What Did Malik Rosier Say After Miami Hurricanes Win Over Toledo?
Miami Hurricanes quarterback Malik Rosier had the best game of his career in Saturday’s victory over Toledo. He spoke about the team’s emotions, Mark Walton’s injury and his frame of mind after he threw a key interception.
Rosier had his best game as a starter at Miami. In just the third start of his career, Rosier threw for 333 yards, three touchdowns an interception. He also added a 23-yard touchdown run.
Walton was shot out of a cannon early in the game. He ran for 140 yards on his first four carries of the game. He had a 44-yard touchdown run on the first drive of the game. His career-long 82-yard run set up a field goal on the second drive of the game.
The Hurricanes offense went dry after that. Miami gained 168 yards on their first two drives of the game. Their final three of the first half accumulated only 32 yards.
They were only able to move the ball 25 yards on six plays before punting on the first drive of the second half before clicking. Rosier was first asked about the emotions of the game after the three-week layoff.
"“Composure was the biggest thing. We took the lead at first and they ended up taking it back. I was telling the receivers, ‘the big thing is you guys have to win outside.’…We came in at halftime and I said.. ‘they’re playing ‘mono-y-mono’, man on man…If you guys have that mentality that you’re going to win, I promise that we’ll walk away with a victory.”Those guys did a great job the second half. The offense started clicking and the guys did a great job creating separation making the balls easier to throw. For me it was just being humble, being patient, and just waiting for the opportunity to make plays.”"
The offense that was moving seemingly at ease in the first half nearly came to a halt in the second quarter and the first drive of the second half. Rosier spoke the difference in the play of the offense between the second quarter and most of the second half.
"“I wouldn’t say I was rusty, but from the beginning we didn’t really know what they were going to give us because every week when we watched this team play, they gave a different coverage. That was a big thing, figuring out how they were going to play us.It took us the whole first half to figure out what they were going to do and the second half we came and game-planned and the guys did a great job of executing.”"
Part of the struggles of the offense occurred after Walton missed about half the second and third quarters. Rosier was asked about the game plan when Walton was out of the game.
"“Mark (Walton) went down and coach tells us every week about the “next man mentality…it was about taking the right progressions, doing what I was supposed to do, and just making the reads like I do every play. No matter if Mark’s in or out.”"
Rosier threw a fourth-quarter interception that set up a Toledo touchdown. They scored on the first play after the interception from the Hurricanes eight-yard line. Rosier discussed what went through his mind after the Int.
"“When I walked to the sideline I was kind of upset because if you watch the film, Jeff Thomas was wide open, I just completely missed him. But when I got to the sideline, the coaches said, “don’t worry about it, we’re not even going to talk about it, just play the next drive.” Most coaches would probably yell and scream but these coaches have confidence in me. For me the biggest thing was that we came in the next drive and just kept playing and ended up scoring."
Next: What Were Mark Richt's Toledo Post Game Thoughts?
Rosier marched the Hurricanes five plays in 75 yards on the next drive after Toledo had cut the lead to 38-30. After forcing the Rockets to a four-play drive that lost 17 yards the Hurricanes had another touchdown drive to put the game away. Miami’s following drive went 42 yards in four plays. That provided the final margin of 52-30.