Defensive identity back in focus

Hurricanes hope strong effort propels them in 2nd half of season

MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Hurricanes had to find something on Friday night. More so than the obvious necessity of a mere ACC win, UM needed something it could lean on going forward.

The Hurricanes got that in a rediscovered defensive identity – one that had been the staple of Manny Diaz’s units as coordinator over three seasons prior to being named head coach.

Miami (3-3, 1-2 ACC), who was starting backup quarterback N’Kosi Perry in Friday’s 17-9 victory over the No. 20 Cavaliers and still has a young offensive line, knows it can count on that defense as it is now through the halfway point of the regular season.

Diaz stepped in to get more involved with the defense this week. The difference, six days after getting torched for 42 points against Virginia Tech, albeit aided by turnovers from UM’s offense, was evident. The Hurricanes may have let someone slip away for a big play here or give up a third-down conversion there, but they did not let Virginia get into the end zone.

“It gets back to that part about being relentless because that was the issue,” Diaz said. “To be resilient like we were, I like to think that is more true to who the real Miami is on defense than what we saw a week ago.”

It wasn’t any magic wand Diaz waved – or even play-calling, as defensive coordinator Blake Baker remained in that role on Friday.

“He just came in the defensive meeting room and told us we needed to play better,” said junior cornerback Trajan Bandy, who wore the Turnover Chain on Friday night after recovering a fumble that Jonathan Ford forced. “We just regrouped as a team, and we just came out and had our best game.”

It brought the best out in the leadership of UM’s defense.

“I felt like it’s on me to be the leader,” Bandy added, “to go in there and talk more to the secondary and that’s what I did this week.”

An adjustment in the starting lineup up front was a major boon. Red shirt freshman Greg Rousseau started opposite of Jonathan Garvin and had seven tackles, two for loss, a sack and a forced fumble – included in those stops were key third- and fourthdown plays that gave the Miami offense the ball back.

“I definitely challenged myself,” Rousseau said. “I knew that I had to go out there and uphold that standard. Even when I wasn’t starting, there’s still that Miami standard that when you’re on defense, you have to be a dog.”

The Hurricanes now may have a new kicker. Redshirt sophomore walk-on Turner Davidson got the call after Diaz saw him look better than the struggling Bubba Baxa in pregame warmups. Davidson was 2 for 2 on extra points and made his one fieldgoal attempt.

“I always liked to think to myself I was going to become the starter one day, but I was taking it day by day,” said Davidson, in postgame quotes released by UM. “[I was] saying, ‘Alright, I’m going to kick the best I can today and move on to tomorrow.’”

Diaz continues to call Jarren Williams “our guy” with backup N’Kosi Perry filling in admirably. Williams was “less than 100 percent” physically, as Diaz called him, and coming off three interceptions in three drives in his last appearance. Perry, after throwing for 422 yards and four touchdowns in relief against Virginia Tech, accounted for two touchdowns – one throwing and one rushing – on Friday.

The Hurricanes know this has to be just the beginning. Bandy’s response to a reporter asking if he feels a weight has been lifted off the team’s shoulders indicates the team has a mindset that it won’t relax just because it got this win.

“Not really. I feel like we’ve still got more games to win, obviously,” said Bandy. “We want to keep winning. This is not it for us.”