Coach Mario Cristobal said there will be no finger-pointing in the wake of UM’s immensely disappointing loss to Georgia Tech — a defeat that leaves Miami with little, if any, margin for error to make the 12-team College Football Playoff.
But we are allowed to finger-point in this space, and this much has become clear:
These 10 people — in no particular order — must raise their performance up a notch, or two and three, for UM to beat Wake Forest and Syracuse and win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, a trifecta of triumphs that would give the Canes a playoff berth and a first-round bye:
▪ Middle linebacker Francisco Mauigoa: His regression from second team All-ACC linebacker in 2023 to mediocre (or worse) has been one of the mysteries of this season.
His tackles for loss are down from 18 to nine, his sacks down from 7.5 (in 90 pass rushing snaps) to two (in 60 pass rush chances).
He leads UM with 16 missed tackles; as perspective, only 10 FBS linebackers have missed more tackles.
He has been a liability in pass coverage, permitting 26 completions in 38 attempts in his coverage area for 269 yards (24th most allowed by any FBS linebacker), three TDs and one interception. Only six FBS linebackers have permitted more passing touchdowns.
Pro Football Focus ranks him UM’s seventh-worst defensive player against the run, among those who have played at least 50 snaps. UM needs something far better to compensate for its dubious secondary.
▪ Edge player Tyler Baron: ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller called Baron a potential first-round pick before the season. And he sure looked like that in September, with 4.5 sacks in his first three games.
But he has no sacks and just two tackles for loss in seven games since, and he hasn’t done nearly a good enough job setting the edge against the run.
He had no solo tackles against Georgia Tech, and his run defense grade was abysmal, worst among all UM front seven defenders against a Yellow Jackets offense that ran for 272 yards on 5.6 per carry.
▪ Edge player Rueben Bain Jr.: The standard is higher here, because of the bar set during his freshman season. After an injury sidelined him in September, the sophomore jump hasn’t come, perhaps because he has outgrown defensive end and seems better suited for defensive tackle.
PFF rates Bain as UM’s fifth-worst run defender this year, and his run defense grade was poor against Georgia Tech, ahead of only Baron and C.J.Clark among front seven defenders.
His sacks have dropped from 7.5 in 354 pass-rushing snaps last season to 2.5 in 150 this season, while his quarterback pressures have dropped from 45 to 19.
He mustered no sacks and half a tackle for loss in the past two games. Bain has been decent, but greatness was expected.
▪ Defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor: He’s UM’s third-worst run defender this season, per PFF, and the sacks (3.5) and tackles for loss (six) are down from his production in his last healthy season for UM, when he had seven sacks and 11 tackles for loss in 2022. He mustered just one tackle against Georgia Tech.
▪ Safety Mishael Powell: The interceptions (four) and leadership have been positives. He’s a mature, durable player who was a starter on the national runner-up Washington Huskies last season.
But on the four passes that he didn’t intercept, he allowed 15 receptions in 16 targets for 310 yards (18th highest among FBS safeties) and three touchdowns. His 20.7 yards allowed per reception is second worst among all FBS safeties with a minimum of 10 receptions allowed. His 116.7 passer rating against in his coverage area is worst on the team.
What’s more, he’s UM’s worst run defender, per PFF, and ranked 863rd of 889 safeties overall as a run defender.
▪ Safety Jaden Harris: Like Powell, Harris has missed nine tackles — tied for second worst on the team behind only Mauigoa’s 15.
Among players who have logged at least 40 snaps on defense, Harris is rated UM’s second-worst run defender this season, ahead of only Powell.
His coverage numbers aren’t awful (10 completions in 16 targets for 95 yards and a touchdown), but he has taken poor angles at times and has been involved in communication miscues.
Lack of elite speed at safety has been very costly. But freshman Zaquan Patterson hasn’t done enough to overtake him, at least in the eyes of coaches.
▪ Guard Anez Cooper: The thought was that UM’s behemoth right guard would take the step from very good player to elite. But that step hasn’t happened.
Cooper has permitted a team-leading three sacks and 14 pressures, and PFF rates him below average as a run blocker, ahead of only center Zach Carpenter in that category on UM’s offensive line. PFF rates him 280th of 656 FBS guards overall.
▪ Cornerback Daryl Porter Jr.: Last season, Porter had the best passer rating against among UM cornerbacks — a sterling 64.2 (11 for 22 targets completed against him for 108 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions).
This season, among all UM players, only Powell has a worse passer rating against than Porter’s 104.5.
Among all FBS cornerbacks, Porter has allowed the 13th most completions (34) on 51 targets, the 20th most yards in the air (413) and two touchdowns, with no interceptions.
More is needed from UM’s best non-freshman cornerback.
▪ Defensive coordinator Lance Guidry: Last year, he might have done the best work of any UM assistant. This season, he arguably has done the worst, unable to fix communications issues or compensate for deficiencies in the secondary and underperformance by a talented front seven.
Guidry loves to blitz, but he cannot consistently do that with this group because he would make a mediocre secondary even more vulnerable by sending extra pass rushers.
Essentially, this personnel isn’t fully conducive to fit his system, and though Guidry made some sound second-half adjustments against California and Duke, he hasn’t done enough to raise a unit that shouldn’t be this porous.
Former UM quarterback Malik Rosier has been a frequent critic of Guidry on social media, imploring him to play more zone defense.
“**** man,” Rosier groused during the Georgia Tech game on X. “Like get [the expletive] outta of man!!!!!!!!!! You letting these fast… WR run wide open!!! Zone it up. Make a young guy throw into windows!!!”
ABC’s Booger McFarland said Saturday that “Miami is a very poorly coached team. Mario Cristobal has to answer for why Miami is never prepared.”
▪ Others (tied): Receiver Sam Brown needs to cut down the drops (four)... Carpenter has allowed the 29th most quarterback pressures among FBS centers (11), and only 14 FBS starting centers all season have worse run blocking grades… No. 3 cornerback Dyoni Hill needs to shore up coverage (16 catches in 28 targets for 239 yards, one touchdown, 97.2 passer rating). Devante Brown could supplant Hill when he returns from injury, potentially this month
