Stop the Tempo
By David Villavicencio
One of the biggest trends in college football today is the fast-paced, tempo offense.
Teams across the country are implementing this style with the hopes of increasing the amount of plays, while decreasing the opportunity for a defense to substitute and rest.
The Miami Hurricanes have found success with tempo this season, playing fast and scoring quickly to become the second-best scoring offense in the ACC and 16th in the NCAA.
But the Hurricanes’ defense, who leads the country in tackles for loss and is fifth in the NCAA in scoring defense, will face one of the best tempo teams in the country this week when North Carolina comes to Hard Rock Stadium at 3:30 p.m., ET on Saturday.
“As far as the wide receiver position, they’re loaded,” Miami head coach Mark Richt said. “Most of them are big and tall and long and lanky and very capable. … Mitch Trubisky, their quarterback, I know he has had at least three games of over 400 yards and really running their system great. They’re spreading it out, they’re going quick. They’re doing a lot of run-pass option stuff which really stresses your defense, just getting lined up and ready to play. Without [Jamal] Carter being there, it just adds to it for us. Guys are just going to have to step up and really do a great job of playing ball.”
UNC’s offense is talented and deep and they play fast. Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz knows the Hurricanes will need to stay alert as the Tar Heels will look to push the pace.
“The first thing is getting lined up,” Diaz said. “Their tempo will be as fast as anything we have seen this year. They are a team that executes at a very high level. They have great running backs and receivers and they have tight ends that do an excellent job as both blockers and receivers. And of course they have a talented quarterback who orchestrates the entire offense. So they are very similar to the challenges presented last week, in the fact that they are a very balanced team being able to both run and throw the football.”
“But the biggest challenge that they will present will be the tempo,” Diaz said. “Because the questions our guys will face will be are you walking around when they are set to snap the football, are your eyes not in the right position and can we make plays on the ball downfield? We know they will pass the ball down the field often and it will be a great challenge for our guys going against a couple tall wide outs that can go out and get it.”
Miami’s defensive backs will be tested by Carolina’s passing attack, but senior Corn Elder looks forward to the opportunity to rise to the challenge.
“It’s going to be fun to face them,” Elder said. “We will get a chance to make a lot of plays. “We are all out there competing and making each other better every day in practice and in the games. When we see one of us make a play, then we all want to go make plays, too. We just have to be ready.”
The cornerbacks were considered an unknown commodity coming into the 2016 season. Elder was the only returner with extensive experience, having played in 36 games over his first three years at Miami, so he took a leadership role in mentoring his younger teammates that were about to step into key roles this season.
“It’s always fun to be a leader and help the younger guys out,” Elder said. “It feels good to see their improvement. I’ve seen us all get a lot better from the summertime to now. Everybody is working hard and trying to get better every day.”
After losing Artie Burns and Deon Bush to the NFL, there was a lot of chatter surrounding the Miami secondary. But senior safety Rayshawn Jenkins knew the Hurricanes would have plenty of talented playmakers in the defensive backfield.
“We knew we had a good group of solid guys coming back and knew we could do good things,” Jenkins said. “Artie and Deon are great athletes, but this is Miami and there is always a great athlete to step up and be the next man at the spot.”
The ‘next man up’ theory will apply this week at safety as sophomore Jaquan Johnson will fill in for senior Jamal Carter, whom will miss the first half after being penalized for targeting last week.
“We could use a few more Jaquan Johnsons because he can help us in so many ways,” Diaz said. “When we are in the meeting room, we think about how great it would be to play him here or there. We don’t have enough Jaquans to go around for all the places he could help the football team. Certainly he will play a big role this weekend, but we have felt since the spring that he was one of our top guys.”
Johnson, who has 18 tackles, 1.5 sacks and an interception on the season, has been a key contributor for the Canes all season. But the sophomore has made sure to put in extra work in preparation for the Tar Heels.
“I am watching extra film and I am out there getting extra work and asking the coaches questions to better prepare myself,” Johnson said. “Jamal Carter is a big loss for us in the first half, so I have to step up and fill that role for him. I am looking forward to it and Jamal has been teaching me all the ins and outs and showing me everything he sees on a given play. So I am looking forward to Saturday.”
Jenkins, who leads the team with 26 tackles and has an interception, three pass breakups and four passes defended, is confident in the entire secondary heading into Saturday’s game.
“I feel like we are a very competitive group,” Jenkins said. “Having three seniors back there has really helped our secondary this year and our defense as a whole. Jaquan Johnson is a great asset to have back there, too. He can rotate and roll with us and not lose a step. There’s a lot of urgency in the secondary this year.”
