By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – “Offense wins games and defense wins championships.”
Athletes, coaches and fans have been saying some form of that adage for decades and the Miami Hurricanes know what kind of an impact an elite defense can make.
The Canes rallied from a 20-point deficit against rival Florida State thanks in large part to their defense forcing two turnovers and holding the Seminoles to just 45 yards in the second half last Saturday. Miami’s defense also played a key role in wins over North Carolina, FIU, Toledo and Savannah State, helping lead the Hurricanes to a 5-1 record in 2018.
The Hurricanes enter this weekend’s game at Virginia ranked in the top 10 nationally in several defensive categories. Miami is the national leader in both opponent third down conversion percentage (19.8%) and team tackles for loss per game (12.0). The Canes are also second in total defense at 237.3 yards per game, third in passing yards allowed (137.3), sixth in turnovers gained (14) and seventh rushing defense (100.0).
But the Cavaliers will pose a challenge when they take the field on Saturday night, as Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz expects Virginia to come in ready to play and attack Miami’s defense in a variety of ways.
“They’re way better than we wished they were,” Diaz said. “They have found a quarterback, and I think that’s the thing that stands out. One way you can tell is they’re 10th in the country on third down conversions. He’s obviously a threat running the ball, and for sure, we’re going to talk about that, but…he can really throw it. That’s why they’re really efficient in the throwing game. They’ve sort of changed their personality from what they were a year ago. They’re a lot different formation [-wise]. They’ve got every personnel group in the world. They’re just unorthodox. They’re different than what you see week in and week out. They instantly came in and caught our guys’ attention. Not to mention what happened in the game last year. They have our full attention, for sure.”
But Miami’s defense will also have the full attention of UVA quarterback Bryce Perkins, as well as the offensive line tasked with protecting him. The Hurricanes have consistently penetrated opponents’ offensive lines and wreaked havoc in the backfield, posting some of the best tackle for loss numbers in the country since the 2016 season.
“Some of the things we’re putting up numerically, it’s hard to ever imagine it would be that good,” Diaz said. “What we all kept talking about is before 2016, no one thought our defensive line would be very good. When you talk about defensive line, it’s very easy to isolate – ‘they have these stats’ and ‘people are not doing this against them.’ The credit has to go to the linebackers, as well. The way we play our linebackers, the way those guys play downhill, they take double teams off the defensive linemen. This has been the way we’ve played for three years now.
The Canes feature a deep and talented group on the defensive line, led by redshirt senior Gerald Willis III, juniors Joe Jackson and Pat Bethel and sophomore Jonathan Garvin. The starting four upfront for Miami are consistently making plays behind the line of scrimmage and pushing each other and their fellow defensive linemen to be better than the man next to them.
“In my group, they all feed off of each other and everything is competitive, whether we are in the meeting room or out here,” Miami defensive line coach Jess Simpson said. “It is not just two guys [Garvin and Willis], they all want to get it. And that’s what makes it fun. A moment you saw Saturday night is that when one of them has success, they all have success.”
Willis III’s success has been abundant, and the defensive tackle was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List after an outstanding first half to his final collegiate season. Willis III, who has started all six games for the Hurricanes, is tied for second in the nation and ranks first in the ACC with an average of 2.1 tackles for loss per game.
“Man, it’s great,” Willis III said. “I’m really happy my talent is being recognized worldwide and people are starting to notice what I can do. It’s a blessing and really happy that I got that honor.”
His emergence on the national stage comes after a long and bumpy road that included transferring from Florida to Miami after his freshman year and then sitting out last season to focus on off-field situations. But his focus is fully on football now and the redshirt senior loves how it feels to finally have the success he has always hoped to earn.
“Sometimes it does feel like a dream and I have to pinch myself, but I’m just going to keep pushing,” Willis said. “I’m just honored to be getting these awards. I’ll just keep doing it and keep pushing.”
In his first year at Miami after working with the Atlanta Falcons, Simpson has been impressed with Willis III’s leadership and work ethic. The veteran defensive tackle comes in every day ready to get better and Simpson believes that is a big reason why Willis III has emerged as a nearly unstoppable force on the defensive line.
“That’s probably the best compliment I could give Gerald,” Simpson said. “That he is coming into work every single day: he is a man on a mission, he wants to be great and he knows that being prepared is how you do that. And it starts with the fact that he loves football and then it goes to he loves this team. And then he has the discipline to really work at it every day and get prepared. He has been a lot of fun.”
Garvin is just behind Willis III when it comes to tackles for loss, ranking fourth nationally and second in the ACC with 1.9 tackles for loss per game. The duo has combined for 24.0 tackles for loss, with Willis at 1.25 and Garvin at 11.5, and they have a friendly competition going to see who can get more TFLs every week.
“It makes us–we are already going to fight hard–fight even harder,” Garvin said of competing with Willis for TFLs. “We are so joyful to see each other succeed and we are like, ‘he did it, let me try and get [myself] one to.’ It always…yeah it is very friendly.”
Garvin has shown incredible ability since he enrolled early at Miami in the spring of 2017. Simpson has seen exponential growth from the gifted sophomore since he began coaching him this past spring and he is excited for what is to come from Garvin.
“Just loads of potential,” Simpson said. “Makes big plays. You really can see his growth when you watch his tape from a year ago and watch it now. Really getting better. But has a great skill set. He is a guy who can play the run and set edges. And obviously is a guy who really can be a talented rusher. And he still… we talk about, ‘he is an emerging leader in our program, he is an emerging player.’ And he is figuring out what it looks like…he is growing right now and that is what is fun to watch, seeing him taking those steps.”
Jackson, who leads Miami with 5.0 sacks and is third on the teams with 7.5 TFLs, has been a mentor to Garvin and the duo have been one of the top defensive end tandems in FBS. The mentorship on the defensive line has helped Garvin learn what it takes to be successful and both he and the Canes have benefitted from it.
“Joe, from the day I stepped on campus, was the first person to say something to me,” Garvin said. “First person to walk me through everything, and really teach me. So, even like when I was doing things wrong out here and getting in trouble, I would go in [to the film room] and watch him and see what he did. And basically copy it.”
While the talented and deep group on the defensive line has been among the most consistent for Miami this season, Simpson refuses to let any of them get complacent or look ahead at something down the line. He has his defensive linemen focused on the present and this week that means stopping the Virginia Cavaliers.
“For my first year here, I really inherited a great room,” Simpson said. “A bunch of great kids, who have been really open to trying to do it the way we want to do it. And they certainly have done a good job so far, but that means nothing right now. We are still in the one day, one practice, stay in this moment kind of mode. If you get out of that, you are going to get in trouble in this game, real fast.”
