MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Mario Cristobal’s first game as head coach for Miami was nothing less than expected.

For Cristobal, it was a highly anticipated Game 1 at home that started out of the tunnel of smoke alongside his team and coaching staff.

It is safe to say that a high amount of excitement was shown throughout the game.

In No. 16 Miami’s 70-13 home win over Bethune-Cookman, the home team had a total of 582 yards – 305 of which were rushing.

Sophomore running back Henry Parrish had a breakout game with 108 yards and three touchdowns.

Perry, coming out of Goulds (Fla.), was ecstatic to have performed this well in front of friends and family.

“It felt amazing to play in my backyard,” Parrish said. “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Parrish gave credit to Hurricanes offensive coordinator Josh Gattis.

“Coach Gattis is an awesome coordinator,” Parrish said. “He dials up at the perfect time and gets us going.”

With a balance of running and passing in today’s big offensive game, it is only right to wonder if this will become the type of offense played throughout this season.

Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke spoke on the balance of the offense this season.

“I think it’s going to be a good balance, not more passes than running or running over passes,” Van Dyke said. “50/50. It doesn’t really matter to me as long as we win.”

Van Dyke finished 13-of-16 passing for 193 yards and two touchdowns.

Between Van Dyke and backup quarterback Jake Garcia, 10 receivers were able to catch the rock in this game. 

Hurricanes sophomore wide receivers Xavier Restrepo and Michael Redding each caught a touchdown from Van Dyke.

Restrepo had five catches for 100 yards.

“Tyler and I have a chemistry that can’t be broken, and I am glad he’s my quarterback,” Restrepo said.

With the number of touchdowns came celebrations, some of which may have caused unnecessary penalties for Miami.

“You have to knock that out,” Cristobal said. “Rules are rules. We don’t play football on our own terms. We play football on the rules terms.”

If there was any opportunity to see the depth of Miami’s talent, it was in this game. 

Cristobal expressed how pleased he was to see his second and third team players executing at a high level and sustaining the team’s momentum to close out the game.

“The valuable part is the validation of, if you work hard enough and earn playing time, you are going to play at some point in time, whether you’ve earned first-team reps or second and third-team reps,” Cristobal said. “And then, what is also validated is the fact that when they did get in there, they were executed.”

Cristobal honorably mentioned his kicking team as Andres Borregales, who went 10-for-10 on his extra point attempts.

And with that said, Cristobal is determined to keep the ball running into next week’s home game against Southern Miss.

“We’re 1-0 and there were some good things and some stuff to work on,” Cristobal said. “We’re looking forward to getting back to work.”

PLEASE NOTE: Miami takes on Southern Miss at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 10 with a kickoff time set for noon.

PHOTO CREDITS: Chuck Bethel