Miami football should have defensive battle at Michigan State with Mel Tucker hiring
Tucker returned to college under his former boss Saban as the assistant head coach and defensive backs coach with the 2015 National Champion Crimson Tide. He left Tuscaloosa to join Kirby Smart as the defensive coordinator at Georgia from 2016-18. From Athens Tucker became the head coach at Colorado.
The Buffaloes defense was substandard in their one season under Tucker. Colorado finished 104th nationally in total defense in 2019 allowing 441.9 yards per game. Miami finished 13th in the first season of the Diaz era as a head coach with Blake Baker as the defensive coordinator. Michigan State finished 19th.
The Spartans allowed 321.6 yards per game in 2019. Colorado was 95th in scoring defense. The Buffaloes allowed 31.8 PPG in 2019. Miami finished 23rd nationally in scoring defense in 2019 allowing 20.2 PPG, Michigan State finished 38th allowing 22.5. Michigan State does not have a lot of production returning in 2020.
Per ESPN metrics guru Bill Connolly, the Spartans are 117th nationally with the production that returns. Michigan State returns 46 percent of their production overall, 43 percent on offense to rank 112th and 49 percent on defense to rank 111th. Miami returns 55 percent overall to rank 97th.
Next. Miami football 2020 freshmen most likely to contribute. dark
The Hurricanes return 59 percent of their production on offense to rank 82nd and 50 percent on defense to rank106th. The addition of quarterback D’Eriq King and defensive end Quincy Roche makes those numbers a bit misleading. Add in their production with Houston and Temple and Miami skyrockets on the list.