The University of Miami defense is still on a pace to give up the most points in school history. But thanks to some improvement in recent weeks, the pace has slowed considerably.
The Hurricanes’ defense played its best game last Thursday in a 30-12 victory against Virgina Tech by holding the Hokies to one touchdown in five red-zone incursions and without a single point in the second half. The win catapulted UM (5-4, 4-2) into first place in the ACC’s Coastal Division heading into Saturday’s game against Virginia (3-6, 1-4) in Charlottesville.
It also gave Miami fans hope that the team’s defense is actually capable of playing defense. The Hurricanes allowed their first five FBS opponents at least 32 points each, and in one particularly bad two-week stretch against North Carolina State and Notre Dame, UM was pushed around for a combined 78 points and 1,158 yards of total offense.
But like the creeping fall weather, there’s been a change in the air recently. In their last three games — an 18-14 loss to North Carolina, a 33-20 defeat to FSU and the Virginia Tech win — the Hurricanes have allowed 63 points (21.0 average). That’s not great, but far better than in the first six games when UM permitted 34.7 points.
“It comes down to keeping the points down,” defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio said. “We’re starting to do a better job with that.”
The turning point may have come against Virginia Tech. UM’s defense had plenty of opportunities to fold with the game and first place in the Coastal Division hanging in the balance but responded by holding the Hokies scoreless in the second half. It marked the first time this season an opponent didn’t score on Miami after halftime.
Part of the improvement is the result of young players gaining experience. Seven freshmen and sophomores are starting on UM’s defense and the unit’s backups are even more youthful.
That inexperience resulted in repeated breakdowns — blown coverages, missed assignments and wrong reads — through the season’s first half. With those lumps came knowledge that is now being put to use.
“Guys have to stay in their gaps, we have to tackle well and make plays when we have a chance,” junior safety A.J. Highsmith said. “When you do that, any defense will work. It’s not any kind of miracle.”
Miami’s defense is a long ways from a finished product.
Virginia Tech became the eighth consecutive opponent to rush for 200 yards against the Hurricanes, who rank 119th out of 120 FBS teams in rushing defense (242.2). UM also continues to apply little pressure on quarterbacks. The Hurricanes have generated only 10 sacks for an average of 1.1 per game that ranks 110th nationally and puts Miami on a pace for the fewest sacks in the program’s history.
But UM is doing some things right, namely forcing turnovers. The Hokies finished with three turnovers, including a third-quarter fumble by quarterback Logan Thomas at the Miami 1-yard line that was the game’s deciding play. The Hurricanes also intercepted Thomas twice — one by Ladarius Gunter that thwarted a scoring drive on the Hokies’ opening possession of the game and a Jimmy Gaines pick that came on Virginia Tech’s last offensive snap and served as a fitting end to a solid defensive performance.
“When you make plays like that, you can see the light,” Highsmith said. “[The players] see what the coaches are talking about and what we mean when we say we’re not far off.”
Miami has forced 18 turnovers, three more that it had all of last season.
“Our defense is playing better,” coach Al Golden said. “It’s exactly what we need to have happen.”
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