Miami’s defense looking for more consistency under anny Diaz,
Third downs, big plays skew otherwise decent effort, coordinator says.
CORAL GABLES — Manny Diaz was enjoying a bye week on the night of Oct. 31, 2015. Then Mississippi State’s defensive coordinator, he was flipping between channels and missed seeing one of the most memorable finishes in college football history as it happened live.
“When I came back on, it was during the long review process, and I was trying to piece together what happened,” Diaz said.
What happened will forever be known as The Return, the eight-lateral kickoff return for a touchdown that lifted Miami to a 30-27 win at No. 22 Duke. With the 14th-ranked Hurricanes (2-0, 0-0) visiting ACC Coastal Division rival Duke (4-0, 1-0) for the first time since then, that play has been a topic of discussion this week in both media markets.
“It was remarkable,” said Diaz, now Miami’s defensive coordinator. “It defies explanation, right? It’s something you can’t even imagine ever happening.”
In South Florida, extra-critical Hurricanes fans have used similar phrasing to describe several plays by Diaz’s defense this season. The reaction comes from the perceived weakness of UM’s opponents — Bethune-Cookman, an FCS team, and mid-major Toledo — and the fact that the defense, expected to be Miami’s strength, has been far from dominant.
After one month of play — in which UM played two games — the Hurricanes rank 43rd nationally in sacks per game, 45th in yards per play allowed, 47th in points per game allowed, 58th in opponent passer rating and by far the worst, 128th, in third-down conversions allowed.
The only number that looks close to where UM wants it: rushing-yards per carry (29th), but UM expects to be a top-10 group in that category, not top-30. UM is also 18th in tackles for loss per game. It finished fifth last year.
Drawing definitive conclusions about a team in September is inadvisable, but this Hurricanes team is a special case. The threeweek break between its first and second games meant Miami felt rusty before facing a high-scoring Toledo offense last week.
Sharing what he pieced together about Miami’s 52-30 win, Diaz called his run defense “very good against a pretty good scheme,” and liked UM’s habit of “running to the ball and striking.” He noted the Hurricanes “didn’t get after the quarterback” on passing downs. Diaz is concerned about efficiency, rather than total yardage. The Rockets threw 50 passes, completing 58 percent, and averaged 6.9 yards per pass. “Not bad,” Diaz said.
Not great, either, but if you’re looking for positives: Toledo quarterback Logan Woodside, an NFL prospect, threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns but had his lowest passer rating (138.81) since 2014. A glaring negative: Woodside had 13 of his 28 completions for 10-plus yards, including three of 30-plus.
“Horrendous,” Diaz said, noting the inexperience in a secondary replacing four NFL-bound starters. “Had some egregious coverage busts. Things that we’ve not done in a year and a half.”
Diaz also called UM’s thirddown defense, which allowed 10 of 14 conversions in the first half and 13 of 23 overall, “disappointing.”
Assessing the root of it all, he pointed to coaching and “personnel things,” but mostly, he said, the bad plays happened in a stretch late in the second quarter where tired legs and minds took over.
“We were just holding on,” Diaz said. “It became systematic. If it was one guy, we’d be like, ‘Yeah, that guy.’ But when we have linebackers, corners, safeties not executing, not covering anybody ... we just had guys standing out there.”
Asked about the strengths of the Duke offense, the nation’s 96th-most efficient (5.37 yards per play), senior defensive end Chad Thomas pointed to quarterback Daniel Jones, a sophomore who has completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 904 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. He is big (6-5, 215) and tough enough to pick up yards on the ground (141 yards, three touchdowns on 42 carries).
He produced 3,382 yards of offense and 23 touchdowns last year as a newcomer.
Thomas also cited Duke’s discipline. “They make you get away from what you’re doing,” he said. That’s not in Miami’s plans. “We’ll get better,” Diaz said.