What Did Miami Hurricanes Defensive Players Say After Syracuse
The Miami Hurricanes defense forced four first-half turnovers and made a key stop late in the fourth quarter in a 27-19 victory over Syracuse Saturday. The Hurricanes much-maligned secondary picked off Orange quarterback Eric Dungey four times in the opening 30 minutes.
Dungey was harassed all day by the Miami Hurricanes defense. The nation’s 13th leading passer finished 13-41 for 137 yards with the four interceptions. Dungey ranks fourth in the ACC averaging 277.1 yards per game.
Cornerback Michael Jackson continues to make big plays dating to last season. He had two of the four Miami Hurricanes interceptions. Jackson’s two ints give him three on the season. His 0.5 interceptions per game place him in a tie for 13th nationally. That puts him on pace for six this season including a bowl game.
Jackson is also tenth on the team in tackles and has contributed two passes defended. Jackson had a fumble recovery in the end zone last season at Notre Dame. He also contributed one pass defended in limited playing time in 2016.
Miami’s other interceptions were by lineman Demetrius Jackson and safety Jaquan Johnson. Demetrius Jackson lost his interception after being stripped by Dungey on the return.
The Hurricanes defense continued to get after Dungey all day. In addition to the four turnovers, the Canes had nine tackles for loss and four sacks.
Michael Jackson, linebacker Michael Pinckney and defensive lineman R.J. McIntosh all spoke to the media after the game.
Miami Junior CB Michael Jackson
On the biggest key to his development in his time at UM…
"“My biggest development is remembering what guys like Tracy Howard, Artie Burns and Corn Elder taught me. Like playing with a sound mind. If somebody catches a ball on you, come out and play the next play, to have a routine, come out and do this or do that to get you going.”"
On the excitement the turnover chain has brought…
"“It brought a lot of excitement. We’ve seen pictures of people in like South Carolina and otherplaces, and even players in high school games wearing chains, so I feel like we started something.”"
Miami Sophomore LB Michael Pinckney
On defending 93 plays…
"“It was challenging. They were a tempo offense. We tried to simulate it in practice, but it’s pretty hard to do. We’ve just got good backups; your team is based off your backups. So, I felt like we did what we had to do tonight.”"
On if the team was exhausted at times…
"“Of course. Fatigue is always going to set in. You can be in shape, but the heat of the game, adrenaline pumping, you don’t really think about it too much. The coaches can fatigue. Once they see it, we’ve got good backups [to come in], once again. So, we just came out and played.”"
On how the team played overall…
"“We’ve got to be consistent all four quarters. On my end, I probably didn’t do everything I could’ve done, tried as hard as I could. Just as a whole, [for the whole] four quarters, we have to be consistent more. It was going back and forth. The offense was really good and the defense was slacking a little bit. Then, vice versa. I just feel like, as a team, if we can do it, we could be unstoppable.”"
Miami Junior DT RJ McIntosh
On the challenge of defending Syracuse and their 93 snaps…
"“Coming into this game we knew this quarterback was definitely going to be tough. He was going to run the ball a lot. They tried to go fast. They tried to catch us off guard and we were trying to prepare all week on getting set fast and getting off the ball fast and conditioning. We understood they were going to be a fast tempo team and we tried to prepare hard for that.”"
On his five pass break-ups and if he was annoyed he didn’t pick one…
"“I just thank God for being able to play this game and coming out here every day. This game was a big game. They came off a win against Clemson last week. I would have liked to have intercepted one of the passes, but it’s a positive.”"
On the development of Michael Jackson…
"“He’s definitely gotten better. I think (with him) competing in practice against these receivers we have, he’s been getting better every day. He’s more aggressive than previous years and he’s becoming a good player and he’s going to get better every game we play.”"
Next: What Miami Hurricanes Offensive Players Said After Syracuse
Jackson has been back in the starting lineup after losing his spot earlier in this season. He continues to be a big play player. The defense has been getting pressure on the quarterback and into the offensive backfield. That has allowed the secondary to be able to force turnovers.