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After Wednesday’s drills, defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said he does prepare his team for trick plays, but that Boston College just did an outstanding job of mixing those type of plays into their offense on a bye week.
“Sometimes we have to imagine the plays they could run based off of some formations. But you have to give BC a lot of credit – you could tell the bye week factored in,” Diaz said. “They executed at a very fast tempo, at a very high level and very multiple formation - motion, new tricks, that type of stuff. I felt like, once we settled down, we gave ourselves a chance to win the game. But the damage had been done by that point.”
The Canes watched the Eagles’ march right down the field on three straight drives for 17 points to start the game with little resistance from UM’s defense, and Diaz said he saw his D-Line start to tire out.
“The biggest issue we had with our guys inside is we played too many snaps,” Diaz said. “The first three drives of the game we took a lot of snaps, have to do a better job - we needed our depth at Boston College. We played about 40 snaps in the first three drives, which is our fault, but for us to not roll guys, that takes a bite out of our defense.
“Our effectiveness was down because of our fatigue. That’s why big-time teams have to roll two-deep… That gas tank is empty, we have to get other guys and push them into the game. That’s something we felt we had to do a better job of (based on) the way the game unfolded Saturday.”
How would Diaz evaluate the performance of his unit the past two games?
“Obviously we didn’t play as well against Boston College as we have,” Diaz said. “That was somewhat due to us and somewhat you have to give credit to them. All we do as coaches, the winning and losing and all that - we just try to get better. Individually, you have to bring a guy in and say, ‘Okay. Here’s how you play and what you need to improve on.’
“You’re always trying to play your best game the next game, regardless of what happened the last game. No matter what you did in the last game, you have to go find out how to get better at the things you didn’t like that you put on film. That’s been our mindset. Our guys are really mature about it.”
In terms of backups that could see more reps in the future, Diaz already has a few in mind.
“You need to see Jon Ford, I think he’ll continue to get more snaps,” Diaz said. “I’d like to get Mike Smith more snaps, practicing at a very high level. Jhavonte Dean has really improved in October, DJ Ivey, Gurvan Hall, Amari Carter at safety. We have to get our guys in the game. We trust them.”
If you’ve felt like the Canes’ defense has been put in a lot of bad positions this season by the offense and special teams, you wouldn’t be off: UM is 125th in the nation in opponent average starting field position.
“We’re 125th in average starting field position as a defense,” he said. “We’re about top 10 in everything else. We’re going to grind our guys to get better… We are fighting to play our best game the next game. Our guys have been pretty resilient.”
Miami will have to put the past two games in the rear view quickly, as Duke and QB Daniel Jones will come to Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday looking to spring another upset on UM.
“It starts with Jones, the quarterback,” Diaz said of the Blue Devils. “There’s a lot of familiarity in this game… Their quarterback, now it’s our third year playing against him. Our guys have a lot of respect for who they have and who they bring to the table. Football is not complicated. The guy who touches the ball on every play is important. Jones got hot, they came out with a very aggressive plan to get after Pitt, and it just turned into one of those games with two offenses executing at a very high level. But regardless of that game, we know enough about them to know they have really good players and really good scheme and we have to be ready to play.”
What is the mindset of his guys heading into the Duke game?
“The attitude of our guys this week has been how great it is that we have an opportunity to play with our guys,” Diaz said. “Our guys love playing football with each other. As a coaching staff, we love coaching these guys. I drive to work every day and say, ‘I’m so happy I get to coach the Miami Hurricanes defense.’ Because I get to coach Jaquan Johnson. I want to come to the game and Saturday and I want to watch Gerald Willis play.
“That’s worth me getting in my car. I want to watch Jaquan Johnson play. I want to watch Shaq Quarterman and Mike Pinckney play. We have a bunch of guys that, to me, I want to get out there and watch those guys play. Because they’re fun to coach, they’re fun to be with as teammates, and they’re fun to be around. Their attitude this week, understanding the challenge of what Duke is bringing in and our ability to go back and play at home, has really got us excited to play.”
