Diaz gives ‘a little bit of sugar’ to this rarely regarded Cane — and loveable ‘Louie’
Manny Diaz loves him some Miami Hurricanes heroes, but they’re not necessarily the ones you’d think of first.
The University of Miami football coach went on WQAM radio Monday to discuss his No. 11 Canes (4-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) and their 31-19 win over Pitt for the first time since Saturday’s victory.
As the Canes prepare for a home game against Virginia (1-3, 1-3) at 8 p.m. Saturday (ACC Network), Diaz was asked by host Joe Rose about some Hurricanes in the past few weeks who are playing well and gaining confidence. Diaz immediately spoke about sophomore cornerback Te’Cory Couch, out of Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna, who played nickelback Saturday and led the team with three pass breakups. Diaz said Couch “basically had to lock his man down in man coverage” and that Couch “is one of our best special teams player as well.
“He played 50 to 60 snaps of man coverage that day. I thought his performance was really good.’’
Then Diaz gushed about a player who is rarely discussed: redshirt junior running back Robert Burns, a 5-11, 225-pound bull of a runner who is listed fourth on the depth chart — including behind true freshmen Donald Chaney Jr. and Jaylan Knighton.
‘The finisher’
Burns, out of Miami Gulliver Prep, came into the game Saturday in the fourth quarter as the featured back in UM’s final drive that started with 3:34 left. His four valuable carries for 15 yards got a first down and helped eat up time and secure the victory. Burns actually averaged more than any other runner Saturday — 3.8 yards a carry.
“I’ll tell you a guy I’d just like to give a little bit of sugar to,’’ Diaz said. “How about Robert Burns coming in in the fourth quarter like ‘the finisher.’ You’ve been chasing around [Cam’Ron] Harris, Knighton and Chaney all day and all of a sudden here comes the big back running downhill. And you’re already a little tired and your shoulders hurt from tackling all day. And now you’ve got to tackle the bruiser.
“Robert is a great special teams player for us. And it’s fun to see him gets those carries to really help ice and game. Those aren’t nonimportant carries for us. That’s a big deal.’’
Burns, who has endured various injuries in his career, earned his highlight last season by scoring his first touchdown on a 15-yard screen pass to put UM up in a game to Duke that they eventually lost. Last season he rushed 29 times for 116 yards, a 4-yards-per-carry average.
This year he has 13 carries for 56 yards (4.3-yard average).
“It felt awesome, something you pray for, something you dream about growing up,’’ he said about his first touchdown in the regular-season finale last year. “And it felt good for that to be realized.
““It felt good to contribute. It just sucks that it wasn’t enough tonight.”
‘Louie’ Hedley rocks
Diaz obviously is enamored of graduate transfer kicker Jose Borregales, who hasn’t missed a field-goal attempt in eight attempts; and Australian punter Lou Hedley, who averaged 51.7 yards Saturday on six punts and allowed the Canes significant breathing room in field position.
“That field goal by Borregales [in the fourth quarter], you don’t take that for granted,’’ Diaz said. “That was a big kick to make it to 12 after [UM’s] seven-minute drive. But Hedley, I Can’t say enough about Hedley in a game where you’ve got two good defenses out there and you know field position is going to matter.
“Here’s a great example of the sequence of the game: The way we get our first touchdown is we’re backed up on offense. Pitt’s first drive, they punt the ball.
“We had the ball on 5-yard line. That’s a tough place to start. And we actually moved the ball out to about the 20, which is a big deal. We had to punt, but not punting off your 5-yard line is a big deal, and Hedley bombs it to the other 20.
“So you would think on that exchange that Pitt should get the ball around midfield. They don’t. They get it backed up. Defense goes out there and gets a three and out and then when they punt we fair catch it around midfield and get the kick-catch interference so we start on offense on their side of the field and — bang — that’s the Cam Harris touchdown.
“So our offense punted the ball at the 20 and got it back on Pitt’s side of the field. And that’s when we talk about when your defense and special teams can support your offense and your offense can support your defense by just getting two first downs and never punting backed up.
“It is a great weapon,’’ Diaz continued, citing how UM stopped the fake punt in the second quarter “to set up our second touchdown on offense.”
“Nothing happens in a vacuum. And that’s what I loved about the complementary ball we played on Saturday.”
