And when you have that, you’re going to have some miscues here and there. I think our offense showed up. We sputtered a little bit here and there, but we showed them we have a high-powered offense. And with special teams, we just have to pick it up a little bit. We had some new guys and some young guys on the special teams; we will better. Defensively, we got to play better and we have to play better at the linebacker position, no question. That showed today with a lot of the missed tackles and missed alignments, and that allowed them to run the ball at will.”
On playing at Miami…
“We play them every other year. And I think it’s good for our program, for the reasons we do it. For our game speed, to get our team up to par. And it gives us a measuring stick for our football team. We play a team at the caliber of the University of Miami, a lot of great coaches, with lot of great athletes over there, you have no choice but to play at your best. Either you play or you fail. Our guys … fought and they played. If you look at it and the points that they scored, a lot of them were misused by us, taking nothing away from them, but I think it was good for us and we will continue to play teams like the University of Miami because I think it helps our football team down the road.”
On Jalon Jones’ play…
“Jalon played like we knew he could play. He’s been around a little bit and been a few places, but I think he found a home here. He’s leading our offense and the guys trust him. He’s a leader, he does everything he’s supposed to do in practice and meetings, and it showed today. I thought he had a solid performance today, but did he play up to his full potential? No. And I think that’s just due to his first game. And it’s been a while since he’s been in front of that type of competition and he will be better.”
On some of the biggest takeaways from this game and what he is looking for going into next week…
“I look at the explosive plays that we had offensively. I think that will help carry us through. We have to clean some things up, special teams-wise and defensively, but that will happen. We’ll get that done. The main takeaway is that our guys didn’t quit. They didn’t fold, they didn’t stop playing and that’s something they will always do and something that’s expected in this program.”
On the play of Dylaan Lee today…
“Dylaan Lee is a guy that you have to protect from himself. The way he played in this game today, he practices like that every day. He’s a solid guy and he’s your hardhat receiver. He comes to work every day and has no problem running any route and he plays inside and outside. He’s just a guy that when you look for a receiver, he is the prototype. He’s going to come to work, do the things that he needs to do to be better each and every play.”
On what the team does between now and its next game…
“We’re going to watch this tape tonight and clean it up tomorrow and get ready for South Carolina State. That’s always a tough game—and I get in trouble every year when I say this, but it’s a “bloodbath.” It’s a tough game, both teams are physical and were going to continue to be that way. But I’m looking forward to the matchup. It’s always a good game. They won last year and were looking to come out and [win] this game next Saturday.”
On the play of Devuntray Hampton…
“Hampton’s going to show up every day. He’s probably the team leader of the defense. He’s reckless and he’s going run around. He’s going to play coverage and he’s going to make tackles. He’s that guy that’s all over the field and he showed up today. He showed up, he ran the back end the way we needed him to. Again, we just had some miscues at our linebacker play a little bit and that allowed them to take advantage of them some things. But Hampton, I thought, played a solid game. And he’s another guy [who is] only going to get better as we go on this season.”
