UM vs. FIU: Matchups to Watch
By David Villavicencio
HurricanesSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – It’s been over a decade since they last met, but Miami and FIU are set to renew their crosstown rivalry on Saturday.
Coming off a 49-24 win vs. Toledo in their first true road game of the season in Toledo, Ohio, on Sept. 15, the No. 21/20 Miami Hurricanes continue their month of September with a home game vs. crosstown foe FIU. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET from Hard Rock Stadium. The University of Miami and FIU are fewer than 10 miles apart, with both schools located roughly a 25-mile drive away from Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami has played FIU only twice in history, most recently on Sept. 17, 2007, when the Hurricanes won, 23-9, in a game played at the Orange Bowl. The only other game between the Hurricanes and Panthers was played at the Orange Bowl on Oct. 14, 2006 – a 35-0 shutout by the Hurricanes.
FIU is under the direction of head coach Butch Davis, who compiled a 51-20 record at Miami during his six seasons as head coach from 1995-2000. The Panthers are led offensively by RB Shawndarrius Phillips (249 yards, 4 touchdowns), WR CJ Worton (171 yards) and QB James Morgan (548 passing yards, 6 TDs). On defense, FIU has been paced by LB Sage Lewis (36 total tackles and 4 PBUs) and DL Teair Tart (3.0 TFLs, 2.0 sacks).
Here are three matchups to watch in Saturday’s game.
Miami’s offensive line vs. FIU’s defensive line
The offensive line is back in the matchups to watch for the fourth straight week and it is with good reason, as the Canes have a new starting five in 2018 and they are looking to build cohesiveness with every passing week. A week ago at Toledo, Miami’s O-line had its best performance of the season. The Hurricanes paved the way to a prolific showing by the offense that scored 49 points and amassed 473 total yards. The Hurricanes offensive line also did not allow a sack nor did they commit a penalty in the victory over Toledo.
But the Canes will face an excellent front four across the line of scrimmage this week, as FIU has a talented, large and experienced group on the defensive line. Defensive tackles Teair Tart and Anthony Johnson have been menacing opposing backfields all season, as the duo combined for five tackles for loss and four sacks over three games this season. The Canes will also need to block massive redshirt junior defensive tackle Tayland Humphrey, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 350 lbs. Ends Noah Curtis and Kevin Oliver are the youngest of the bunch, but both true sophomores have earned starting roles in 2018.
“They are a problem,” offensive coordinator Thomas Brown said. “I watched them early Sunday morning, when I got done grading the film. I watched them Sunday night. I watched them all day yesterday. Those guys, they do a really good job of rotating guys and keeping them fresh. They are very disruptive. They are vertical, penetrating guys up the field. So we definitely have talked about different ways to account for how aggressive they are up front. Get some backs involved, might be trying to help out up front as well.”
Miami’s front seven vs. FIU RB Shawndarrius Phillips
Through three games, Miami is No. 1 in the country in tackles for loss with 35 and rank first in third down conversion percentage defense, holding opponents to a 16% conversion rate. A big reason for both of those national-leading statistics is the performance of Miami’s defensive line and linebackers. The Canes have 17 different players that have combined for 35 tackles for loss over three games. Redshirt senior defensive lineman Gerald Willis III leads the Canes with 7.0, while sophomore defensive lineman Jonathan Garvin has 6.0. Overall, Miami’s success behind the line of scrimmage has to do with the mentality the Hurricanes play with on every down.
“We blitz very infrequently…it’s not a ton this year,” defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said. “We always are accused of blitzing more than we actually do because we play so downhill. Mike Pinckney made a tackle for loss last week for a seven- or eight-yard loss on a running play that looked like a blitz, but it’s not. The gap opened, he read ‘run’ and shot in there before the lineman could get him. Our guys want to play downhill. We want to play on the other side of the line of scrimmage. When you’ve got guys like Gerald that are causing disruption amongst the offensive line, it’s easy for the linebackers to find cracks in there to get TFLs.”
Miami will look to penetrate the FIU offensive line and wreak havoc in the Panthers’ backfield, but FIU has a talented running back that will look to make the Canes work to bring him down to the ground. Shawndarrius Phiilips ranks second in Conference USA with a 5.53 yards per carry average and has scored four rushing touchdowns on the year to rank second in C-USA. Phillips had a career-day last time out, earning a career-high 117 yards on the ground and a career-high 56 yards receiving. The junior earned two touchdowns on the ground against UMass as well, marking the second time in his career that he has scored a pair of touchdowns.
Miami’s running backs vs. FIU linebacker Sage Lewis
Miami’s running back tandem of Travis Homer and DeeJay Dallas are a proven duo that has had success since the 2017 season. A week ago at Toledo, Dallas had his first 100-yard rush game. The sophomore leads the Hurricanes with 196 rushing yards in three games and is averaging 6.5 yards per carry with one rushing score. His 240 all-purpose yards are the second-most on Miami, trailing only WR Jeff Thomas’ 536 APY.
A year ago, Homer emerged as a feature back following the season-ending injury to Mark Walton. He took over starting duties four games into the year and shined in his primary role. Homer has posted 162 rushing yards through the first three games (4.5 yards-per-carry average). Homer rushed for 966 yards on 163 attempts (5.9 yards per carry) with eight rushing TDs in 2017.
“With this game [Toledo], those guys basically split reps,” Brown said. “About the same amount of rep count. And then the carries were about the same. I think DeeJay had 17, Travis had 16. I think it all depends on the game. Obviously, DeeJay has continued to perform well. Like you just mentioned, Travis is a really good player as well. So I am not trying to get rid of Travis, by any means at all. I’m trying to find ways to get more guys involved in the game. But that kind of depends on how the guys practice throughout the week. Travis and DeeJay have definitely earned it the most. But from a tailback standpoint, [freshman running back] Lorenzo [Lingard] is still coming on strong. I have to try and find ways to get a package plays going for him. And also [freshman running back] Cam Davis. He kind of got here late. Kind of the last guy. Learning the system, but he has been really impressive the last couple of days. And [redshirt freshman running back Robert] Burns looks good also. So just trying to figure out how to get those guys involved in the game, as much as possible. Whether it be just on offense, or special teams as well.”
But FIU’s Sage Lewis will frequently be found trying to stop Homer, Dallas and any other Hurricane with the football. The redshirt junior had a monster game against Indiana, becoming a tackling machine against the Hoosiers to earn 18 total tackles for the game. The linebacker’s total is tied for first in the nation, while tying for fifth-most in a single game at FIU. Lewis ranks second in C-USA and ninth nationally with 36 tackles on the season – more than double any other single Panther.
