\u201cI think that all of us think that rankings only matter when the last game of the season is played, so as it relates to that, that\u2019s probably the best answer I can give,\u201d Cristobal said this week, when asked about Miami\u2019s rise in the polls. \u201cIt\u2019s the one that to me, makes the most sense. I know it\u2019s not an interesting answer, a juicy one \u2026 but hopefully, it fits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said Hurricanes redshirt senior center Ryan Rodriguez<\/a>, one of Miami\u2019s veteran leaders, \u201cThe ranking doesn\u2019t really matter until the end of the season. That literally changes every week, and we\u2019ve just got to continue to be 1-0, continue to find a way to get better every week. [Offensive line coach Alex] Mirabal, what he\u2019s been preaching to us is, \u2018What now? You won, great. What now?\u2019 You\u2019ve got to continue to get better and that\u2019s our goal and that\u2019s our mindset, and we\u2019re nowhere near where we want to be and we\u2019re going to continue to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n For the Hurricanes (6-0, 4-0 ACC), the first chance to get better in a game comes against a Pittsburgh team that is trying to regain its footing after losing starting quarterback Mason Heintschel for the season.<\/p>\n The sophomore tore his ACL in the Panthers\u2019 win over Virginia Tech on Oct. 2, and in the weeks since, two different signal callers \u2013 fifth-year senior and Texas State and Auburn transfer Holden Geriner and freshman Corey Dailey \u2013 have started games for the Panthers (5-2, 2-2).<\/p>\n Pittsburgh came up short in both of those games, but Miami\u2019s defense understands its opponent has playmakers on the roster, including previously injured running back Ja\u2019Kyrian Turner, who was listed as probable on Pitt\u2019s most recent availability report, fellow back Damon Ferguson Jr. and wide receiver Cataurus Hicks.<\/p>\n \u201cWatching their offense, they have two good quarterbacks that are good at both running and [passing]. We\u2019re just getting ready for everything,\u201d said Hurricanes defensive lineman Armondo Blount<\/a>. \u201cThey\u2019ve got a good team. Good o-linemen. Physical team. We know they\u2019re coming down here to play.\u201d<\/p>\n Added linebacker Chase Smith<\/a>, \u201cWe\u2019re prepared for everything that we could possibly get presented for and that\u2019s kind of how we\u2019re attacking the game plan. We\u2019re not leaving out anything. We don\u2019t want any discrepancies when we go into this. We\u2019re just kind of going into it straightforward, touching all bases.\u201d<\/p>\n While Pittsburgh\u2019s offense may be looking to get back on track after the injuries its dealt with, its defense enters Saturday\u2019s matchup as the best in the nation against the run.<\/p>\n The Panthers have held their opponents to a meager 57.3 rushing yards per game, though the Hurricanes will look to challenge that with a deep running backs room that includes Mark Fletcher Jr.<\/a>, who has rushed for 373 yards and six touchdowns this season, and Javian Mallory<\/a>, who has rushed for 397 yards and five touchdowns this season.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re great. They have a great scheme. They\u2019re [well] coached. [Pitt head coach Pat] Narduzzi is respected by everyone. They have veteran d-tackles, veteran linebackers,\u201d Rodriguez said of the Panthers\u2019 defensive front. \u201cI remember some of those guys from last year and they\u2019re going to play hard. They\u2019re going to come and try to beat us. We\u2019ve got to show up, execute and do our thing and be 1-0.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI think that all of us think that rankings only matter when the last game of the season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-313192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}