CORAL GABLES, FLA. (WSVN) – The Miami Hurricanes were dialed in at their Coral Gables practice facility, Thursday, as they spend their final days before the College Football Playoff championship game preparing to face their toughest test.
In what players described as another day in the office, the Canes are putting in maximum effort to run through drills and game plans to match up against the top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers, Monday night.
Head coach Mario Cristobal, who has won two national titles before, gave a simple message for his players as they seek to bring a sixth national title to Miami: “This is your time.”
“It’s our situation and we’ve put ourselves here, but this is bigger than us. This situation is so much bigger than us and guys who came here before us, you know, the stepping stones and everything that it took to get the program to this point, so it’s bigger than us, but it’s also our opportunity so we’re looking forward to taking advantage of it,” said Canes defensive back Keionte Scott.
Scott bolsters the Canes stout defensive unit, which hasn’t allowed more than two touchdowns per game during their playoff run.
In Miami’s stunning 24-14 quarterfinals victory over the defending champion Ohio State Buckeyes, Scott picked off a pass by Heisman Trophy finalist Julian Sayin and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown.
Scott believes the Canes defense is ready to line up against the Hoosiers high-octane offense, led by Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza.
“We have much respect for everybody. He’s a great quarterback. He does great things with his legs, I mean, he’s a Heisman winner for a reason. So we’re definitely grateful for the opportunity to go up against him,” said Scott.
Despite being the visiting team for the championship game, the Canes will benefit from their hometown crowds cheering them on as the game kicks off at Hard Rock Stadium. Players, who are already familiar with the stadium, will also get to use their usual locker room for the game.
“Yeah, it’s a plus, man. We at home, we get to do it in front of the fans that we started with, man, so, you know, just giving back to them, you know, us being at home, we definitely gonna take advantage of it,” said Canes wide receiver CJ Daniels. “It’s our time. We’re here for a reason. We done went through all the adversity this season, all the ups and downs for a reason.”
Monday night’s matchup will mark the third time the Canes have entered a game as the underdogs as markets currently have Indiana as 8.5 point favorites over the U.
Cristobal told players they don’t listen to outside noise, which players echoed to 7News through practice.
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