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While some people's predictions came true in Miami football's opening win over the Florida Gators, it was more of a blowout than people thought as they routed their in-state rival Saturday afternoon, 41-17. On top of a fantastic performance from quarterback Cam Ward who had his own fun with Gators fans, Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal and the star spoke about the victory and what their mindset is like.
Cristobal has officially started his third season with the Miami football team where the results beforehand have been underwhelming to say the least with the high expectations. Despite the impressive opening win, Cristobal keeps the attention on the team's mindset heading into the game according to The Miami Herald.
“Nobody really likes to talk about the starting point,” Cristobal said. “I knew when I got to Miami there was a lot of work to do, and these guys have been through a lot, and they made the decision that it was enough, they’ve had enough, and they were going to prove that by the way they played the game.”
“Thought our guys came out right away and created momentum,” Cristobal continued.
Miami football's Cam Ward speaks about the win over the Gators
Looking at Ward who has been Miami football's vocal leader, he was fantastic as he threw for 385 yards to go along with three touchdown passes and an interception. Despite the eye-opening debut for the Washington State transfer, he said that while it was a good win, the focus should be on next week's competition.
“We’re only going to enjoy it for a short amount of time,” Ward said. “That’s the biggest thing. We’ve gotta be able to handle success and really just be able to focus on the next thing.”
The senior is looking to take the Hurricanes to new heights the program has not seen in a long time, especially at the quarterback position which has been a disappointing aspect of the team for a long time. Still, he would credit the preparation himself and the team made going into a hostile environment and overcoming it.
“I’m feeling good,’’ Ward said. “Body wise, shout out to the O-line. Preparation wise, this is the best prepared I’ve been since coming in to college. We’ve only been doing it a short amount of time. We’ve got to be able to handle success and focus on the next thing – take it step by step.”
The Miami football team set their sights on possible hardware
There is no doubt that the opening game being against a heated in-state rival like the Gators and winning is an extra boost to the team. However, Cristobal emphasizes that focus should be on not ruining the momentum that they have.
“Don’t go and mess it up the following week,” Cristobal said. “It’s all about the University of Miami. We’ve been working our butts off. Everybody has, and this was the players, all the people, all the coaches that work their butts off to make it happen.”
At any rate, the Hurricanes are looking to improve after last season where they went 7-6 and 3-5 in conference play as they have ACC championship and possibly college football playoff aspirations. Miami football's next game will be against Florida A&M on Sept. 7.
