The Miami Hurricanes defense hasn't been bad through two games. They have given up a total of six points and that's something for the unit to hang its hat on. But the negative plays have been sporadic at best and the turnovers have been non-existent.
Zero turnovers forced in the first two games. Miami is actually negative-3 in turnover margin through two games. The Hurricanes were expected to beat Stanford and Florida A&M by large margins that they succeeded. However, defenses love the negative plays. They want the sacks, tackles for loss, interceptions and forced fumbles and the latter two haven't come at all.
If that sounds a little concerning, it should.
Miami's defense still has plenty of room to grow
Corey Hetherman's defensive scheme is built on forcing mistakes and capitalizing on them. The major difference between the soft group in 2024 and the unit last season was that Hetherman let the dogs go hunting. It's nice to hunt, but unless you're eating, it's really just a waste of time.
"We haven't. We know we haven't, and we really emphasize ball security and ball disruption as hard as you can. But you know we haven't done a good enough job, so you know that is part of a long list of things that we have to get better at. So we've got to keep working," Mario Cristobal said in his Monday press conference.
Wake Forest is a better team than Stanford and Florida A&M. Miami should win comfortably, but creating turnovers makes the job much easier. Gio Lopez, the Demon Deacon quarterback, ism't necessarily a turnover machine, but he'll make a few errant throws and those are the times that the Hurricanes have to capitalize.
That's why the move that might make all the difference is putting Bryce Fitzgerald at cornerback with OJ Frederique and Xavier Lucas on the shelf. It's likely that Fitzgerald is going to be the MVP of this defense in 2026, and he's a natural ball hawk. He had six interceptions last year and is the type of player that the ball just seems to find.
"I think he always had those traits. He was always a safety that had the skill set of an elite corner because he's a big guy," Cristobal said of the former FWAA Freshman All-American. "And then we all know how instinctive he is. Those instincts in his first shot out there at corner, he seemed very natural, and he's had a really good couple days of practice."
There's no need for panic right now. We all knew there would be some kind of adjustment after losing so many key starters last season. The pass rush is going to improve and takeaways will come with them. It's going to happen sooner than later. But Cristobal and Hetherman would love to see it Friday night.
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