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CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: MIAMI VS WISCONSINDecember 30, 2017Lawrence CagerJaquan JohnsonShaquille QuartermanMark RichtMalik RosierMiami Gardens, Florida Wisconsin - 34, Miami - 24. MARK RICHT: I've got a statement. First I want to, first of all, say how much I really appreciate this football team, the seniors in particular, but everybody. Super-coachable bunch of guys. Did some things that hadn't been done around here in a while. Did some things that have never been done. We got to taste 15 in a row, wins in a row, and then we had to taste three in a row. Obviously been a pretty streaky team in that way. But very proud of everybody, very thankful for our coaching staff, our administration, our support staff, our fans, unbelievable, including tonight. We couldn't have asked for anything more. I know the Cane Walk was unreal from what I heard, and the fans were great. We're so thankful for that. Obviously very disappointing loss. You know, I take as much responsibility as anybody. Actually more because I'm in charge of everything. I didn't coach good enough, and we will get better, I can promise you know. I know I lost my cool, I thought rightfully so as far as being mad, but not rightfully so using some of the language I used, not particularly proud of myself there. I apologize to anybody who can read lips. But anyway, I love this team. I'm proud of them, and just sorry we didn't get it done tonight. Q. Coach, are you willing to talk about what it was that had you so upset? MARK RICHT: What do you think? Can you guess? Q. I'm thinking it had to do with holding. MARK RICHT: Well, there was a few things similar to that. I didn't agree with a lot of things that were called or not called. I can tell you that right now. Q. Was it more non-calls than calls? MARK RICHT: It was -- I would say yes. Yes, to the very end of the game, as well. It was a shame in my opinion. But I'm probably not supposed to say that. Q. Alex Hornibrook obviously four TDs, no picks. Why do you think he was so successful against you guys? MARK RICHT: He was throwing darts. He threw it right on the money, a lot of tight coverage, threw a lot of back shoulder balls. His line had to give him time obviously to do that. But we played a lot of man coverage, and they exploited it. Every time we seemed to get in press an, and they ran some type of fade or inside lane receiver running the fade, he'd put it on him. And it wasn't just those. Those are most of the touchdowns he threw. But he obviously was on the mark. He was on the money. Good route running, good concepts, good protection, good throws, and good catches. Q. Just your thoughts on the season obviously ending with three losses, probably not the way you want to go, but still in your mind successful? MARK RICHT: It was very successful in a lot of ways. I think we -- I think our program is definitely moving in the direction we want it to move. I think we definitely got better. I think we -- I mean, obviously we beat Florida State for the first time in a long time, and I don't care what people say about their record and all that kind of thing. When you can't beat your rival for that long, it usually takes some type of an extraordinary day to get it done, and we got it done under a lot of pressure. It was very gratifying to do that. And then winning the Coastal Division, which had never been done here, at least to the point where Miami ever represented the Coastal Division in the ACC Championship game. That was something new, something we strived for, something we attained. So we got, I guess, past a landmark that we were trying to get past. We know we're hungry for more, and I can tell by looking at the eyes of our team that the guys that are coming back are going to be excited about taking it one step further next year. Q. You mentioned the streakiness, whether it's the wins or losses, but particularly the losses, three this year, and four or five last year. What is it that when you guys tend to lose one game, it tends to snowball? MARK RICHT: Well, I don't think it snowballed as much as -- we lost to Pitt, they did a great job against us, without any doubt about that. If I'm not mistaken, Clemson is defending national champions, one of the best teams if not the best team in America. And we didn't fare well, obviously, there. And then this team won 12 in a row. This team was one of the highest-rated teams in America. This team was one step away from being in the playoffs. It was a very good team. They came in and took care of business. We don't like losing, but we're not ashamed of what happened by any stretch. Q. The lack of calls, particularly the holding, has been a thing that I know has bothered some of the guys and probably yourself all season. Is it something that can be addressed in any way other than the way that you did address it? MARK RICHT: Well, let's just be hypothetical, okay. When the ball is in the air, a defender is not supposed to be able to have a lot of contact before the ball gets there. That's not supposed to be legal. When a guy is rushing the passer and is about to get to the quarterback and somebody grabs him and keeps him from getting there right in front of the official -- again, this is a hypothetical situation -- that's not supposed to be allowed, either, over and over and over, in my opinion. That's just how I feel right this minute. I'm sure I'll cool down in a minute. We've got all these young men here, and they deserve to be asked some questions. I know you're probably loving what I'm saying right now, but we can continue that later. Q. Jaquan and Shaq, I asked coach about Alex, why you think he was so successful against the defense? SHAQUILLE QUARTERMAN: Well, he showed from film just watching him throughout the season, I watched him last season, he throws darts, and they have players that they practice it a lot. You can see the relationship that they have, and he threw darts today. He threw balls in tight coverage, and the receivers just made plays. That's what comes when you play man coverage; it's mano-a-mano. Somebody has to win. JAQUAN JOHNSON: Just to go off of that, receivers made great plays in tight coverages and the quarterback put the ball on the money every time. He probably had one or two throws behind the receivers, but other than that, he was dead on all night. Q. Malik, how would you assess your season as you head into next year? 10 wins, Coastal championship, how would you assess your play and the team's season overall? MALIK ROSIER: That's kind of hard. The way I look at the season is I base it upon wins good or bad. At the end of the day the objective of the quarterback is to lead the offense down every time and score. There's multiple occasions where they made great plays, multiple occasions where I missed receivers. It's just tough now. The season is over with now, and we had a great season. I love the seniors, love the guys that are around me. But the big thing is putting this season behind us and getting to work. Coach Jon said it perfectly. He said from now on, we are getting to work together. We're back to leading. It starts in the offseason and it is going to carry over to next season. Q. Jaquan, as you kind of look at the season and the steps that you guys took, what do you think that that success is and some of the failures might mean as a program that's ahead, and I'm curious if you've personally made any decisions about what your future is at Miami? JAQUAN JOHNSON: Well, I announced I was coming back already at Media Day. I'm coming back to play out my senior year. I think we have unfinished business. I want to get my degree and win a National Championship with my brothers. As for the season, everything can fuel this, wins or losses. That's all I have to say about that. Q. Malik, 14-3, you guys get the ball back and an interception just seemed to be kind of deflating. What did you see on that play, and after that the offense never seemed to get back into rhythm? MALIK ROSIER: I mean, we knew we had to execute. They did a really good job of just making me throw balls in tight coverage. One time, the first interception I had, it was a great job by the guy. KC tried to cut him. He did a great job using his hands and getting his hands up and the ball just unfortunately wound up hitting him. They were fast, they were physical, and they just did a great job of making me throw low-percentage passes, so I take my cap off to those guys, and they just made plays all day. Q. Shaq, obviously you guys knew that they were going to try to run the ball as much as they could. What was their physicality like, and how tough was it to try to bring him down and try to go against that O-line? SHAQUILLE QUARTERMAN: Well, their running back is very talented. We seen all year just watching him. I like to watch him on film and I like to watch the TV copies and he does a great job of running his feet, and with the lineup they have, big stout guys, they get a lot of movement, especially when they run their dual plays, the plays where they just put three tight ends on one side and they just smash everybody down and cut back off of them. It's hard to schematically deflate that type of offense. You really just have to play them man-to-man. I think we did a great job today. I think it was a war today. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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