No. 2 Miami's Offense Prepares for the Best Opposing Defense in the ACC
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Metrically, No. 2 Miami (5-0, 1-0 ACC) have the best defense in the ACC.
The offense battles against it every day with the endless talent on the defensive line and in the secondary. Greentree has been a great training ground for the real test; moreover, the Louisville Cardinals (4-1, 1-1 ACC) will be more than a test. It's the Canes Midterm.
With those same PFF metrics, the Cardinals come in behind the Canes as the second-best defense in the league. Head coach Mario Cristobal raved about the defense and what it could do and has done in the first five games of the season.
"Yeah, it really pops," Cristobal said. "It's as a complete of a team as we have faced or will face all year long, both in their play style and in their talent levels. They have done just an excellent job forcing negative plays, disrupting the schedule of the offense. They just play really hard, really fast. They communicate really well. They give you a number of different looks, both up front and on the back end, disguise coverage is really well. And they get to the ball with bad intentions. They force a lot of turnovers, but just a really impressive football team."
It also catches the eye of offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson. he has studied the film for two weeks and knows that even with the statistics, it doesn't tell the full story of what the Cardinal defense possesses.
"If you just look at the statistics, which tell some of the story, not all the story sometimes, but number one defense in the ACC," Dawson said. "Really good on third down, really good in the red zone, number one pass defense. I think they're giving up like 230 something yards a game, which is crazy, you know, and so upfront they're really active, really good."
Dawson on the Linebacking Core and Defensive line
"The two linebackers have played a lot of snaps. They change up the coverage well. They do a lot of things in the back end. They really know what's going on within the system, from what it seems. They have some transfers that have came in and gave them some boost, especially up front, 50 can get after it. He's got a high motor."
"Defensive linewise, I mean, they get you in some third down situations and they can they can cause some havoc. The third down package is good. We've got to be prepared for it."
Dawson also knows that Cardinal head coach Jeff Brohm is going to bring it. They will be prepared as well as the Canes in this massive showdown waits to be kicked off on Friday Oct 17. on ESPN.
"There's a well-coached team," Dawson said. "I think he's done a good job his whole career, to be honest, everywhere he's been. And so, it's been a one-possession game two years in a row. And we know that they're going to come in fired up. We're going to be fired u,p and it'll be a heck of a game."
Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.