Miami Hurricanes Football: Have The Canes Improved In Areas Of Need Thus Far?

Before the 2014 season I wrote a post titled, “5 Areas That Need Improvement This Season.”  Now that the Hurricanes are just past the halfway point of the season, I’d like to take a look and see how the Canes are doing in those 5 areas as well as some new areas that are of concern.

Total Defense

Last year the Miami Hurricanes finished the season ranked 89th in total defense. They gave up 5.75 yards per play and 426.4 yards per game.

Seven games into this season the Canes are ranked….wait for it…. 22nd in total defense. They are giving up 4.46 yards per play and 327.4 yards per game.

This is where numbers are a bit deceiving. I don’t believe the Canes can maintain these numbers, although, I would love to be wrong. The defense is still not where it needs to be, however, I do think that they have improved from last year. The toughest offenses’ the Canes still have to face are North Carolina (ranked #37 in total offense) and Florida State (ranked #43 total offense). Looking at the positive, the Canes have already played 4 opponents who are ranked in the top 50 of total offense, they are: #14 in Nebraska, #29 in Georgia Tech, #38 in Arkansas State and #42 in Cincinnati.

Passing Yards Allowed

Last season, the Canes finished 90th in passing yards allowed. The defense allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 60% of their passes along with 249.8 passing yards per game.

So far in the 2014 season the Canes are ranked 10th in passing yards allowed. Yes you read that right, 10th! They are allowing quarterbacks to complete 53% of their passes along with 175.9 passing yards per game. Again, numbers are deceiving. The Canes have not faced many offenses’ that are pass heavy, most have actually been pretty run heavy (Nebraska, Georgia Tech). The pass defense did do pretty well against Cincinnati who is ranked #12 in passing offense. Not to rain on the parade but the next best passing offense the Canes have matched up with is Arkansas State who is ranked at #68 (yikes!). Much tougher tests’ are yet to come.

Third Down Conversions

The Hurricanes offense ended the 2013 season ranked 96th in third down conversions with a conversion rate of 35.2%.

Just when you think this ranking couldn’t get worse, I inform you that the offense is currently ranked 124th out of 125 FBS teams with a conversion rate of 24.7%. This is terrible! There are too many playmakers on offense to be this bad at converting on third downs. James Coley needs to fix this problem and fix it quick as it will lead to other problems such as a tired defense and poor time of possession, which all go hand-in-hand and negatively affect the team.

First Down Defense

Last year’s defense was ranked 97th in the country in first down defense. They gave up first downs in abundance with the majority coming from the pass.

This year’s first down defense is ranked 61st with seven games played so far this season. They have given up 63 first downs to the rush, 61 to the pass, and 17 first downs due to penalties. Here is yet another area of improvement for the defense, hopefully the upward trend continues for the rest of the season.

Offensive Time Of Possession

In 2013, the Canes ranked 118th in offensive time of possession with an average of 25:58 minutes per game.

Not very much improvement here as the Canes currently rank 113th in time of possession with an average of 27 minutes per game. Again, this goes hand-in-hand with the poor ranking in third down conversions. Also, as the time of possession improves the efficiency of the defense will improve as well. In order to tally up wins in the second half of the season, the Canes need to find ways to sustain drives.

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I personally found it interesting that the defense has improved in areas that were very poor last year, yet the offense has not. Sure, there is much more to the game than these 5 areas but not all of the blame should be put on the defense for the losses this year.

Areas For Concern

While looking at the current team rankings for the 2014 season, I wanted to make a brief list of areas that the Canes are ranked very low and that need to be improved in order to have a successful second half of the season.

• Penalties- ranked #105, 57 penalties for 547 yards
• First Down Offense- ranked #84, 137 first downs, 19.6/game
• Kickoff Return Defense- ranked #111, 23.78 yds/return, 1 TD
• Punt Returns- ranked #85, 6.63 yds/return
• Team Tackles For Loss- ranked #108, 4.6 per game
• Turnover Margin- ranked #84, -2 margin
• Redzone Defense- ranked #69, opposing offense scores 83.3% of time
• Redzone Offense- ranked #74, offense score 82.1% of time