“Sometimes we have to imagine the plays they could run based off of some formations. But you have to give BC a lot of credit – you could tell the bye week factored in,” Diaz said. “They executed at a very fast tempo, at a very high level and very multiple formation - motion, new tricks, that type of stuff. I felt like, once we settled down, we gave ourselves a chance to win the game. But the damage had been done by that point.”
The Canes watched the Eagles’ march right down the field on three straight drives for 17 points to start the game with little resistance from UM’s defense, and Diaz said he saw his D-Line start to tire out.
“The biggest issue we had with our guys inside is we played too many snaps,” Diaz said. “The first three drives of the game we took a lot of snaps, have to do a better job - we needed our depth at Boston College. We played about 40 snaps in the first three drives, which is our fault, but for us to not roll guys, that takes a bite out of our defense.
“Our effectiveness was down because of our fatigue. That’s why big-time teams have to roll two-deep… That gas tank is empty, we have to get other guys and push them into the game. That’s something we felt we had to do a better job of (based on) the way the game unfolded Saturday.”
How would Diaz evaluate the performance of his unit the past two games?
“Obviously we didn’t play as well against Boston College as we have,” Diaz said. “That was somewhat due to us and somewhat you have to give credit to them. All we do as coaches, the winning and losing and all that - we just try to get better. Individually, you have to bring a guy in and say, ‘Okay. Here’s how you play and what you need to improve on.’
“You’re always trying to play your best game the next game, regardless of what happened the last game. No matter what you did in the last game, you have to go find out how to get better at the things you didn’t like that you put on film. That’s been our mindset. Our guys are really mature about it.”
In terms of backups that could see more reps in the future, Diaz already has a few in mind.
“You need to see Jon Ford, I think he’ll continue to get more snaps,” Diaz said. “I’d like to get Mike Smith more snaps, practicing at a very high level. Jhavonte Dean has really improved in October, DJ Ivey, Gurvan Hall, Amari Carter at safety. We have to get our guys in the game. We trust them.”
If you’ve felt like the Canes’ defense has been put in a lot of bad positions this season by the offense and special teams, you wouldn’t be off: UM is 125th in the nation in opponent average starting field position.
“We’re 125th in average starting field position as a defense,” he said. “We’re about top 10 in everything else. We’re going to grind our guys to get better… We are fighting to play our best game the next game. Our guys have been pretty resilient.”
Miami will have to put the past two games in the rear view quickly, as Duke and QB Daniel Jones will come to Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday looking to spring another upset on UM.
“It starts with Jones, the quarterback,” Diaz said of the Blue Devils. “There’s a lot of familiarity in this game… Their quarterback, now it’s our third year playing against him. Our guys have a lot of respect for who they have and who they bring to the table. Football is not complicated. The guy who touches the ball on every play is important. Jones got hot, they came out with a very aggressive plan to get after Pitt, and it just turned into one of those games with two offenses executing at a very high level. But regardless of that game, we know enough about them to know they have really good players and really good scheme and we have to be ready to play.”
What is the mindset of his guys heading into the Duke game?
“The attitude of our guys this week has been how great it is that we have an opportunity to play with our guys,” Diaz said. “Our guys love playing football with each other. As a coaching staff, we love coaching these guys. I drive to work every day and say, ‘I’m so happy I get to coach the Miami Hurricanes defense.’ Because I get to coach Jaquan Johnson. I want to come to the game and Saturday and I want to watch Gerald Willis play.
“That’s worth me getting in my car. I want to watch Jaquan Johnson play. I want to watch Shaq Quarterman and Mike Pinckney play. We have a bunch of guys that, to me, I want to get out there and watch those guys play. Because they’re fun to coach, they’re fun to be with as teammates, and they’re fun to be around. Their attitude this week, understanding the challenge of what Duke is bringing in and our ability to go back and play at home, has really got us excited to play.”
