Defense Looking to Slow Explosive Rockets' Offense
By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes hit the road this weekend for the second time in 2018 and they will face a tough test in the Toledo Rockets.
Less than a year has passed since the two teams met on Sept. 23, 2017, a game that ended in a 52-30 Miami victory in the Hurricanes’ first game after Hurricane Irma. But Miami knows the second half of the home-and-home series will be challenging, as the Rockets are 11-1 at home under head coach Jason Candle – including a perfect 6-0 and a year ago.
“Of course we played them a year ago, it was our first game off [Hurricane Irma] and it was a barn-burner,” Miami head coach Mark Richt said. “It was a battle to the very end. They did a great job and our guys fought like mad too, and we ended up winning it. It was a great battle, and we expect the same [Saturday].”
Over 70 percent of the Rockets on this season’s roster were part of the team a year ago and they will be hungry to pull off an upset victory over a top-25 team. Miami, who is ranked No. 21/20 entering Saturday’s game, played under similar circumstances in 2016 when the Hurricanes traveled to Appalachian State. While the Canes won that game handedly, 45-10, they know Saturday’s game will feature a very talented team playing in a sold-out stadium full of fans rooting for the Rockets.
“Two years ago at Appalachian State, it was like their Super Bowl,” defensive lineman Gerald Willis III said. “The older guys have been talking to our young guys all week and telling them how this is going to be their Super Bowl. We just have to be ready for a loud environment.”
Willis is going to play a key role for Miami every week this season. The redshirt senior is one of the main cogs in what makes the Hurricanes a high-caliber defense and defensive coordinator Manny Diaz is hoping for another big game from his talented defensive tackle.
“The Miami 4-3 is predicated on disruptive defensive tackles and Willis is straight out of the mold,” Diaz said. “He’s quick, so it’s hard for guards. He has that quickness advantage, so it’s hard for guards that try to block him, but he’s also powerful and tough. It’s not all finesse. He can be strong and sturdy at the point of attack. We always say to be great in any defense in any sport, you have to be great up the middle and in football that starts with your defensive tackles and then your linebackers and then your safeties. He is where it all begins for us on defense.”
The Canes will be without ballyhooed freshman Gregory Rousseau for the foreseeable future, as the talented defensive end had surgery to repair an ankle injury earlier this week. But Miami adds redshirt senior Demetrius Jackson back into the rotation on the defensive line, adding talent, experience and depth to the group.
“It’s very important, especially going on the road,” Diaz said of Jackson’s return. “Noon kick, hostile environment…it’s going to be a really big spectacle up there. So to have an older guy, who has been in that experience and who has seen those types of environments – he’ll know what to do and be able to play at full-speed from the beginning – is important to us. We just want D-Jack back anyways. He’s a big part of our defense.”
Willis has liked what he’s seen from Jackson this week in practice and he anticipates a major boost up front with his return.
“D-Jack looks great,” Willis said. “He’s in the training room every day getting his leg right. He looks great. He looks fresh. I just can’t wait to see him play.”
In addition to Jackson’s return, Diaz anticipates several freshmen playing more on defense after they have shown consistency in practice, as well as in games when given opportunities.
“Up front, I think [Nesta Jade] Silvera, for sure, will be in the mix,” Diaz said. “[Patrick] Joyner has a chance now, with Rousseau being out. We’ll keep developing him. On the back end, you’ve already seen more DJ Ivey. You’ll continue to see him. We’ve talked about Al [Blades, Jr.]. And then Gurvan Hall, I think you’ll start to see more and more as weeks go on.”
Diaz and Miami’s defensive coaches have gone over game film, spent the week teaching the defense how to handle Toledo’s offense and emphasized the keys to success. Now they just want to make sure their players are ready for kickoff on Saturday.
“Coach Diaz tells us in the huddle to make sure we take everything we do in practice and bring it to gameday,” Willis said. “He also told us to make sure we get some rest. With us playing at noon, this might be our last chance to get a good night’s rest, so we’re going to try and do that to make sure we are ready for kickoff.”
The Rockets will certainly be ready on offense, featuring a high-octane attack led by Biletnikoff Trophy candidates Cody Thompson and Diontae Johnson at wide receiver. Junior Mitchel Guadagni replaced 2018 MAC Offensive Player of the Year Logan Woodside at quarterback, but the Rockets offense is still thriving. Guadagni three for 265 yards and three touchdowns in a season-opening win against VMI.
“They can do it all,” Diaz said of the receivers. “They really can do it all. They’re as deep as a group, and this is not my opinion – the numbers tell it, as anybody in the country. You’ve got three guys that have had 1,000-yard seasons. They all have different skillsets, but the one thing they can all do is they can all take you deep. Every DB’s primal fear is that deep ball and every one of those guys has the ability, skill and releases to get off the line of scrimmage and take you up the field and then make the plays down the field. Certainly, they have our full attention. Even though they’re younger at quarterback, when you’ve got receivers like that to throw to it certainly helps a guy sort of pick up for an excellent quarterback they had a year ago in Woodside.”
Familiarity from a year ago helps the Hurricanes prepare for this weekend’s game, but they also are expecting the unexpected when they hit the field against Toledo.
“We know what they’ll do against different coverages and different blitzes and how they’ll protect against them, so having that experience is valuable,” linebacker Zach McCloud said. “But they can change a lot from last year. They’ve played one game and had an off week, so who knows what they’re going to come out with.”
Regardless of what the Rockets throw at Miami this Saturday, the Hurricanes know what they need to do to execute their defensive gameplan and that is something Diaz has emphasized all week in preparation.
“Coach just told us we can’t just trust out talent,” McCloud said. “It’s about our standard and our habits when we are performing, so that’s what we will rely on. It’s the same thing for us every game.”
