Great to get out and get a different opponent. They did a nice job in the game. There are things we have to improve on in all three phases. Overall, I was really impressed with our special teams. Thought our coverage teams did a really good job. We kicked the ball well. Our kick off a punt coverage teams had great lane discipline, tackled well in space, converged on things; we won the field position battle there. Our returners did a really nice job. We had a nice kickoff return that got us out good, had a nice punt return to set up a score. We did those things very well. Unfortunately, we had a little bit of a protection issue on the field goal that we’ll get worked on and get fixed. But overall, I like the effort, the tenacity the way the guys played on special teams. That's those hidden yards and those are big factors in the game where you start where you stop, you know when you know when the other team gets it when you can start on offense. Here, this week, is Miami, which is a very good special teams team.

I thought on defense we did a great job of taking the air out of runs, did well tackled well kept leverage on the football. We had one run bounced, a couple runs inside; one time we had a gap (open) and we’ve got two in a gap. That long touchdown run, gotta get that fixed up. But t the other parts, thought they did a nice job. They covered well — (UNM) got inside with some quick game early; we got that fixed. Played the ball well, judged the ball well, got that interception, got some good pressure and getting better pressure as the game went on. They were matching up and getting really quick throws, which is hard; you’ve gotta get your arms up, bat balls and then contest balls. Then we got pressure at the end, got a nice pick to set us up to get points.

Offensively, we did a nice job. The offensive line really did a nice job. We had time to throw the ball. We had clean pockets, we could drive the ball down the field and give us a lot of space to be able to do the things you want to do. You can draw them up all you want, but if you don't have time and space it doesn't work. Our guys did a really good job making calls, twists, passing off things; the backs picked up blitzes, the tight ends were involved in protection and we got the ball out when they didn’t. When they had unblocked defenders and people got through I thought Conner did an excellent job of buying time, stepping one or two little steps away by just a couple feet to be able to get the ball out his hands. And he was really good, and still accurate with it and got the ball to playmakers. In our running game we did a nice job up front. Good job short yardage and goal line situations, getting hats on hats, our maturity upfront — our health and our maturity and our experience, leadership up front is really starting to pay off. A lot of guys last year had never started a game; like we didn’t have Bryce (Foster) until like game five last year and then he got hurt. Having him in there was really big. The young guys, like Nabou and Dewberry, Trey Zuhn and, of course Layden — I thought Layden was excellent in the game; thought he played really well. Bisontis got in with his first start, Crownover got in and played really well. We’re getting Deuce Fatheree back in the mix. You’ve got Moko and Aki backing up. Our depth and guys’ experience really showed in the game in the game in my opinion, we had clean pockets to throw the ball.

The receivers were excellent in the game. They got open, created space, caught the ball had the YAC yards, made contested catches. The backs ran well, downhill, caught the ball, pass protected. But there are still things we’ve got to get better on.

We’ve got a really good opponent this weekend in Miami. Mario (Cristobal) is a very good coach. Their offensive line’s a very big, physical group. They ran the football extremely well in the game against Miami, Ohio. Receivers, they’ve got some big guys. The slot, 7 (Xaiver Restrepo), can really play. Gets open. A big guy can really make plays down the field. They’ve got speed. The quarterback (Tyler van Dyke)’s experienced, been around a long time. He was a front runner for the Heisman a year ago coming into the season. He can throw the ball, do all the things you need him to. Defensive line, they’ve got (Leonard) Taylor up front, Kitchens at safety, the transfer backer they got in from Washington State (Francisco Mauigoa) can run, can make plays. They already had (Jahfari) Harvey up front, got a transfer from Purdue (Branson Deen) that’s electric, twitchy, can make plays. Secondary, they bring different looks, pressures, transfer corners that have come in, (Daryl) Porter, (Davonte) Brown. They also have (James) Williams also in the secondary too. It’s going to be a great challenge on the road.

