Miami Hurricanes HC Mark Richt wants more efficiency
Miami Hurricanes Head Coach Mark Richt was succinct about how his team has been playing during his weekly appearance on the Joe Rose show he expects his team to “tighten up the screws” and play more efficiently.
Richt spoke about his Miami Hurricanes slow starts, the importance of big plays on defense and special teams, the fun his team is having, Jaquan Johnson’s big plays, the turnover chain and variety of subjects.
The Miami Hurricanes have now flirted with a loss in five games this season. They won their four October games by 18 points and the 16 point win over Virginia on Saturday was much closer than the final score indicated.
Richt is concerned as anyone with his team’s slow starts to games. They should be able to defeat Pittsburgh on Saturday. A slow start against Clemson could end their chance at making the college football playoff.
They have to concentrate on the Panthers first before they play the Tigers in the ACC Championship game next weekend.
Christy Chiniros Cabrera of the Sun-Sentinel summarized Richt’s appearance with Rose.
It’s clear via the turnover chain and the success that the Hurricanes have had that Richt and his team are having fun. He said:
"“It’s been good. It was a great victory. When you reflect on it, it was really maybe one of our better ones. You’ve seen so many times in America when a team gets jumped on and they get those deer in the headlights look on their face and you’re like, ‘What in the world is happening?’And that really happened twice to us, down 14-0, then 28-14 and just, I don’t know, resilient. You keep wearing out certain words, but everybody just kind of hangs in there and doesn’t panic. Keeps battling, keeps fighting and good things have been happening for us.”"
The Miami Hurricanes turnover chain has become a national sensation. Richt has spoken about the impact it has had on his own team.
"“It’s been good. You can’t deny the fan reaction, you can’t deny our team’s reaction to it. There’s other teams are certainly reacting to it. They want to mock it, they want to make fun of it, they want to get mad about it. They want to get whatever about it, but I imagine in the back of their minds, the minute there is a turnover, they’re like, “Oh, jeez.” I don’t know how it’s going to play in Pittsburgh, but it was certainly great at home.”"
The biggest play from the turnover chain on Saturday came from Jaquan Johnson. With Miami down 28-21, Johnson returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown to tie the game. Richt commented on the play.
"“That was big. We had just scored a touchdown to get within seven, the very next play, bang. We weren’t behind by 14 there very long. I think that took a little bit of pain out of the situation. When it was 28 all with a lot of clock, we felt like if we kept doing our thing, we’d be fine.”"
Having a short week will challenge the Hurricanes efficiency against Pittsburgh. Playing with one less day of rest during a short week with a Holiday also sandwiched in there could prove to be a challenge to Richt’s young team.
"“One thing that will help is the players don’t have school this week. For them, they should be able to focus on strictly on the game. They should be able to get rest. They’ve got to be responsible for doing that.“We’re going to have them so many hours in the day and we’re going to let them be grown men in regards to the time they have free. We’ll do a normal week. Yesterday was a normal Sunday practice. Today is nothing with the players, just a planning day. Tomorrow, normal Tuesday. Wednesday, normal Wednesday. Thursday morning, normal Thursday.Then after lunch, it flips straight to a Friday. You go straight to Friday travel, I know it’s Thursday, still, but it’ll be treated like a Friday. That evening, it’ll be treated like Friday night before a game. Because it’s a noon game, it’s going to get on us in a hurry. So, it’s going to be a really quick turnaround.”"
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With the short week, Richt is going to have to instill in his players the importance of getting off to an early start. Pittsburgh will have the home crowd behind them on Senior Day. Only the Panthers stand in the way of the Miami Hurricane’s first perfect regular season since 2002.