Miami football success on third down begins by stopping the run
Picking up where they left off in 2018 when the led the nation in third-down conversions against, the 2019 Miami football team is tied for fifth in stopping opponents on third down.
Speaking on Hurricane Hotline on 560 WQAM the Joe on Tuesday night, Miami football head coach Manny Diaz attributed the Hurricanes success stopping opponents on third down to their ability to stop the run. After last season’s disaster in the Pinstripe Bowl against Wisconsin on the ground, it’s an encouraging development.
After finishing 42nd against the run in 2018, the Miami football team has improved defensively to eighth against the run in 2019. All of the schools ahead of the Hurricanes stopping the run are from Power Five conferences except for San Diego State who is third. Miami is allowing 69.33 rushing yards per game.
The stout Miami rush defense has put opponents in third and long. The Hurricanes have stopped opponents on 28 out of 35 times on third downs in 2019. The 80 percent success rate defensively on third down is tied for fifth with Navy in 2019. The Midshipmen have stopped 20 of 25 third-down attempts against them.
The Hurricanes defense has been equally up to the task on third down against Florida and North Carolina as they were against Bethune-Cookman. Away from home, Miami allowed the Gators and Tar Heels to convert just four of 20 attempts on third-down.
Diaz has routinely preached the importance of hidden yards in the three weeks he has coached on the field. Miami averaged more than 10 yards per punt than Bethune-Cookman in Saturday’s game. Diaz made a point of discussing the importance of that. Holding the Wildcats to 3-15 on third down also played a role.
Diaz spoke about the importance of the run defense preceding the success of putting teams in third and long and how well the Hurricanes defensive tackles have played this season.
"“People are not running the football on Miami…That’s where it all starts. We’re fifth in the country in third-down defense. When you are really good at stopping the run, you are going to create third and longs. Jon Ford, Pat Bethel, Jordan Miller, Chigozie Nnoruka have been super solid.There’s athleticism Miami defensive tackles should have that maybe other schools don’t want. Miami isn’t built on pluggers. It’s built on guys who get in the backfield and wreak havoc when they get there.”"
The interior of the Miami defensive line has stopped the run more by committee this season than a dominant force like the departed Gerald Willis was in 2018. Willis led Miami with 18 tackles for loss last season and added 59 tackles and four sacks. He earned second-team All-American for his outstanding season.
Bethel leads the Miami DTs this season with five tackles and 2.5 TFLs. Greg Rousseau has played some inside as well. Rousseau has been productive in limited snaps. The redshirt freshman has five tackles and leads Miami with 3.5 TFLs and two sacks.
Miami is allowing just 2.34 yards per carry. Assuming opponents run most of the time on first down that puts them in second and 7.36 the majorty of the time.
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Getting teams in second and third and long let the Miami pass rush pin their ears back. The Hurricanes led the nation in tackles for loss and were ninth in sacks per game in 2018. Those numbers are not there at the same pace in 2019 as they were last season. If Miami continues to stop the run, the TFLs and sacks will follow.