Portal guys, especially when they would have one year, (you ask), can they make an immediate impact and how much impact can they have quickly? Do you think they have that ability? Is he a guy that, if he doesn’t become the starter, is he, ‘Ok, if I'm still playing and getting playing time,’ You gotta judge that person out because you only got a one year window with him.

That guy (DeBerry), he’s very mature, production he had on film, the way he played - we thought he was an excellent player. He could play nickel, play corner, play different places and was very physical, really good tackler, a guy we love on the field.

He should be good. He’s banged up, but he’ll be fine.

Just consistency. When you get to saying who’s starting and who’s not, consistency is usually what it gets down to. Football isn’t a game of, can the guy do it? It’s how many times in a row can he do it. Can that corner do what he’s coached to do each and every time and knowing all the different situations, scenarios, downs and distances. The other guys will continue to play, other guys I know that we're gonna continue to grow and we're gonna need for this year is out hopefully and probably this week. But the consistency is what it was. I think that's comes from his experience, and maturity and who he is.

(He handled it) Like he handles everything else. I mean, just full out go, attention to detail. I can't say enough good things about Sam Mathews. I’m talking about as a person. As a player, without a doubt, but just who he is as a person and what he stands for, that’s part of being the 12th Man too. The respect the players on our team have for him, how he does the things he does in his work you know I mean in the way he conducts himself, and that’s just Sam. He’s going to handle things first class, the right way. I got it; I'm gonna go full speed understand what I gotta do but I'm waiting on here I'm gonna work my tail off and what comes out comes out. Just a selfless human being and a great guy to have in his team. And he made some really good plays; blocks, even tackles he didn’t make, he affected who made the tackle and did a great job.

We’ll find out, but I like our defense and the way we’re playing. We got the guys up front and physicality, but it's a different opponent. Miami is a very good opponent and they know how to run it. Mario's a line coach himself, he's gonna have those guys ready to run it and you guys still gotta play the play action passes and things are always gonna come off those things. It’s gonna be a great challenge. Their back is very good. Patient, strong jump cuts, leverage, power, runs, catches the ball. They have very good backs. The line is big and I mean they're really big up front. It’ll be a physical game inside. We’ve got to win those battles inside and we got get them on the ground. But they’re still gonna throw the football, their quarterback’s a really good player so you can't leave your guys one on ones all day.

I thought those guys played really mature. I mean, last year, like I said, we started our first game off, we had a true freshman center because we lost 61 (Foster). We're going to play Alabama and Kam Dewberry had to make his first start there. Then you had to go against Florida and Nabou had to make his first start. All those trials and tribulations paid off for us now getting those young guys n the game and doing the things they did (last year). But we were able to get (Crownover) in the game and in the first game was even better. He had been in camp and playing well but again, until the lights come on scoreboard counts, it's still different. There's growing, there’s still some things he's got to continue to do and grow better, but I thought he handled the overall situation. Just like (Taurean) York going out there and making calls on defense right off the bat and even Rueben Owens getting quality snaps as a running back with the multiplicity of a blitz team that, you know, you got to pick up blitzes and do things. Those are hard for a true freshman and we had a lot of them play last year. Those trials and tribulations are paying dividends now.

One game is a hard judge. I know philosophically, they’re going to be very similar. One game was a hard sample to judge. You try to judge where they came from and all that, but you may not do exactly what you were doing where you came from because of your talent level and who you’re trying to get the ball to — is it receivers? Is it backs? Last year, our best player was (Devon) Achane. This year, it’s different guys, and that changes for a coordinator coming in so that can that can be different. I appreciate you getting me nervous again for the second game. At the beginning of the season, you have to be careful not to go and chase ghosts. There’s so much unknown until you get on tape and on film.

