The Miami Hurricanes completed the first quarter of their regular season Saturday, beating a team they should have in Toledo with a convincing performance over the game’s final 20 minutes.
Although the season-opening loss to LSU was a disappointing, it’s not looking so bad anymore. The Tigers (3-0) won at previously Top 10-ranked Auburn Saturday, and jumped up to No. 6 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll this week.
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Miami (2-1) is sitting at No. 21 in the AP poll and should be favored in its next four games.
Assuming all goes according to plan against FIU (2-1), North Carolina (0-2), Florida State (1-2) and Virginia (2-1) over the next month, the Hurricanes should be 6-1 by the time they travel to face 23rd-ranked Boston College (3-0) on Oct. 26.
Before we look ahead, here’s my first installment of the Hurricanes’ quarterly report card with a position-by-position examination through the team’s first three games.
Quarterbacks
Malik Rosier’s disappointing performance against LSU when he was on target for only 19 of his 35 passes (54.3%) and completed only 15 of them for 259 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions was a continuation of his rough finish to the 2017 season.
But the fifth-year senior bounced back and provided some hope at Toledo when he was on target with 16 of his 23 passes (69.6% according to Sports Info Solutions) and completed 13 of them for 205 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Not only did Rosier run for 80 yards and three touchdowns in the win, he also helped the Hurricanes withstand a third-quarter push by Toledo by leading four consecutive touchdown drives.
That should hold off any more talk about Rosier being replaced by redshirt freshman N’Kosi Perry as the starter for now. But should the Hurricanes stumble over the next month, the boos for Rosier will grow loud again. Grade: B.
Running backs
Sophomore DeeJay Dallas, the backup to junior Travis Homer, leads the team in rushing with 196 yards on 30 carries, including a career-high 110 yards against Toledo. He’s not only averaging more yards per carry (6.5) than Homer (4.5), he’s also breaking more tackles (seven) and creating more yardage (123) than anyone on the team. Still, Richt said Sunday he would like to see the bulk of the carries split between his top two backs.
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“Your top two backs, you want anywhere from 12 to 20 [touches] a game [for each] depending how the game goes,” Richt said. “[Saturday’s game at Toledo] was a game where we wanted to control the ball running the ball at times. That’s as much fun as I can have as a play caller, to dial up a run, another run, an 8-yard run, another run to get a first down on second and two. I can call those plays pretty good. I like to share the load, don’t think we’re in a day and age of a guy going 30 carries a game every game. It just doesn’t make sense anymore.”
It’s a small sample size, but for what it’s worth Miami has averaged 43.5 runs per game and 29 passes per game against its two FBS opponents this season. Last season, Miami threw it an average of 33 times and ran it an average of 31.5 times against FBS opponents.
The reintroduction of the fullback in short yardage situations has also helped Miami become a better team on the ground. Last season, the Hurricanes converted first downs on third down and 3 yards or less with the run only 9 times in 19 attempts. This season, UM is 6 of 9 when it runs the ball on 3rd down and 3 yards or less. Grade: B+
Receivers/tight ends
Although the injury to Ahmmon Richards (knee) was disappointing, Miami’s receivers have been outstanding without him for the most part.
Sophomore Jeff Thomas has been as explosive a receiver as any in the country. He leads the nation in yards per catch (27.64) and the team in catches (11), yards (304) and targets (19).
Lawrence Cager (8 catches, 131 yards, 2 TDs) and Darrell Langham (5 catches, 75 yards) have been reliable, and freshmen Brian Hightower (2 catches, 40 yards, 1 TD) and Dee Wiggins (2 targets, 0 catches) have both been on the field and part of the rotation.
Freshmen tight ends Brevin Jordan (11 targets, 7 catches, 52 yards, 2 TDs) and Will Mallory (4 targets, 1 catch, 2 yards, 1 TD) played well against Savannah State and have shown encouraging signs, but have yet to show up on the stat sheet against FBS competition.
Still, all things considered, this has been UM’s best offensive unit thus far. Grade: A.
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Offensive line
After struggling to create much of a push at the line of scrimmage against LSU or even Savannah State in the first half, Miami’s starting unit had its best afternoon of the season against Toledo, opening holes for the running game, not allowing Rosier to get sacked and not getting penalized.
“When you run the ball as well as we did [versus Toledo], there are a lot of factors and some is getting the quarterback and the linemen on the same page,” Richt said Sunday. “Teams will show one thing and roll coverage another way, do things to try and confuse us in our blocking schemes. I thought Malik did a really good job and [center] Tyler [Gauthier] together to get us in the right blocking schemes in a lot of our run game. We blocked better on the perimeter. Our wide receivers and tight ends blocked better than last week, and that helps you get the longer runs.
“We challenged them, and they blocked a lot better. No sacks [were] big. We had a couple of pressures, one we ended up completing the ball, the other one we ended up not being able to get it out there far enough to hit Hightower on a deep [throw]. For the most part, they protected well. I think they’re getting better. We’re playing more guys. [Venzell] Boulware, [freshman] DJ Scaife got to play, and before it was all over pretty much they all got to play. They definitely know what they’re doing and they’re putting their hat on the right people.”
The tests, though, will start to get harder especially against quality ACC competition. Senior left tackle Tyree St. Louis and sophomore right tackle Navaughn Donaldson will have their hands full trying to block against elite-level pass rushers. So far this season, Miami has allowed its quarterbacks to be hurried nine times in two games against FBS opponents. Last season, Rosier was hurried 30 times for the entire season against FBS programs. Grade: B.
Defensive line
The Hurricanes lead the nation with 35 tackles for loss after three weeks (21 against LSU and Toledo combined). Last season, Miami ranked fifth in tackles for loss.
