Blake Baker led successful 2019 Miami Hurricanes defense
Miami Hurricanes football fans who have taken to social media calling for defensive coordinator Blake baker to be fired are ignoring the largely successful season the Hurricanes had on defense.
Miami Hurricanes football fans who want defensive coordinator Blake Baker fired are reacting on emotion, citing occasional letdowns by the defense and asking for replacements like fired South Florida head coach Charlie Strong who oversaw worse defenses than the Hurricanes had this season.
Miami head coach Manny Diaz built an elite defense during his three seasons as defensive coordinator from 2016-18 before being named head coach in December 2018. Miami finished 13th in total defense, 25th in scoring defense, fourth in tackles for loss, sixth in sacks, 16th against the run and 25th against the pass in 2019.
Miami has work to do on third-down conversions and in the red zone defensively. The Hurricanes were 46th in opponent third-down conversions and 59th in opponents’ red-zone conversions. The Hurricanes have to improve their situational defense in 2020. Miami also gave up too many big plays in the passing game.
The Hurricanes were 65th allowing nine plays of 40 yards or more, passing 75th with five plays or 50 yards or more and 122nd allowing five plays or 60 yards or more. Two of the 60 yard plus plays contributed to the loss to Florida. Miami started a young secondary this season and improved as the season went on.
Blake Baker defense under year 1 🙌 pic.twitter.com/fWO9YlHviZ
— CanesCorner (@canescorner_) December 4, 2019
The Hurricanes were excellent in three of the final four games on third down. Only FIU had success in the final third of the season on third down against Miami. The Panthers converted six of their 14 third-down conversions in the penultimate game of the season. The RedZone defense was another story.
Other than the Louisville game when Miami got off to a big lead, teams scored at will on the Hurricanes in the red-zone. Louisville scored on only two of their five red-zone trips against the Hurricanes. In their other 10 FBS games, opponents scored on 27 of 29 trips inside the red-zone.
#CFB Top 9 Defenses - Run Stuff %
— SportSource Analytics (@SportSourceA) December 5, 2019
1️⃣ #Miami . . . .41%
2️⃣ #UAB . . . . .40%
3️⃣ #Utah . . . . .40%
4️⃣ #Auburn . . .39%
5️⃣ #CMU . . . . .39%
6️⃣ #UCF . . . . .39%
7️⃣ #OhioSt . . .39%
8️⃣ #AppState .39%
9️⃣ #SDSU . . . .39%
Run Stuff = < 2 yd. on a distance of 2+. < 1 for dist of 1.
There is a lot to be positive about with the defense for the Miami football team entering the 2020 season. Redshirt freshman Greg Rousseau emerged as one of the best pass rushers in the country. Rousseau was named the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year and first-team All-ACC.
Rousseau led the conference with 14 sacks and contributed 18 TFLs. Sophomore safety Gurvan Hall and was a solid starter who finished third on the Hurricanes with 61 Tackles. Miami will lose All-ACC linebackers and the top tacklers Shaq Quarterman and Michael Pinckney after the 2019 season.
redshirted the 2019 season to give Miami more experience at LB in 2020. Freshman
and
who is redshirting this season and will be a redshirt freshman in 2020 are the most likely candidates to start at the other LB beside McCloud.
The Miami Hurricanes also lose senior defensive tackle Pat Bethel backup Chigozie Nnoruka. The Hurricanes have depth on the defensive interior and should have a strong rotation there next season. Those calling for Baker to be fired are reacting on emotion and panicking while ignoring the stats.
Miami shows it has talent to compete with All-ACC team. dark. Next
The tough and disappointing season for the Hurricanes has created illogical opinions from some of the Hurricanes fanbase. Baker has shown good leadership and a good grasp of what Diaz wants to do defensively. The Hurricanes just need to fix their third down and red zone defense to return to being as dominant as they were in 2018.