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Mario Cristobal KNOWS Something HUGE About Miami Hurricanes vs Central Michigan... · ACC Football Addiction (Atlantic Coast Conference)

0:00
Speaker 1: Central Michigan is not going to beat Miami. Nobody watching
0:03
Speaker 1: this game, or hate watching it if you're one of
0:06
Speaker 1: the fans that cheers for the same team that I do,
0:10
Speaker 1: thinks that is a possibility. Miami's coaching staff doesn't think
0:14
Speaker 1: that's a possibility. If they're being honest with themselves, I
0:16
Speaker 1: don't even think that Central Michigan's coaching staff thinks that
0:19
Speaker 1: that's a legitimate possibility. Nobody putting any money on this
0:23
Speaker 1: game in Vegas thinks that that's a real possibility. So
0:26
Speaker 1: to me, that's not the story this week. The story
0:29
Speaker 1: this week is what Miami does with a game that
0:33
Speaker 1: it's supposed to easily win. Because there's a version of
0:36
Speaker 1: Saturday that sets up this team for the next six
0:40
Speaker 1: weeks perfectly. And there's also a version that doesn't. And
0:44
Speaker 1: after what we just watched against Wake Forest, banged up
0:47
Speaker 1: bodies all over the sidelines, starters getting popped late in
0:51
Speaker 1: the game, Miami should have salted away by halftime. This
0:56
Speaker 1: is the week. where it actually matters which version shows up.
1:00
Speaker 1: My name's TJ Pittenger. This is ACC Football Addiction. We
1:03
Speaker 1: are presented by PrizePix. We're all new users who play
1:06
Speaker 1: a $ 5 lineup and win, get $ 150 in lineups instantly
1:10
Speaker 1: if they use code HMA. Every program has games like this,
1:14
Speaker 1: the ones that don't move the needle in the polls,
1:18
Speaker 1: they don't get talked about on the Monday shows, they
1:21
Speaker 1: don't matter to the committee in December, but they matter
1:24
Speaker 1: in a much different way. They're the games where the
1:27
Speaker 1: team either takes care of business the right way or
1:30
Speaker 1: it picks up bad habits, it picks up more injuries,
1:33
Speaker 1: and it can't afford either of those things several weeks
1:38
Speaker 1: from now. This is one of those games for Miami.
1:42
Speaker 1: It's not a measuring stick opponent. It's a measuring stick
1:45
Speaker 1: for the Canes themselves. Let's talk about what I want
1:47
Speaker 1: to see in this game. First, the matchup itself because
1:51
Speaker 1: it matters for context. Central Michigan comes in at 2-1
1:56
Speaker 1: after beating Wyoming. I don't think this is a bad program.
2:01
Speaker 1: They play defense-first football. They're near the top of the
2:04
Speaker 1: MAAC in total yards allowed and points allowed per game.
2:09
Speaker 1: And running back Angel Flores is averaging over 100 yards
2:13
Speaker 1: a game. It isn't a walkover on talent alone. It's
2:18
Speaker 1: a walkover. because of the gap between a Mac defense
2:22
Speaker 1: and the Miami offense that's been one of the most
2:24
Speaker 1: productive in the country through three weeks. Kickoff is Saturday
2:28
Speaker 1: night at Hard Rock Stadium. Miami's ranked number six nationally,
2:32
Speaker 1: heavily favored by 40-plus points, and by most accounts, this
2:36
Speaker 1: should be a jog through the night in Miami Gardens.
2:41
Speaker 1: There are versions of previews that you can find that
2:44
Speaker 1: would spend 10, 15, 20 minutes breaking down Central Michigan's personnel.
