Miami Hurricanes turnovers in 2017 were by design not luck

Michigan State was solid defensively last season allowing 20 points per game which was 19th in the country. They didn’t force turnovers at nearly the rate that Miami did, however. MSU finished 34th forcing turnovers, 38th in interceptions and 48th in fumble recoveries.

The Florida State fans and bloggers will surely point out that Barnett’s defense gave up fewer yards and points than the Hurricanes. The points were negligible. The Miami Hurricanes allowed 21 points per game.

To claim that the Miami Hurricanes were lucky continues to be ignorant, naive and lazy journalism. It not at all looking at the facts. It’s the epitome of fake news.

Having a defense that forces turnovers is important for several reasons. It can shorten the field for the offense or take the ball away when it looks like the opposing team is going in for a score. It creates momentum for your team and takes it away from the opponent.

The constant bashing of the Miami Hurricanes 2017 season by a small percentage of the Florida State fan base and one particular Florida State blog seems to be an obsession with the Miami football team and to a lesser extent to draw views to their website.

Over the course of his career, Diaz’s defenses average rank per season has been 49th in forcing turnovers, 57th in interceptions and 47th in fumble recoveries. The medians for Diaz’s defenses are much higher.

The median finish for a Manny Diaz defense in turnovers is 35.5 nationally in turnovers, 49th in interceptions and 27.5 in interceptions. That is ranking in the upper third nationally in turnovers, the upper quarter in interceptions and top three-eights in fumble recoveries each season. That is based on performance, not luck.

Next: Miami football and Mark Richt ranked best No. 3 teams during BCS era

The next time you see any FSU supporters foolishly claim that the 2017 season for Miami was lucky, make sure to let them know they were wrong and why.