The All-America Case For Brandon Harris
Nov. 17, 2010
Lockdown corner Brandon Harris leads the nation’s No.3 pass defense and No. 2 pass efficiency defense. He is not a popular target for opposing quarterbacks. He has blanketed his opposing wide receivers so well that teams have only thrown in his direction 30 times over 10 games (3.0 times per game) and he has only allowed an average of 1.2 completions per game (12 total) in his area this season. Three teams have not been able to complete a pass against his coverage and three have only completed one pass. He has broken up seven pass this season, including three in the last two games.
* Over the last two games, Maryland (30 passes) and Georgia Tech (17 passes) only threw in his direction seven times and completed just one pass. Harris had three pass breakups on the seven passes in his direction.
* Harris has locked down his end of the field with such effectiveness that his other secondary mates are capitalizing on mistakes in rapid fashion. In fact, Miami’s other defensive backs – Vaughn Telemaque (3), Ryan Hill (3), Ray Ray Armstrong (3) and DeMarcus Van Dyke (2) – would rank 38th as a group nationally with their 11 combined interceptions.
* Harris has one interception on the season and it came against North Carolina’s T.J. Yates, who entered the game with the nation’s second lowest interception ratio. Harris also has 30 tackles and one tackle for loss.
* While teams refuse to pass in his direction, they should also stay away from him in the run game. Miami’s defense has been successful in stopping the opponent on fourth down on 3-of-6 occasions this season. The two biggest stops, which both essentially sealed Hurricane victories… were turned in by Harris, who recorded a solo tackle on Andre Ellington (Clemson) on 4th-and-1 with Miami leading 27-21 in the fourth quarter at Death Valley. Harris also broke up a pass on 4th-and-2 that stymied a North Carolina comeback with the `Canes leading 19-10 late in the third quarter.