2:48
Speaker 1: their tendencies, what they do on third down, how successful
2:52
Speaker 1: they are at converting. I don't really think any of
2:55
Speaker 1: that is necessary because to me, that's not what's going
2:57
Speaker 1: to decide this game. Wait for Notre Dame week. We'll,
3:00
Speaker 1: we'll do more than it's also not what's going to
3:04
Speaker 1: decide Miami season. What's going to decide both the game
3:08
Speaker 1: and the season is what Miami does with games exactly
3:11
Speaker 1: like this, because I don't know if there will be
3:13
Speaker 1: any as lopsided as central Michigan or But there'll be
3:17
Speaker 1: a lot of games on Miami's schedule throughout the rest
3:19
Speaker 1: of the year that also feature a very heavily favored
3:23
Speaker 1: Miami Hurricanes team. And so what Miami does with games
3:26
Speaker 1: like this, the ones where talent alone is really enough
3:30
Speaker 1: and discipline is the only thing left to prove, is
3:33
Speaker 1: I think what we need to discuss. Here's the setup,
3:37
Speaker 1: what I actually care about in this. Number one, and
3:40
Speaker 1: the only thing that really matters this week is that
3:42
Speaker 1: Miami has to get healthy. Let's be real about what
3:46
Speaker 1: happened against Wake Forest. Shamar Brown, Marty Brown, down and
3:51
Speaker 1: done with an injury to his knee for the season.
3:54
Speaker 1: Joshua Moore, done for the season. It was not even
3:58
Speaker 1: diagnosed as season ending until after the game. Ezekiel Marcelin,
4:02
Speaker 1: out multiple weeks with a lower body injury, is a
4:05
Speaker 1: guy that Mario Cristobal said was flat out playing high-level
4:08
Speaker 1: football before he went down. Tony and Fletcher both banged
4:12
Speaker 1: up enough that their availability was a real question mark
4:14
Speaker 1: heading into this week. It's not a normal injury report.
4:20
Speaker 1: It is a team that took a beating, half from
4:23
Speaker 1: the team that they played against and half from the
4:25
Speaker 1: turf up there at Wake. So to me, the week
4:28
Speaker 1: isn't about style points. It's almost more about, to use
4:31
Speaker 1: a medical term, triage. Every single player that Miami can
4:35
Speaker 1: afford to rest, I think should rest. Ultimately, I'll live
4:40
Speaker 1: with whatever Coach Cristobal decides as far as who plays
4:44
Speaker 1: in this game. But I think he would even tell
4:47
Speaker 1: you every starter that normally will rotate in for Miami
4:50
Speaker 1: probably doesn't need 40 or 50 snaps to prove what
4:54
Speaker 1: we already know. This is the game on the schedule
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Speaker 1: that exists specifically so that a team can patch itself
5:01
Speaker 1: back together before the real gauntlet starts. Central Michigan is
5:05
Speaker 1: the tune-up, and so treat it like one. Here's the
5:09
Speaker 1: thing that nobody wants to say out loud. Miami's really good,
5:13
Speaker 1: but they don't have unlimited depth. Not after losing players
5:18
Speaker 1: already this season. Not after the guys you put in
5:20
Speaker 1: the NFL. And let's be frank, this isn't a roster
5:24
Speaker 1: that rivals what Bama was able to build in the
5:26
Speaker 1: late teens and what LSU was able to build in
5:30
Speaker 1: 2019 and Georgia was able to build in the early 2020s.
5:33
Speaker 1: Rosters aren't built like that anymore. Miami's got some of
5:36
Speaker 1: the better depth in the country. It's not unlimited like
5:39
Speaker 1: it used to be way back in the day. If
5:42
Speaker 1: the team keeps losing bodies in games it doesn't need
5:45
Speaker 1: to be losing bodies in, there aren't going to be
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Speaker 1: enough healthy guys to matter when you play somebody that
5:50
Speaker 1: does have a pulse in November. Think about what Cristobal
5:54
Speaker 1: has already had to say publicly. He's used the word heartbroken.
5:58
Speaker 1: A head coach doesn't use that word lightly and doesn't
6:02
Speaker 1: use it about a team that has looked the way
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Speaker 1: that Miami has looked through this year. He used it
6:08
Speaker 1: because losing Brown and Moore for the year isn't a footnote.
