Hurricanes looking to refine running game
CORAL GABLES — At first glance, it would seem as if No. 21 Miami did everything it was supposed to last week in its dominant 77-0 win over a Savannah State team that will be playing in Division II next year.
Offensively, the Hurricanes scored 11 touchdowns and punted just three times. They outgained the overmatched Tigers 494-78. They had 20 first downs to Savannah State’s five and were 7 of 12 on third-down conversions, while holding the Tigers to just 2 of 16 on third down.
But as well as Miami played Saturday, the Hurricanes did struggle running the ball early, Miami managed just 19 yards on eight carries in the first quarter. By halftime, that number was just 43 yards on 18 carries.
Considering the Hurricanes totaled a meager 83 yards in their season-opening loss to LSU earlier this month, they know there is work to be done on that front as they continue preparing for their game at Toledo this week.
“I think just start faster. We’ve got to do a better job of communicating up front,” Hurricanes running backs coach and offensive coordinator Thomas Brown responded Tuesday when asked about how to get the run game going earlier in games.
“We had some missed opportunities, but if you look at the overall yards-per-rush, it’s pretty good. It’s really efficient. If you’re talking about more explosive runs … I think the yards per carry are really good. Just being able to start faster, be on the same page and just do our jobs, not just with the running game. … We ended up scoring a bunch of points, but we started slow and had some mental errors.”
The Hurricanes finished their game against Savannah State with 239 rushing yards, aided in part by some long runs from freshman Lorenzo Lingard, a former five-star prospect coming out of high school.
That helped raise Miami’s yards-per-carry average to 4.5, a more respectable number than the 2.4 yards-percarry averaged against LSU.
Still, with the bulk of the schedule ahead of them and the Hurricanes expecting Toledo to pose a significantly bigger challenge than Savannah State, Brown and coach Mark Richt want to see the rushing numbers improve and they believe better blocking will help.
“We’ve just got to come out and execute better. We always come out and we do a team run first, and it’s called ‘start fast.’ So we just got to have a better start, start at a better pace,” said running back DeeJay Dallas, who has 86 yards on 13 carries so far this season. “It’s nothing we can’t fix, it’s just all about execution.”
Jackson back, Richards still ‘day-to-day’
Three weeks into the season, the Hurricanes defensive line — a new-look unit which faced questions heading into the year — has dealt with depth issues after injuries to two reserve defensive ends.
On Tuesday, that group got a boost when Demetrius Jackson, who hurt his knee in the season opener against LSU on Sept. 2 and did not play against Savannah State, returned to practice.
Jackson’s return comes a day after Miami announced freshman defensive end Greg Rousseau — one of the Hurricanes’ spring standouts — was scheduled to have surgery to repair an ankle he fractured in Saturday’s win.
Rousseau has played in both of Miami’s games this season, though against LSU most of his time came on special teams. By the end of the first quarter against Savannah State, however, he was working on the Hurricanes’ defensive line. He notched five tackles before getting hurt.
While Jackson was able to return to practice Tuesday, receiver Ahmmon Richards, who also hurt his knee in the opener against LSU and did not play last week, was still working on a conditioning bike and not participating in drills during the media viewing portion of Tuesday’s practice.
Hurricanes coach Mark Richt said Tuesday that Richards is still considered “day-to-day.”
Lorenzo Lingard on the move?
Hurricanes running back Lorenzo Lingard, a five-star prospect who was one of the jewels in Miami’s most recent recruiting class, has seemingly worked his way up the depth chart.
Lingard, who had a gamehigh 82 rushing yards and two touchdowns against Savannah State this past Saturday, was one of the freshmen Richt said could get more playing time moving forward.
During one drill on Tuesday, Lingard was seen working at the No. 3 running back spot behind starter Travis Homer and Dallas.
In another drill a few minutes later where the Hurricanes worked on pass protection, Lingard was back at the No. 5 spot behind Homer, Dallas, Trayone Gray and Robert Burns.
Lingard had, up until last week, been working exclusively with the fifth string, with coaches telling him he’d likely earn more playing time once his pass protection improved.
Once practice ended Tuesday, the freshman was seen working alone with a blocking dummy after practice had ended, something Richt noted he appreciated from the running back.
“He wants to play. He doesn’t sit around and say I’m a five star. He knows ‘I’ve got to get better at certain things,” Richt said.
Blades honored
Freshman cornerback Al Blades Jr., a former standout at St. Thomas Aquinas, has played well in his first two college games and on Tuesday, was named one of Miami’s captains for this week’s game along with offensive lineman Hayden Mahoney, safety Sheldrick Redwine and defensive end Joe Jackson.