OFFENSE
Scoring
This year: 37th – 34.6 points
Last year: 71st (27.8)
Brad Kaaya, who was recruited to play in James Coley’s system, seemed to get more comfortable in Mark Richt’s scheme as the season wore on. He was not protected well for most of it, but was able to find his playmakers regularly. UM scored more than its opponent’s season-average points allowed total six of 12 times. It averaged 29.4 points in ACC games (sixth of 14 teams). Generally, Miami was better than average offensively; it had its way with weaker teams but couldn’t score 20 against Florida State, North Carolina or Virginia Tech. And like 2015, it attempted too many field goals — 25, the sixth-most nationally.
Rushing
This year: 55th (4.72 yards per carry)
Last year: 112th (3.68)
Second-worst in the ACC to fifth-best. That’s good. Mark Walton, Joe Yearby and Gus Edwards got rolling in some games, and were tough to stop. Like the rest of the offense, they struggled in October.
Passing
This year: 32nd (147.08 passer rating)
Last year: 48th (136.29)
We use passer rating here, rather than pure yardage, because it takes into account several major passing categories (yards, completion percentage, touchdowns, interceptions). Kaaya didn’t light up the ACC, as many thought he would under Richt, but he fared well. Also, 8.4 yards per attempt (tied with North Carolina and Arkansas for 18th) shows Miami’s big-play ability.
Yards per play
This year: 22nd (6.52)
Last year: 48th (5.91)
Miami’s pass-heavy attack (almost a 3-to-2 pass-to-run yardage ratio) thrived on big plays, which boosted this number. As a result, UM’s time of possession stats were not impressive. The Hurricanes ranked 105th in that category. Of Miami’s 67 scoring drives, three lasted longer than five minutes, and 12 went longer than three minutes.
Third-down conversions
This year: 93rd (37.11)
Last year: 107th (34.97)
A slight improvement, but still a weak area. Generally, Miami’s offense prefers to go down the field with big plays rather than long marches, but you’ve still got to convert third downs at a better rate than this.
When it went for it on fourth-downs, Miami was 6-for-12, which was middle-of-the-pack (T-62nd).
Red-zone conversions
This year: T-77th (82.35)
Last year: 84th (81.67)
Not great. When it did score, Miami scored touchdowns 58.82 percent of the time, a figure that ranked in the bottom third of 128 FBS teams. A pair of end-zone interceptions hurt UM’s efforts in this category.
Big plays
This year:
T-41st in scrimmage plays of 10-plus yards (184 of 793 plays)
T-37th in 20-plus (65)
T-14th in 30-plus (37)
T-17th in 40-plus (21)
T-14th in 50-plus (12)
T-14th in 60-plus (7)
T-17th in 70-plus (4)
T-25th in 80-plus (1)
T-15th in 90-plus (0)
Last year:
56th in plays of 10-plus yards (187 of 873 plays)
32nd in 20-plus (74)
T-22nd in 30-plus (36)
T-41st in 40-plus (17)
T-71st in 50-plus (6)
T-97th in 60-plus (2)
T-110th in 70-plus (0)
T-61st in 80-plus (0)
T-23rd in 90-plus (0)
Clearly a more explosive offense this year, with Ahmmon Richards and David Njoku having breakout seasons and Walton taking over as the starting back. Had half as many 50-plus plays last year, and UM has one more game to add to that total.
Breaking that down further:
Miami finished a respectable 30th in rushing plays of 40-plus yards (seven), after finishing 85th in that category last year (three). Its longest rush of last year was Braxton Berrios’ 60-yard reverse in the Sun Bowl. This year, it was Walton’s 80-yard touchdown against Appalachian State.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes had one of the most explosive passing attacks in the country, ranking T-13th in 50-plus plays (eight). They had five last year, which was T-40th.
(A note on the “+35” figure from the opening section: to get that number, I took the average of Miami’s movement in the rankings in each of the big-play categories. I did the same for defense.)
Sacks and tackles for losses allowed
This year: 62nd in sacks allowed (2.0 per game), 43rd in TFL (5.33 per game)
Last year: 34th in sacks allowed (1.46 per game), eighth in TFL (4.39)
A regression up front, clearly, but it can be mostly traced to one four-game losing in October. Miami allowed 18 of its 24 sacks in games against Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Notre Dame. The offensive line, and the Hurricanes, struggled in the first three of those games, all of which came in a 12-day stretch. The defense mostly held up through the first two, while the offense sputtered through the first three-and-a-half (you’ll remember the second-half comeback against Notre Dame).