6:12
Speaker 1: It's a real cost, not only at a football level,
6:16
Speaker 1: but also at a personal human level as well. It's
6:20
Speaker 1: a cost that was played in a game that Miami
6:23
Speaker 1: was never going to lose. So don't waste this week.
6:27
Speaker 1: Don't let pride or a running back trying to hit
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Speaker 1: a certain total or a quarterback going out for the Heisman.
6:34
Speaker 1: I don't think any of that really matters for the
6:38
Speaker 1: season and what your ultimate goals are. The backups on
6:42
Speaker 1: this roster are about to get more snaps than they've
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Speaker 1: gotten all season, maybe with the exception of the FAMU game. Good.
6:49
Speaker 1: That's what this game is for. Let them play. Let
6:51
Speaker 1: the starters watch from the sideline. where they're safe. Before
6:56
Speaker 1: we go on, I will tell you, I'm out of
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Speaker 1: town this week. And so wouldn't normally ask for this.
7:01
Speaker 1: I have been trying to grow this side of things,
7:03
Speaker 1: but I am going to probably upload an audio only
7:08
Speaker 1: reaction to this game. I've done a preview and a
7:12
Speaker 1: review for every single game you guys have had. You
7:14
Speaker 1: guys have been tremendous supporters of the channel. I'm going
7:17
Speaker 1: to be out of town and probably can only get
7:20
Speaker 1: an audio-only version uploaded of this recap. Now, I know.
7:24
Speaker 1: It's Central Michigan. It's not that exciting. I'm going to
7:27
Speaker 1: do it one way or the other. You guys showed
7:28
Speaker 1: out when I did one for Wake. You did one
7:30
Speaker 1: for Stanford. And you guys showed up when I did FAMU.
7:32
Speaker 1: That one you did phenomenal on. Make sure you're subscribed
7:35
Speaker 1: to ACC Football Addiction on audio podcasts. I'm going to
7:38
Speaker 1: link it in the description. If you don't want to
7:41
Speaker 1: listen to any more after this recap, that's fine. All
7:44
Speaker 1: the ACC shows will be there, not just Miami's. But
7:47
Speaker 1: if you want to get the reaction to this game specifically,
7:50
Speaker 1: you guys have done a tremendous job supporting the channel.
7:52
Speaker 1: Make sure you're subscribed on audio. I'll post it in
7:54
Speaker 1: a post on this channel. But if you miss that,
7:58
Speaker 1: make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss the actual
8:01
Speaker 1: reaction that I will do. Number two, Miami needs to
8:05
Speaker 1: bury this team early. And I mean really early in
8:08
Speaker 1: this game. I don't mean being ahead by two or
8:11
Speaker 1: three scores at halftime. I mean buried. the kind of
8:14
Speaker 1: lead where the only decision left by the end of
8:17
Speaker 1: the second quarter is when you are getting the third
8:20
Speaker 1: string in, not whether or not Miami's going to win
8:24
Speaker 1: or cover the spread. There is a talent gap that
8:29
Speaker 1: should do an enormous amount of talking here. Miami's offense
8:33
Speaker 1: has been putting up historic numbers through three games and
8:36
Speaker 1: central Michigan's defense is, I'll tell you very solid for
8:38
Speaker 1: the Mac, but solid for the Mac is a much
8:41
Speaker 1: different bar from, than solid against a top six team
8:45
Speaker 1: playing some of the best football in the country. If
8:49
Speaker 1: Miami starters are doing their job in the first quarter
8:52
Speaker 1: and a half, this game should not be close to
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Speaker 1: competitive walking in the locker room. And if it is
8:57
Speaker 1: competitive at halftime, if this is a two score game,
9:00
Speaker 1: even maybe three score game at the break against a
9:04
Speaker 1: Mac team, I don't think we are focused on getting
9:07
Speaker 1: healthy anymore. If we're looking at Miami, I think that's
9:11
Speaker 1: a real problem. And unfortunately, that post-game recap that I
9:14
Speaker 1: just talked about will probably address it. Now, I'll tell
9:17
Speaker 1: you this. I don't think that's what happens. I think
9:19
Speaker 1: Miami comes out fast. I think they score early. I
9:22
Speaker 1: think they score often. By the time the second quarter
9:25
Speaker 1: is winding down, the backups are probably warming up if
9:28
Speaker 1: they're not already in. That's what a program with championship
9:33
Speaker 1: aspirations is supposed to do to a MAAC opponent. You
9:37
Speaker 1: bury them. You rest the starters, and you get out clean.
