MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal and several players spoke to reporters after the team’s 38-10 bounce-back win over Syracuse on Saturday.

“(We) put together a good week of work and practice, and even though offensively we’re off to a slow start, the defense really was playing big and then when we got going, we got going,” Cristobal said.

“I think we were 0 for 4 to start on our first four drives punting the ball. After that we went 4 for 4, really kind of ignited by Daylyn Upshaw’s play and Keionte (Scott’s) interception, which really helped us establish some momentum and then eventually take control of the game,” he added.

Miami’s run game struggled early, averaging just two yards per carry in the first half, but finished with 124 yards on 32 attempts.

Girard Pringle Jr. led the Hurricanes with 55 yards on seven carries, including a 19-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter that broke the game open.

“We’re still not all the way in sync,” Cristobal said of the run game. “We did have, as the game wore on, we started kind of breaking free a little bit more.”

“There was more air in the run game, but not to the level that we wanted to be and again an opportunity to go fix that and get better at it and address it, you know, after a win,” he added. ‘And certainly we work, man, you know us, we grind, we grind. We have to continue to find ways to gain yards and points,” he added."

“No judge, no clock, no scoreboard, just no judgment, just keep playing as hard as you can between the lines and snap to whistle and play as hard as you can for your teammates,” said Cristobal.

The Hurricanes also got a rare highlight from the offensive line when tackle Francis Mauigoa scored the first touchdown of his career, turning a Carson Beck pass into a 3-yard run — a play he said the team has had ready for years.

“It’s a play that we’ve been practicing for more than 2 or 3 years now,” Mauigoa said. “Finally we got the opportunity to run it. Before the play, you know, we had another formation in. I was like, what the, you know, what are we doing? Just give me the ball. Finally somebody called a timeout. You know, we got out there, me and Cool yelling at coach, Coach, let’s run it. Let’s run it. Come on.

“So it’s fun, yeah, but you know, I was a bit mad about it. It’s a good touchdown, but you know I wanted to run over somebody. I was looking forward to running with somebody on touchdown actually, but, yeah, so that’s why there was no celebration,” he added.

Mauigoa said Cristobal promised him a chance to score during his recruitment.

“Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, he told me a lot of things and this was one of them,” Mauigoa said.

Quarterback Carson Beck added a receiving touchdown and surpassed 10,000 career passing yards, joining Fresno State’s E.J. Warner as one of two active FBS quarterbacks to reach the milestone.

“There was a lot of help along the way,” Beck said when informed of the achievement. “But super excited to hear that.”

Up next:

Miami (7-2, 3-2 ACC) hosts NC State (5-4, 2-3) next Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium.

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