Fifth-year senior defensive tackle Gerald Willis has been a terror, leading all defensive linemen in the nation with seven tackles for loss.
The Hurricanes are averaging three sacks per game (this includes FBS opponents). Willis leads that effort as well with two sacks.
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According to Sports Info Solutions, Miami’s 37 quarterback pressures this season ranks tied with LSU, TCU, Missouri and Ball State for 36th nationally among Division I programs. Last season, Miami ranked third nationally in quarterback pressures with 237. Only USC (257) and Clemson (248) produced more.
Sophomore defensive end Jon Garvin is tied with Willis for the team lead in quarterback pressures with six. Junior defensive end Joe Jackson is next on the list among defensive linemen with four. Grade: A-
Linebackers
Middle linebacker Shaq Quarterman had a couple breakdowns in pass coverage against Toledo, but outside of those misplays he’s been solid, ranking third on the team with 17 tackles. He’s only had an opponent break out of a tackle twice, according to Sports Info Solutions (it happened 16 times in 2017).
Weakside linebacker Michael Pinckney has been a little less reliable with opponents breaking free from four of his tackles (it happened eight times all of last season). But of his 12 tackles, 3½ have been for losses, which puts Pinckney third on the team in that category behind Willis and Garvin.
Overall, the Hurricanes are doing a much better job on third down than a season ago. Last season, the Hurricanes allowed opponents to convert 39.5 percent of the time, which ranked 75th nationally. This season, UM ranks No. 1 in the country in third-down defense (7 of 43, 16.28%). Throw out Savannah State and the Canes are still elite, allowing FBS opponents to convert only five first downs on 27 third-down attempts (18.52%).
Last season, the Hurricanes allowed opponents to convert on 3rd down and 3 yards or less 25 times in 40 rush attempts. This season? Miami hasn’t allowed an opponent to convert a 3rd and short yet in three tries.
Opponents are averaging 2.42 yards per carry versus the Canes, which ranks 10th nationally. If you only count FBS opponents, Miami is allowing 3.4 yards per carry, which is better than last year’s average (3.47) per game against FBS opponents.
If there’s one real blemish, Miami has yet to produce a forced fumble against an FBS opponent (nope, the one against LSU didn’t count because of the targeting penalty on Trajan Bandy). Grade: A-.
Secondary
Safety Jaquan Johnson (right hamstring strain) has been a tackling machine yet again, racking up a team-high 22 tackles while not having an opponent break out of any of them.
If there’s an area where we’ve seen the Hurricanes slip a little, it is in pass coverage. Opposing FBS quarterbacks are have a higher rating against UM (125.54) than they did a year ago (117.25).
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Michael Jackson, one of the top cover corners in the country, was beaten twice down the field in coverage against Toledo. He has been targeted 10 times and allowed four catches for 90 yards thus far this season, according to Sports Info Solutions.
On the other side of the field, Bandy has been targeted three times and he has allowed only one catch while intercepting another.
Overall, the Hurricanes have allowed opponents to complete only 50.8 percent of their pass attempts, which ranks 18th nationally. Throw out Savannah State, Miami is allowing opponents to complete 51.1 percent of their passes. Last season, FBS opponents completed 56.5 percent of their attempts against this defense.
Where the Canes have slowed down is creating interceptions. Miami has one against FBS opponents this season and had 16 against them last season. Grade: B+
Special Teams
Sophomore Zach Feagles’ punting struggles have been well-documented. According to Sports Info Solutions, his net punting average of 36.5 yards ranks 135th out of 200 Division I punters. Last season, he ranked 147th in net punt average with 37.6 yards per punt.
It should be noted, though, Feagles hasn’t exactly had great punt protection. Twice now, opponents have come close to blocking one of his punts.
Freshman kicker Bubba Baxa, meanwhile, had a pair of kickoffs go out of bounds against Toledo, and he leads the country in kicks that have sailed out of bounds with three. Last season, Michael Badgley kicked the ball out of bounds three times the entire season (75 kickoffs).
Baxa, though, is a perfect 18 of 18 on extra points (he’s 1 of 2 on field goals) and he’s managed to force touchbacks on 13 of his 22 kickoffs (59.1 percent). Last season, Badgley managed touchbacks on 42 percent of his kickoffs.
Richt said Sunday the Hurricanes gave up a 40-yard return to Toledo in part because of injuries forcing second- and third-team players onto the unit. Otherwise, the Hurricanes have done a good job covering kicks.
As for returning kicks, Jeff Thomas had a couple nice punt returns against Savannah State. It’s likely teams will stay away from kicking it directly to him. Grade: C+
The Fab Five
Here’s who is in the early running for Team MVP and why:
1. Gerald Willis: The Hurricanes lead the nation in tackles for loss and are still pretty formidable on defense because it has Willis wreaking havoc up front on a regular basis.
2. Jeff Thomas: He has been the offense’s MVP hands down and could quietly enter the Heisman conversation if he keeps making explosive plays every week and the Hurricanes remain a Top 25 team.
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3. Jaquan Johnson: His value as a leader in the secondary became evident the moment he went down against Toledo. If he’s out for an extended time, Miami could be in some trouble.
4. DeeJay Dallas: The sophomore has run the ball with vigor, and as long as the running game continues to be present the Hurricanes will have a shot at repeating as Coastal Division champions.
5. Shaq Quarterman: Miami’s run defense remains one of the best in the country because its middle linebacker doesn’t make many mistakes or miss many tackles.
(Top photo of Jeff Thomas by Jasen Vinlove / USA TODAY Sports)
