Hurricanes

UM’s defense, leading the nation in tackles for loss, hopes to build on early success.

CORAL GABLES — Since arriving in Coral Gables as part of coach Mark Richt’s staff nearly three years ago, Hurricanes defensive coordinator Manny Diaz has made it clear: Miami defenses are best when they are aggressive.

His approach is one that not only appealed to the players already on the Hurricanes roster, but also to the highly recruited prospects Miami coaches were targeting to join the team.

And for the third consecutive season, the Hurricanes’ defense is putting up some early-season numbers they hope to build on as the competition gets tougher and ACC play starts next week.

As No. 21 Miami prepares to host South Florida rival FIU on Saturday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium, the Hurricanes lead the nation in tackles for loss, averaging 11.7 per game. Opponents have managed to covert on just 7 of 43 third-down chances. That’s just 16.3 of their opportunities, a number that also leads FBS programs. And overall, the defense is allowing an average of just 236 yards, a number that ranks fourth nationally and leads all ACC programs.

Granted, a good amount of that success has come against a Savannah State team that is bound for Division II next year and a Toledo team that isn’t among Power Five programs, but it’s been encouraging progress for a unit and a team that Diaz conceded needed to be mentally tougher after Miami’s 33-17 season-opening loss to LSU.

The goal now, the Hurricanes say, is to continue playing at a high level, not only Saturday against FIU, but against North Carolina next Thursday when they start conference play.

“It starts with the kind of style of play here. We’re talking about getting our feet across the line of scrimmage and running off the ball, never avoiding fundamentals,” Hurricanes defensive line coach Jess Simpson said. “For the most part, our guys have done that really well. We can obviously even do it better, but that’s kind of our mindset and where we start from. It’s kind of ground zero for us.”

Added defensive tackle Pat Bethel, “That is just a testament to the entire defense. Whether it’s the coaches calling the plays and stuff like that or all of us on the defensive side are playing together like that and stopping dudes before they get to the line, that’s always a big deal. And being able to lead the country [in tackles for loss] is huge. We will try to keep that up.”

The Hurricanes’ next test will be an FIU team that features several speedy South Florida skill players and is coming off a 63-24 win over UMass that tied a school record for points scored.

Up front, the Hurricanes will look to defensive tackle Gerald Willis, who has a team-high seven tackles for loss, and end Jonathan Garvin, who has six tackles for loss, to help set the tone.

Just behind them, veteran linebackers Shaq Quarterman (17 tackles, sack) and Mike Pinckney (13 tackles, sack) also will be called on to continue their solid starts to the season.

“Our guys want to play downhill. We want to play on the other side of the line of scrimmage,” Diaz said. “When you’ve got guys like Gerald [Willis III] that are causing disruption amongst the offensive line, it’s easy for the linebackers to find cracks in there to get TFLs.”

Richards, Johnson still out

Neither receiver Ahmmon Richards (knee) nor safety Jaquan Johnson

(hamstring) were seen on the field during the media viewing portion of practice on Wednesday.

Instead, both were working on conditioning bikes with members of Miami’s athletic training staff. Richt — who did not speak to reporters after Wednesday’s practice — has described both Richards and Johnson as being “day-to-day.”

If Johnson is unable to play Saturday, Diaz said safety Amari Carter — who missed last week’s game at Toledo because of a death in the family — will be called on to try to help fill the void left by Johnson’s absence.

“Whenever you have a situation where it’s a ‘next man up’ deal, you don’t need to wear a cape. You don’t need to be Jaquan

[Johnson]. You can just be Amari,” Diaz said. “We love the things he brings to the table. We really missed him in Toledo last week, for sure. He would have gotten a lot of run if he was there. But now is his time, and I think he feels very confident that he’s ready to go.”

Reserve quarterback Jarren Williams was also seen working with a member of the training staff during the media viewing portion of practice.

Whether he was able to get into some drills later in the session is unclear.

DUANE BURLESON/AP Through three games, the Hurricanes lead the nations in tackle for loss and are looking to build on their success this week against FIU.