Sat., Sept. 24, 2022
Hard Rock Stadium | Miami Gardens, Fla.
Opening statement…
“Obviously, poor job by me. Poor job by our organization and credit to Middle [Tennessee] for doing what they did. That being said, questions.”
On what to tell the team after a tough loss…
“The truth. They coached better than us. They played better than us. They were better. We didn’t do a good enough job. There’s no excuse. We’re going to look in the mirror and do something about it. We won’t allow any cracks to happen from the inside. We all came here for a purpose and a reason. We’ve got a lot of work to do. The truth.”
On the lack of success in the run game…
“Our run game was nowhere near what it has been. We’ve got an extra man in the box, but we still haven’t been blocking as well as we need to. We haven’t been hitting as hard as we need to. We haven’t been able to keep up as well as we need to. Credit to them for putting an extra guy in the box. We were okay some of the times and had some success. We started slow. About as bad of a first quarter as you can have. There’s no excuses. I’ll give it to you straight.”
On the play of quarterback Tyler Van Dyke…
“Scheme change. It’s different. Some things are different. Obviously, over 65% of his receiving production is gone. An injury to Xavier [Restrepo] is having us get all of the guys that are working hard to get better. We’ve got to do a better job setting him up for success and doing things offensively that allows us to have a more successful and a more productive pass game. I’ve got a great competitor [in him]. He’s a great player and I’m not going to use this opportunity to throw anybody under the bus. These things are brutally difficult, but they’re non-excusable, so, as a coach, if you’re worth an ounce of integrity, you certainly don’t put it on your players. We’ve got a long way to go. I knew we had a long way to go on arrival, but the progress we have made in some respects, it feels a little bit like we have regressed, and we’ve got to do a better job.”
On quarterback Jake Garcia playing well in the second half…
“He did. He certainly provided some big plays. He threw the ball well. He created some opportunities for us to go down there and score. He did a really good job.”
On the team coming out flat to start…
“We’ve practiced well. Our pregame went as it always goes. We push them hard in pregame. We got the ball and we had the interception, held to a field goal and then a batted ball for a touchdown, as well, so they created some momentum early. Our special teams really didn’t create something until later in the game, so field position wasn’t what it was, and we didn’t get the run game going like we always do. The ed zone first quarter, I believe, we ended up with three points as well, so we went another quarter without scoring a touchdown. We got some things going late, but they started getting us on explosive plays. They got us on three or four 60-plus yard touchdowns – they caught us in man coverage. Credit to them for scheming up, but we’ve got to do a better job coaching our guys on technique.”
On getting beat on explosive plays…
“Man coverage. You can check the film, there’s no sugar coating it. We’ve got to scheme better and analyze our matchups better. We need to help our players to be the as successful they can be. They got behind us. Good throw, good catch, but they got behind us.”
On Middle Tennessee’s passing game…
“We always thought they were a good passing operation. They’ve thrown for a significant amount of yardage and have always had a next level passing attack and the ball is gone, so your pass rush, for the most part, is negated. It’s out of there. The quarterback ran a couple times and extended drives. No excuses.”
On injury updates….
“Jaylan [Knighton] was an ankle. Henry Parrish, Jr., is getting evaluated. Tyrique Stevenson is a lower extremity; I don’t know how serious it is. Lou Hedley could not punt; he had a strain pregame. Daryl Porter, Jr., the first time had the wind knocked out of him and the second time it was a shoulder. He’s getting reevaluated now. I don’t think it’s very serious, but we’ll see.”
On the leadership of the players…
“There better be. If there isn’t, you shouldn’t play this sport, not here at the University of Miami. You really have to be a man about this stuff. You have got to be an adult about this stuff, all of us – every player, every coach, every person in the organization. It’s hard to take. When I say that, we give credit to every opponent that we play. I’m not downgrading the opponent, I’m not. We should have played a lot better. And in terms of leadership, the only expectation is for everyone to show up, for everyone to get better and do their best and work hard. Obviously, what we have done is not good enough, anything enough.”
On the plan for the bye week…
“We have a plan to practice a certain way we always do during the bye week. We’ve had very good success after bye weeks at previous stops so that plan has not changed. Guys have to step up in situations and positions group that are injured. We practice hard during the bye week. It’s very competitive bye week in terms of good on good and the amount of work that we do, but we are also smart about it. Guys who are injured and limping around, we try to get them well. And we’ll get a jump on our next opponent, knowing the issues
