One sack, 3 TFLs and negative-2 yards. Miami absolutely dominated Pitt in the red zone
Manny Diaz and his coaching staff presented a challenge to the Miami Hurricanes before they hosted the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday. Pittsburgh entered the weekend with a top-five defense in the nation and Diaz expects Miami’s to be even better, so he challenged them to prove him right.
The final numbers at Hard Rock Stadium were all pretty similar. Miami allowed 300 total yards and Pittsburgh allowed 331. The Panthers averaged 4.1 yards per play and the Hurricanes averaged 4.5. Miami had three sacks and nine tackles for loss, and Pittsburgh had four and 15. Neither team converted even 31 percent of third downs.
One set of numbers ultimately gave the Hurricanes the upper hand. The Panthers got into the red zone five times in Miami Gardens and left with a touchdown only once.
“Ultimately,” Diaz said, “that was the difference in the game.”
The No. 13 Hurricanes held Pittsburgh to four field goals in their five red-zone trips and the only touchdown Miami (4-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast) allowed came on a one-play, 1-yard drive after quarterback D’Eriq King threw an interception, which was nearly returned for a touchdown.
Back in 2017, Pittsburgh ruined Miami’s perfect season by upsetting the Hurricanes in the regular-season finale. In the three meetings since, Miami has held the Panthers to just one touchdown.
“The one they scored was on a 1-yard drive,” Diaz said. “Our guys were pissed about that.”
The Panthers (3-3, 2-3) ran 10 plays in the red zone and totaled negative-2 yards. Quincy Roche logged a pair of tackles for loss. Fellow defensive lineman Jared Harrison-Hunte had one strip sack and another tackle for loss. Pittsburgh had just four red-zone plays go for positive yardage and six go for either no gain or a loss of yards.
“We set a standard before the game even started. We said we weren’t going to allow no points,” Harrison-Hunte said. “Of course, we allowed some points, but it doesn’t really matter. We just had that mentality.”
The Panthers opened the game with a productive 11-play, 32-yard drive before punting and then their next three yards totaled negative-5 yards.
They finally climbed into the red zone on their sixth drive, going from their own 25-yard line to the Hurricanes’ 20 in just four plays. Pittsburgh ran for a loss of 1-yard and then Joey Yellen fired toward the end zone. Safety Bubba Bolden leaped in to intercept the pass — it was ruled incomplete, but likely would’ve been overturned upon replay — only the play was wiped out when defensive lineman Jaelan Phillips was called for roughing the passer for hitting the quarterback in the head.
Miami survived, anyway. On third-and-3 from the 4, Harrison-Hunte sacked Yellen for a loss of 10, knocking the ball out in the process. Yellen recovered and the Panthers settled for a field goal to cut the Hurricanes’ lead to 14-3.
This was standard throughout the game. On the Hurricanes’ next drive, King threw his first interception and star safety Paris Ford returned it to Miami’s 12. Pittsburgh faced a third-and-1 after two short completions and this time Roche burst into the backfield for a tackle for loss, forcing the Panthers into another field goal to cut the lead to 14-6.
Pittsburgh went 0 for 3 on third downs in the red zone, while the Hurricanes scored touchdowns on both of their red-zone trips to win 31-19.
Miami didn’t do anything differently in the red zone, Roche said. The Hurricanes are just always on the hunt for negative plays and they delivered them when it mattered most.
“Everybody’s buying in,” cornerback Te’Cory Couch said. “We came into the game not wanting to give up any touchdowns at all, so that was our mindset coming into this game.”
This story was originally published October 17, 2020 at 6:15 PM.
