and all eyes are on the you the Miami Hurricanes are looking to avoid a third consecutive losing record in ACC play Within the Mario crisal era the hurricanes have never posted three straight losing conference records since joining a conference in 1991 now quarterback cam Ward transferred in from Washington State and he accounted for 74% of the team's total offense in two years with the Cougars the highest rate of Team total offense by any player over that span now Ward has the second and third leading receivers in the ACC only only Virginia's Malik Washington compiled more receiving yards than Xavier Restrepo and jacobe George Mario chrisal spoke earlier today on the improvements being made what's different I can tell you what's progressing and back to what we were talking about earlier there's a starting point for everything right and starting point at Miami for us was making sure that we enhance the caliber of talent in the locker room that we increase the level and capabilities of the coaching staff and that we blend in the strongest most unbreakable culture that we can and we've been at it for two years so systems are growing players are developing um people are there for the right reasons right growth and development hardwork and good people is a very strong combination we feel awesome about the people in the building these guys they they run to the work they run to the fight they're awesome to be around it really is it's awesome to sit back and watch them work it'll be awesome to see them come back now there's been a lot of talk but no action so far and many people are saying that Miami is back so we're going to welcome in another member Eddie Royal now Eddie what do you need to see from Miami to solidify that awesome statement well you got to dominate week one uh it's a big match up against Florida SEC opponent and I I really want to see it at the line of scrimmage we talk about this big offens of line Mario Chris Ball specializes in that I want to see those guys dominate up front ACC vers SEC that's where the games are going to be won in the trenches we all know about cam Ward how great he is with the ball but then you throw in Damen Martinez a big time transfer and also that receiving core I love Xavier Restrepo one of the most consistent receivers that they have in the ACC unbelievably productive there's no question about it I think when you look at Miami do we look at him and say I don't know about Talent no do we look at him and say I don't know about the quarterback no you mentioned the offensive line and the defensive front both L of scrimmage have been addressed really last year heading into this year the question you worry about is can you get in the plus side on the turnover margin they're minus four a year ago that's not that's not winning football and are you disciplined can you avoid penalties um can you manage the football game we saw that happened a year ago and so I think the talent and the core is there in the foundation they just got to play smarter football yeah yeah to your point put some numbers behind it this team was 96 last year out of 133 teams in penalty yards 9 e out of 133 teams in turnover so it's the discipline and the decisions going back to that Georgia Tech game it wasn't the players on the field that cost the team the game it was poor coaching Decisions by Mario Chris ball instead of taking a knee decides to run the ball ball gets fumbled Etc so for me when it comes to Miami Talent is not the issue they are extremely talented cam Ward is extremely talented Francis Maui NOA their star tackle who was a five-star recruit superbly talented but it's the decision making the discipline and that starts from the top starts from the coaching staff and it dwindles and trickles down to the players on the field Talent is not the issue for Miami it's discipline its structure and its coaching respect from his hedge coach take a listen we believe in cam Ward and we believe that cam Ward will allow Miami to to do things that uh Miami hasn't been able to do in a long long time the reason everybody wanted him was his playmaking ability right really accurate great arm strength to improvise extend plays a game changer but what impressed us the most was Whenever there was a bad play his ability to bounce back and make things right his aggressive I would say competitive nature to come back and make things right to go and make up for maybe a play that was negative was really really impressive and that has really stood out in his time at Miami throughout spring practice I feel like the biggest thing for me going into this year is you know getting better at the easy stuff um I feel like where I lacked last year you know is not taking the easy stuff all the time trying to get two big play Happy um and that's one thing that you know I tried to hone in in Spring and you know I feel like this is one of my best Springs out of all my college career you know obviously I got jacobe George uh strap out there Isaiah hording I think elij Jo Roy is going to have a great year for for us this year so you know I have some weapons around me we got to show up every game you know we can't take games off no matter we playing the best team in the country or one of the worst teams you know we got to be the same team on that field every Saturday getting better at the easy stuff always is a good thing now Lukes how does cam fit in with this Miami team well first of all from a scheme marriage standpoint from his skill set to the scheme I think it's ideal now he's been an Incarnate Word he's been at Washington State certainly most recently at Miami we're going to see it this fall but all three stops featured some version of the air raid so there's such familiarity there and I think the theory of the game he understands clock in his head he knows where he's going with the football he will limit mistakes he will also protect himself you know they only gave up 16 sacks a year ago now you got a dynamic Runner behind Center and so he can help that in in more ways now and US utilizing his feet and the other thing too is I love the arm angles ddy that was awesome yeah it's just the confidence that he's bringing this swag I mean he's walking around it's a quiet confidence that Miami has now right I was drinking a Kool-Aid before as well I believe that it was Miami back when Ty Van Dyke but it's something special about this guy that makes you want to believe in Miami Mario chrisal learned from his mistakes even coaches can get better so he'll know for next time maybe I ought to take that knee so it's going to be those little things they're going to improve all across the board and it starts with coaching yeah and to your point I love what you're saying about coaching but even about cam Ward The Confidence pieces is huge this dude when he steps on the field he thinks he's the best player on the field and rightfully so I think it was two years ago went Toe to Toe to Oregon if I'm with Oregon if I'm not mistaken at Washington State and so this dude knows how to play the game of football but what's even better is that he rallies people around him that's what I think Mario chrisal is trying to point to and allude to he's saying hey man when there's a down play when he's trying to do too much he can bounce back and then you hear cam Ward say it himself let me keep the simple stuff simple I can do the electric I can do the amazing but let me try and do the easy stuff that'll help elevate my game to the next level yeah I I believe this is the chance for Miami to make a statement right if you want to prove that the you was back wi against Florida in the swamp come and make your statement and I think this is the team to do it they got the right guys in place for that hot out of the gate got to come out hot and uh it's interesting you know he said how spring was his best spring listen to these stats his last two seasons at Washington State starting all 25 games and during that time he threw for nearly 7,000 yards I mean that quiet confidence is everything don't you agree Sam yeah I completely agree and and I just go back to that first game Eddie's pointed to it that first game vers Florida is going to be huge but if you look at their first six or seven games if Miami is who we think they are they could easily be 6-0 7-0 going into that Florida State game and so those are big statements but this is a talented team with a relatively easy first half of the schedule [Music]