The encouraging aspect of Miami’s loss at Texas A&M. And thoughts on defensive standouts
High on the list of Mario Cristobal’s talking points since he took over as the Miami Hurricanes’ coach late last year is an emphasis on making Miami better in the trenches.
In a thoroughly frustrating 17-9 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday, Cristobal’s Hurricanes at least took a step toward proving they’re improving in this all-important category.
“It shows progress,” the coach said.
Even though Texas A&M has a somewhat-significant talent advantage on both lines, Miami (2-1) won the battle on both sides of the ball.
On offense, the Hurricanes limited the then-No. 24 Aggies to just five quarterback pressures and no sacks, Cristobal said, and ran for 4.9 yards per carry. On defense, they hit Max Johnson 12 times and sacked him thrice, Cristobal said, and held Texas A&M to just 3.9 yards per carry.
This was all despite the Aggies’ roster featuring 13 former blue-chip defensive linemen — including five former five-star prospects — and seven former four-star offensive linemen, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.
“We think they’re a really good offensive line. They’re a really good defensive line,” Cristobal said. “We wanted to establish the run and protect the quarterback.
No. 25 Miami, conversely, has just six former blue-chip defensive linemen — with only one former five-star prospect — and five former four-star offensive linemen.
Cristobal’s recruiting prowess has yet to pay dividends there, but the play of talented defensive tackle Leonard Taylor provided a glimpse of what a more fully built-up defensive line could look like for the Hurricanes.
At the end of Texas A&M’s first drive last week, Taylor tossed aside the Aggies’ left guard to hit Johnson and force the talented quarterback to throw an incomplete pass.
Even though Taylor only played 17 snaps, his natural talent showed up and Pro Football Focus graded him as Miami’s fourth-best player in the one-score loss.
As for why Taylor only played the eighth-most snaps among defensive linemen, Kevin Steele said the sophomore is still trying to fully grasp this new defensive system.
“It’s a little different schematically,” the defensive coordinator said. “They were more a penetrate-and-attack front, where we’re more play blocks and so, when you’re young, that’s a process. ... He makes a lot of big plays, but he’ll be the first to tell you: Because he’s got an unbelievable ability, sometimes Leonard makes some of those plays and, I’d say this if he was in here, it’s like, No, no, yes, yes.”
More Miami defensive bright spots
▪ Miami’s linebackers make progress: The two top-graded players for the Hurricanes were Corey Flagg Jr. and Caleb Johnson, but don’t expect to see the two linebackers play significant snaps together anytime soon.
“The problem is they play the same position,” Steele said. “When you build a house, you’ve got plumbers, you’ve got painters and you’ve got drywallers and you don’t want your drywaller doing plumbing.”
If Keontra Smith can build on his performance from the weekend, the linebacker conundrum will become a bit less urgent, though. The junior finished with three tackles and a half a sack, and played more snaps than fellow linebacker Waynmon Steed Jr.
“He is growing, in terms of the position. It’s a little bit different than what they were asked to do last year. That particular position has some moving parts in it. You’re the adjuster in a lot of formations and your gap changes, so he’s grown into that. He’s starting to understand that. I think what showed up in that game the other night was his speed,” Steele said. “He’s a former safety, not a linebacker, and that showed up.”
Linebacker Wesley Bissainthe played four snaps, mostly in the fourth quarter, and was on the field in the final four minutes, when Texas A&M was trying to run out the clock. It was another good sign in the development of the freshman, who had one tackle.
“He’s very talented. He’s coming along nicely,” Steele said. “He has really embraced it, he’s growing. He can have a bright future if he keeps doing what he’s doing.”
▪ DJ Ivey plays best game: Coaches raved about Ivey all throughout the offseason, and the cornerback finally put together the sort of breakout performance they were hoping for in College Station, Texas. Johnson threw at Ivey three times and the senior didn’t allow a single catch, even breaking up two of those passes.
“Probably the biggest jump this last week was the secondary,” Cristobal said. “We played much tighter in coverage and guys did a really good job in playing man and, for the most part, having success in playing man coverage.”
Ivey has been contributing at Miami since his freshman season — he was a four-star cornerback out of Homestead South Dade — and his 6-foot-1, 195-pound frame has always been tantalizing. Too often, though, he would get beaten deep, mostly because of mental lapses.
Ivey’s improvement, Steele said, is a product of better practice.
“He’s playing game speed more in the week now because he understands that he’s going to have to play it in the game, so rather than just going through practice he’s learned to really practice on his own,” Steele said. “While a play’s going on in practice, he’s playing it like a game play. He’s playing his technique, his speed like a game, so if you’re going against a scout-team receiver, who obviously may not be as fast as the guy or quick as the guy you’re going to play on Saturday, he doesn’t go out there and play to that level. He’s practicing at a high level and it’s showing up on Saturday.”