9:41
Speaker 1: And look, I know there's a temptation to say that
9:43
Speaker 1: style points don't matter against a team like this. And
9:46
Speaker 1: I think that's true. Nobody's going to remember the final
9:49
Speaker 1: score of this game in November or December. But how
9:52
Speaker 1: fast Miami gets there to me matters quite a bit
9:56
Speaker 1: because every extra series that the starters play in a
10:00
Speaker 1: laugher is an extra series where something can go wrong
10:03
Speaker 1: for no reason. We've already seen this season what no
10:07
Speaker 1: reason looks like. A leg getting rolled up on. A
10:12
Speaker 1: hit that turns into an upper body injury when nobody
10:15
Speaker 1: even notices until the final whistle has blown. The fastest
10:18
Speaker 1: way to avoid more of that is very simple to me.
10:22
Speaker 1: Score early, score often, and get the ones off of
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Speaker 1: the field before the game turns into garbage time. There's
10:30
Speaker 1: no glory in playing your starters late in a win
10:35
Speaker 1: over a MAAC team. There's only risk. Number three, I'd
10:39
Speaker 1: like to see the penalties cleaned up just a bit.
10:42
Speaker 1: Miami wasn't awful, but they had seven penalties for 75
10:45
Speaker 1: yards against Wake Forest. I don't think that's disaster, but
10:49
Speaker 1: it's not a number that is championship level in my
10:52
Speaker 1: opinion either. And against a defense that's a Mac defense
10:57
Speaker 1: against central Michigan, those are free plays that Miami shouldn't
11:01
Speaker 1: need and shouldn't be giving away out of habit. Sloppy
11:06
Speaker 1: football is sloppy football, whether you're playing Wake Forest, Clemson,
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Speaker 1: Florida State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, or Central Michigan. The
11:13
Speaker 1: problem is you don't find out if it's a problem
11:16
Speaker 1: until it costs you against somebody who can actually make
11:19
Speaker 1: you pay for it. So to me, this is the
11:22
Speaker 1: week to tighten that up because the stakes are really,
11:25
Speaker 1: really low. Pre-snap penalties, holding calls that erase good plays,
11:29
Speaker 1: false starts that put an efficient offense behind schedule for
11:33
Speaker 1: no reason at all. I want to see that cleaned
11:35
Speaker 1: up against a Mac defense so that it's not showing
11:39
Speaker 1: up next week in October against teams that will make
11:42
Speaker 1: Miami pay a little more for it. A team that's
11:45
Speaker 1: serious about where it's going doesn't wait until the penalties
11:48
Speaker 1: cost them a game to start caring about them. Look
11:52
Speaker 1: at what just happened to Wake Forest. 13 penalties, 122 yards.
11:57
Speaker 1: a holding call in the end zone that turned into
11:59
Speaker 1: points for Miami, a punt return for big yardage wiped
12:03
Speaker 1: off the board by another one. That's a team that
12:06
Speaker 1: got beat by its own discipline just as much as
12:08
Speaker 1: it got beat by Miami's talent. If you could take
12:12
Speaker 1: the penalties away from Wake, if they were more disciplined
12:15
Speaker 1: in that game, I bet that 13-point win would have
12:17
Speaker 1: been a little bit more of a clincher, if you
12:20
Speaker 1: know what I'm talking about, down the stretch. Unfortunately, that's
12:23
Speaker 1: not the way it worked out. I'm not trying to
12:24
Speaker 1: tell you that Miami was ever in danger of losing
12:26
Speaker 1: the game. But I think it's an easy trap to
12:29
Speaker 1: fall into. And it's an easy habit to let slide
12:33
Speaker 1: when you're winning by enough that it doesn't seem to
12:35
Speaker 1: matter in the moment. Miami's seven penalties for 75 yards
12:40
Speaker 1: was not Wake Forest's mess. But it's not nothing either.