They’re athletic, strong, physical, tough, competitive. A typical Miami team. And know when you're going down and you know you're going in and the Orange Bowl to go play, it’s fun because you’re a competitor. Fans will be tough, they’ll be brutal, banging on the busses as you’re coming through the rock lot all that good stuff, I mean, that’ll get you up but that’s just part of it. The way they play, its like they just have the same players just switch uniforms year to year.

That's why I got so many people hired. I mean, I joke about that, but you do. I mean you have to have people who can identify — “So and so is getting in the portal. Where’s that film? Where’s that evaluation?” It’s not like an NFL guy; you look at all these players out there and you can’t say, “Well, we’re gonna evaluate all these guys.” That’s the hard part of this scenario, them getting evaluated quickly. See if he’s someone you wanted, see if he fits in, and then you have different levels of football, and that’s a very challenging thing. That’s why it takes tons of people to have that resource, to get the film and get the job done and get it to us and let us make a choice. That's one of the reason we're building the new facility, to have rooms and equipment that way from the people to do it to the facilities to do it to be able to stay on top of that. It's a huge challenge and one of the reasons as a head coach, man, you're on it 24 hours a day. It's a it's a different, different world today.

Well. I thought Coop played well, downhill, fast; I think he had one missed tackle. He tackled well, played well, fit, thought he read well. I thought York did a really good job on his keys, his discipline, his calls— no issues. Fitting things. Martrell (Harris) flashed at times and can be a really good player for us. And then the young guys coming in did a good job. So they had a solid game and one of the things is the guys up front controlled things, so that made a lot easier.

That’s what you want. I’ve had teams where I had first rounders across the board. This room here's one of the first ones we've had, I mean, just across the board, ‘Ok, my matchup’s here.’ That’s what we that’s what we’re allowing it to do: one on one. he gets lt. He’s one on one he gets it. He’s one on one, he can get it. They know that if this guy gets his, it’s gonna come back over here because people ain’t gonna just sit there and let you catch balls and balls and balls. In the next game, they’re gonna plan for it. And that’s why I’m telling our guys, be patient. It’s a whole season. It’s gonna come around and everyone’s gonna eat.

You know who was unselfish in that game was Ainias. A guy who's been around a long time and had his big days — he had a great day too, break punt return, had a big catch, but how many little things he did in that game for us in that slot blocking and getting fitting runs and opening things up for the other guys and if he gets his he gets it, but did a great job of being a selfless player in that game.

Watching the other side, it's hard to truly evaluate a guy if you don’t know what he's coached to do. You don't know what’s right or wrong is because you don't know what he's been told to do. All I can judge are his physical skills, maybe decision making skills, how you act under pressure or different things like that. He’s been productive and played great.

It does. A fast start doesn’t guarantee you a win. It guarantees you confidence that you know you're in the game and you can do things and get going. A slow start can also put you behind the eight ball to make it very hard to climb up that hill. So it's always better to start fast. But then the other thing is can you keep your foot on the pedal and keep rolling.

They had great eyes in the game. Kept our keys, stayed simple. When guys play well, it’s so simple. It's so simple about when you're playing well where your eyes are in your discipline and your keys and your reads. They’re seeing it. They’re feeling it. They're processing the information. We did a great job in formation recognition, got the calls — that’s why I’m so happy with York, getting the right calls and formations and that keys guys in earlier.

Man. Just amazing consistency — I gotta talk about this one time they had the ball coming out in the flat and the linebacker, he cut back inside he's chasing inside out and makes it a 3 yard gain. There’s a play in there, one time he got cut. He hit the ground on a cut play, on a zone play away, and he hit that ground and bounced up like he was a rubber man, boing! And for a guy his size, to hit the ground on all fours, come straight back to his feet and kept running and gets in on the tackle for a one yard loss or a one yard gain. It was something right there. Just the athleticism and the ability. His maturity — those guys are growing. And his ability to run. He’s disruptive. He can rush the passer as an inside guy and he’s learning the physicality of his hands. He’s just playing better and better and I thought he played an excellent game. He was disruptive and productive at the same time.