COACH… "Complete dominance”

Miami destroyed Pitt. 38-7, on Saturday in cold Pittsburgh. The Canes are still alive for a playoff berth.

After the game, Miami head coach Mario Cristobal was interviewed, sharing his thoughts on the game and his team’s chances to make the playoffs.

On his thoughts on the game…

"Complete dominance,” said Cristobal. “We're playing great football in all phases. And you know what the best part about football? You get to settle it on the field, where head-to-head is always the number one criteria for anything regarding athletics and football.”

"I thought we dominated from the beginning to the end, and it kind of fits what we've been doing as a football program,” “We're playing our best and getting our healthiest towards the end of the year. I know I think we might not score on our first try, but I think we scored our next five possessions, if I'm not mistaken. The defense after the one score they allowed really a couple miscommunications. Just after that, allowed a total of eight first downs, again, just playing our best football right now, and really physical, won the line of scrimmage, put pressure on their quarterback, forced them in some really difficult third down situations. I think they were 4 of 13. And you know, everybody wanted to see how Miami would do in the cold weather on the road against a top 25 team. And I think we answered those questions very clearly.”

On Miami’s chances to get a playoff bid…

"Well, the fact that this is a college football playoff team,” said Cristobal. “I think we've all seen it. We know it. Proud of the way our guys came out, dominated from start to finish, and certainly we left a lot of points on the board as well. But you know, we're really starting to click. We're getting some guys healthy. We still didn't have our top corner back, and he's going to be back in about a week. Our defensive tackle was still out. So we're looking at even getting way better here in the next couple weeks.”

On what he would say to the selection committee…

"Well, I mean, I would say a lot. I mean, at the end of the day, it's not only do we pass the eye test, we pass the field test, right? Especially as it relates to playing this brand of football down the stretch and in head-to-head competition versus others that are being judged in the same little pool that we are as well. Plus, we're getting healthy. No one ever talked about, you know, the value of that in the middle of the season when we got banged up, with six, seven starters going down, and now we're almost all the way back. Our quarterback is playing, hard to compare anybody else in the country playing the kind the caliber of football that he's playing, our defensive and offensive lines have been absolutely dominant, and they showed it from game one all the way to the game now, forcing opponents to have their worst graded performances against our fronts. So I think all that stuff, just it speaks loudly. And again, it's not only eye test, it's the field test.”

GO CANES!