12:44
Speaker 1: It's the kind of number that's forgivable in a blowout
12:46
Speaker 1: and it's unforgivable in a two-point game or unforgivable in
12:50
Speaker 1: a loss. And Miami doesn't get to pick which kind
12:53
Speaker 1: of game it's playing three weeks from now. It only
12:56
Speaker 1: gets to decide right now whether it's the kind of
12:59
Speaker 1: team that lets penalties become a habit or the kind
13:02
Speaker 1: that stamps it out while the games are still easy.
13:05
Speaker 1: Number four, and I'm looking forward to this one a lot,
13:08
Speaker 1: I want to see the interior offensive line dominate. I
13:11
Speaker 1: know that there's been questions around that. I talk about
13:13
Speaker 1: that with Danny on State of the State. You should
13:16
Speaker 1: be subscribed there if you're not already. This interior has
13:20
Speaker 1: had a solid start to the year. They've had ups.
13:25
Speaker 1: They've had downs, but solid isn't the standard for a
13:28
Speaker 1: Miami offensive line with the skilled talent that's surrounding it
13:32
Speaker 1: or the emphasis that Cristobal and Mirabal put on it.
13:35
Speaker 1: This is the week that we need to see something
13:37
Speaker 1: a lot closer to dominant. Central Michigan actually takes some
13:41
Speaker 1: pride defensively. They're not just lining up and getting run
13:44
Speaker 1: over by everybody, which is exactly why this is a
13:47
Speaker 1: useful measuring stick for that unit. If Miami's interior line
13:52
Speaker 1: can move the front off the ball consistently, if they
13:55
Speaker 1: can create lanes for the run game and give this
13:58
Speaker 1: offense whatever launching point it needs in the passing game,
14:02
Speaker 1: I think that's a good signal heading into a tougher October.
14:06
Speaker 1: If it's at all a struggle, if there's pushback off
14:10
Speaker 1: of the snap, if the pocket gets muddy up the
14:13
Speaker 1: middle against a Mac front seven, I think that's a
14:16
Speaker 1: pretty big signal too. And just not the one that
14:19
Speaker 1: anybody down there in South Florida wants to see. I
14:22
Speaker 1: want to watch that interior three physically impose their will
14:25
Speaker 1: for four quarters. Not because central Michigan demands it schematically
14:30
Speaker 1: because the teams that you play later in the year will,
14:35
Speaker 1: and there's no better rehearsal than dominating the group. That's
14:38
Speaker 1: in front of you right now. There's a version of
14:41
Speaker 1: dominance that shows up on the stat sheet. It's yards
14:45
Speaker 1: per carry. It's time of possession. It's, It's how many
14:48
Speaker 1: times the quarterback gets whatever launch point he wants in
14:51
Speaker 1: the pocket. And then there's a version that shows up
14:54
Speaker 1: on film. Central Michigan's front getting worn down series by series,
14:59
Speaker 1: giving less push in the fourth quarter than it gave
15:02
Speaker 1: in the first. Guys on their defensive line looking over
15:05
Speaker 1: at the sideline and wondering when the Calvary's coming. That's
15:10
Speaker 1: what real domination looks like up front. It's not going
15:13
Speaker 1: to be just winning the game. It's breaking the other
15:16
Speaker 1: team's will to keep playing physical football. If the interior
15:20
Speaker 1: of the offensive line can do that to a defensive
15:23
Speaker 1: line that's overmatched but does take a lot of pride
15:26
Speaker 1: in stopping the run, I think that is a data
15:29
Speaker 1: point that you can use heading into October. If they can't,
15:32
Speaker 1: then I think that information is also useful, and it's
15:35
Speaker 1: a whole lot better to find that out this week
15:37
Speaker 1: against Central Michigan than it will be next week against
15:40
Speaker 1: Clemson with a real game actually on the line. So
15:43
Speaker 1: here's what a good Saturday looks like for Miami, in
15:45
Speaker 1: my opinion. Saturday, starters come out fast. They build a
15:49
Speaker 1: lead that isn't in question by mid-second quarter. They get
15:53
Speaker 1: pulled at or around halftime. They are healthy, they're rested,
15:57
Speaker 1: and the backups are getting real reps against a live opponent.
