Special Teams Makes Special Plays, But It's the One Area That's Lacking No. 4 Miami
In this story:
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — It's the bye week for No. 4 Miami (5-0, 3-0 ACC), so nitpicking a top-three offense and defense in the country is in order.
The Miami Hurricanes have a monkey on their back after the National Championship game debacle that cost them championship number six.
Special teams have been one of the biggest areas of concern for Mario Cristobal and Hurricanes faithful week after week.
There haven't been any plays made on either side of the ball that force blocks, turnovers, or even a dynamic return. Moreover, any defensive back on special teams is always spotted in front of Malachi Toney anytime he is calling a fair catch.
Even if the offense and defense are among the best in the country, every level of the game has to be played. Miami learned that in the National Championship game, Cristobal is still searching for those answers.
"I think it's safe to say that, and in every press conference, every phase that we address, we're always trying to get more out of our players, out of our scheme, and out of our coaches," Cristobal said during his Monday press conference. "So I'm trying to answer the question. I just don't know if it's a general question, or philosophically, we're always trying to get better at everything we do."
Cristobal dove deeper into what could be causing the "problems" on special teams. The simple explanation could be that the depth they normally use on special teams is being used on defense because of the injuries.
"Yeah, but it doesn't affect because there's a give and a take with that," Cristobal said. "Sometimes a punt rush is a better return, just because you force opponents to block longer, and you create different levels. They are harder to get to due to some of the rules and some things you got to be aware of as it relates to fakes. But there's always a full-bore effort in that. We haven't had many, right?
"And we've created some pressure and some good returns in previous years. We haven't had much this year. We certainly focus on it a bunch. We try to create returns for our guys as well. And we're playing a lot of guys, right? When you have guys injured, you have to have other guys also assume some of those rules so that you don't compromise your performance on special teams, but you still get high-level play from the guys that are on the field."
All aspects of the game have to be fully there for the Hurricanes to reach there true goal.
Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
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.
Follow Justice_News5