The Miami Hurricanes defense was elite at forcing turnovers in 2017. They face an LSU offense that turned the ball over only eight times last season.
Forcing turnovers was a key for the Miami Hurricanes during their ten game winning streak to begin the 2017 season. The eight turnovers LSU committed in 2017 tied an NCAA record in a season. Four of those came in an embarrassing loss to Troy. The Tigers did not commit a turnover in eight of their 13 games in 2017.
Miami and LSU were exceptional in turnover margin in 2017. The Hurricanes were fifth in the nation at plus 13, or one per game. LSU was 16th at plus ten, or 0.77 per game. LSU finished 35th in 2016 with 17 turnovers.
Forcing turnovers became more than just taking the ball away from the other team and getting the ball back for their offense for the Miami Hurricanes in 2017. It energized the Hurricanes fanbase and often demoralized the other team. It always seemed to be on the mind of Miami opponents.
The Miami Hurricanes defense seemed to be in heads of Notre Dame before the Fighting Irish took the field last season. It was like the Hurricanes championship era against the Irish in the 1980s and early 90s.
Interesting pep talk for Notre Dame players on the field before Miami game. ***Very very NSFW language*** pic.twitter.com/LIgc00xvAq
— Will Manso (@WillManso) November 11, 2017
If Miami can get in the heads early of an extremely young LSU offense, the Tigers might be overwhelmed under the lights of AT&T Stadium and a national audience on television. LSU is starting a new quarterback, new wide receivers and a new running back.
The key for Miami is to stop the LSU running game. Forcing the Tigers into third and long will give the Hurricanes defense a better chance to force turnovers. Forcing turnovers are not always the difference as some stat heads have stated this offseason. For Miami, in 2017 it was almost everything.
The Hurricanes were plus 13 on turnovers in wins in 2017 and minus three in the three losses to end the season. LSU was plus 11 in their wins last season and minus one in their losses. The Tigers committed only three turnovers in their wins and five in their losses. As we mentioned previously four came in the loss to the Trojans.
Getting to and rattling new LSU quarterback Joe Burrow early and often will prove key for Miami. The three specialties of the Miami defense in 2017 was forcing turnovers, getting into the opponents backfields and sacking the quarterback.
In the ten game winning streak to start 2017, Miami had 38 sacks. The Hurricanes managed only six in the three-game losing streak at the end of the season. They averaged slightly less than half in wins then they did in losses.
Miami’s ability to get into opponents backfields and tackle them behind the line of scrimmage was also worse in the three losses. Oddly enough their worst performance of the season as a team in the loss to Clemson they were able to accumulate ten tackles for loss. UM averaged 8.5 TFLs in wins and seven in losses.
Stifling the run early and forcing LSU into passing downs will significantly increase the likelihood of forcing LSU turnovers. Looking at all the numbers from 2017, turnovers are one of the biggest areas in strength versus strength for Miami and LSU from 2017.
One area Miami will have a big advantage when their defense is on the field against LSU’s offense is experience. That could be another factor in turnovers.
Can LSU handle the pressure of the big stadium, atmosphere and the potential for the turnover chain to come out? That could come down to how good of a leader Burrow is.