16:00
Speaker 1: I want to see the penalty count stay low. The
16:03
Speaker 1: interior of the line will spend four quarters imposing its
16:06
Speaker 1: will instead of just getting by. And by the time
16:10
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter rolls around, It's about backups and evaluation,
16:14
Speaker 1: not about whether Miami starters should have stayed in the
16:17
Speaker 1: game a little bit longer. That's the version of this
16:21
Speaker 1: week that sets Miami up. Bodies healed instead of more
16:25
Speaker 1: bodies added to the injury count. Confidence built instead of
16:29
Speaker 1: margin for error exposed. And a full head of steam
16:33
Speaker 1: walking into Clemson without a MASH unit. Shout out to
16:37
Speaker 1: my older fans watching this. trying to piece together a
16:42
Speaker 1: game plan on no rest. Because let's not kid ourselves
16:45
Speaker 1: about what's coming. Clemson has not been great this year.
16:48
Speaker 1: It's still on the road. It's still a hostile building.
16:51
Speaker 1: And it's still a completely different level of football than
16:54
Speaker 1: anything Miami's seen yet this season. That's a game where
16:58
Speaker 1: you cannot afford banged-up starters in a shaky offensive line
17:02
Speaker 1: and penalties eating away at drives. It's a game that
17:05
Speaker 1: will punish all of those things at the same time.
17:08
Speaker 1: Central Michigan is Miami's last chance to get right before
17:11
Speaker 1: the real tests start to arrive. There's no game after
17:14
Speaker 1: this one and before this one to buffer that Clemson
17:18
Speaker 1: matchup next week. There's no bye week to heal up
17:22
Speaker 1: before Clemson. Whatever state this roster is in, when it
17:25
Speaker 1: boards the plane for South Carolina, is the state it's
17:28
Speaker 1: going to be in for one of the biggest games
17:30
Speaker 1: of the regular season. And that's what makes Saturday important.
17:35
Speaker 1: Even with the final score, not in doubt here on
17:37
Speaker 1: Friday morning. It's not about whether Miami wins, it's about
17:40
Speaker 1: what the condition of this roster is when it's done winning.
17:43
Speaker 1: Handle this one the right way and Miami walks into
17:46
Speaker 1: Clemson as healthy, as rested, and as dialed in as
17:50
Speaker 1: a team can be in late September. Handle it the
17:52
Speaker 1: wrong way and the injury concerns from Wake Forest just
17:55
Speaker 1: carry over into one of the toughest road games of
17:57
Speaker 1: the season. Let's see if the tune-up is what Miami
18:02
Speaker 1: treats it like and let's see how quickly the starters
18:05
Speaker 1: get out of the game. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
18:07
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear a score prediction. I don't even
18:09
Speaker 1: know that I have one on this. 69-0. Miami could
18:12
Speaker 1: win this game by as much as they want. We'll
18:14
Speaker 1: see how much the backups can get done. Central Michigan
18:17
Speaker 1: will score. I don't know if that's a real score
18:19
Speaker 1: prediction or not. But let me know your thoughts down
18:21
Speaker 1: in the comments. Appreciate you guys, as always, for tuning in.
18:24
Speaker 1: Make sure you are subscribed over on audio. Appreciate our
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18:35
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