What did Miami football work on in first day of training camp?

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 30: De'Andre Wilder
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 30: De'Andre Wilder
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The first day of training camp is usually a time for the players to get acclimated to being back on the practice field. The Miami football team did that and worked on a few aspects of their game that had shortcomings in 2017.

The biggest area that seemed to doom the Miami football team in 2017 was their poor play on third down on both sides of the ball.

Despite having one of the nation’s best defenses in 2017 their inability to get off the field on third down and the offense’s inability to convert on third down often prolonged drives on defense and stifled them on offense.

The Miami defense finished 75th nationally out of 130 teams stopping opponents on third down 39.55 percent of the time. Oddly enough Miami ranked much higher on fourth down. Opponents converted only 40 percent of their fourth-down conversions which was 24th in the country.

The offense was far worse than the Miami defense was on third down. The Miami offense converted just 28.83 percent of their third-down conversions. That was 126th out of 130 FBS teams. Kent State, Maryland, Texas-El Paso and Charlotte were the only teams that were worse.

The Miami red zone offense and defense also struggled last season. The Hurricanes often relied on big plays last season to score and stop the opposition. Everyone knows by now about the Turnover chain. On offense for all the criticism that Malik Rosier took he often made big plays with his arm and feet in 2017.

Miami football opponents scored 88.1 percent of the time in the red zone last season. That is field goals and touchdowns. The Hurricanes were much better at keeping opponents out of the end zone on red zone possessions in 2017.

Schedule

Schedule