Mario Cristobal reveals TreVonte' Citizen is ready, but rusty
Miami Hurricanes running back TreVonte’ Citizen is back participating in practice and is nearing a return to action. According to Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal, there is one thing that is holding him back from taking the field this season. And as the Hurricanes prepare for their Week 10 battle with NC State, Cristobal shares Citizen’s status for the game and whether or not he’ll get any reps on Saturday.
“Not sure,” said Cristobal. “He is cleared. He is ready. He is rusty. We want to make sure that when he does get in there, it’s because he has a chance to help us win games. The best part of why it is, there’s no question, he is fully healthy, but he’s going to be himself whenever that point hits. It’s a little bit different when you’re a running back; it’s an instinctive position in your body that almost kind of does things at a rate and a speed from a reaction standpoint that just takes reps.
“So, he’s getting a lot of reps in practice. Everyone’s really happy for him because what he wants to do is obviously a tough thing. But I can’t put a timeline on exactly when he’s going to get reps.”
Citizen has been able to start the 2023 season after suffering a serious knee injury during the 2022 fall camp. It has taken the Hurricanes’ running back quite some time to recover, but it is clear from Cristobal’s statements that his running back is eager to get back on the field and contribute to the Hurricanes’ winning ways this year.
Cristobal evaluates play of Emory Williams in start vs. Clemson
With Miami starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke out due to a right hand injury, true freshman Emory Williams got the nod at quarterback for the Hurricanes against Clemson.
The decision to go with the true freshman versus the Tigers paid off for head coach Mario Cristobal and the Hurricanes. Williams paced the Miami offense with 151 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception as the Hurricanes defeated Clemson in double overtime, 28-20.
“We knew that this was going to be a tough challenge for him,” Cristobal said after the game. “Clemson’s an excellent defense. I believe they were first in the conference or whatnot. But the speed of their defense is very challenging. We figured that early on there was going to be an adjustment and you saw we had some batted balls. We had some throws that were a little bit late. The line protected him fairly well. They got in there a couple of times, hit his arm or whatnot.
“But as the game went on and on, he just settled in. He’s a very urgent guy. He approaches everything with a ton of urgency. In camp, he won the confidence of a lot of our players, our entire quarterback room. Our players really played hard for him and for each other. They were just convicted on not letting him or each other down.”