By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. –The Hurricanes’ defense has been among the best in the country under coordinator Manny Diaz.
But Miami knows it did not play up to its standard for 60 minutes at Boston College and the Canes are eager to get back on the field this Saturday against Duke with a chance to prove they are still a dominant defense.
“Obviously we didn’t play as well against Boston College as we have,” Diaz said. “That was somewhat due to us and somewhat you have to give credit to them. All we do as coaches, the winning and losing and all that – we just try to get better. Individually, you have to bring a guy in and say, ‘Okay. Here’s how you play and what you need to improve on.’ You’re always trying to play your best game the next game, regardless of what happened the last game. No matter what you did in the last game, you have to go find out how to get better at the things you didn’t like that you put on film. That’s been our mindset. Our guys are really mature about it. I think we’re in a good place. We’ve had a good week so far.”
Diaz and his staff have emphasized the importance of regrouping and living up to the high expectations the coaches and players hold themselves to.
“I just think we need to keep trusting the process,” safety Jaquan Johnson said. “Everything will fall into place. Just keep working hard.”
“Play to our standards, the standard we set all camp, all spring,” Johnson said. “And everything else will take care of itself.”
Miami’s defense has been an elite unit for most of the season, but the Canes hold themselves to very high standards and know they need to be better going forward.
“These last three or four weeks have been tough,” linebacker Michael Pinckney said. “Florida State, we came and we did something real good, but I felt like it wasn’t clean enough. Then a week after that we took an ‘L’ and then the following week we took an ‘L’, especially after a bye week. It’s tough. I mean I don’t like it. Nobody likes to lose especially when we put all this time and effort. That’s on the leaders. We have to take control of the team and get back on that win streak.”
The leaders on both sides of the ball came together and spoke to all of the players on Tuesday, reassuring that the team needs to be unified and accountable going forward if it wants to succeed.
“All of the leaders came up and they spoke their peace,” defensive lineman Jonathan Garvin said. “And we spoke to each other and reassured each other, letting each other know, we are a team regardless of what happens. No matter what goes down, because [the defense] wasn’t perfect either. We came out in the game and they jumped up 14 [points] on us. So, everybody is accountable and we are all going to be accountable for each other.”
The Canes will face a tough task on Saturday, as Duke’s offense is experienced and filled with playmakers surrounding standout quarterback Daniel Jones.
“It starts with Jones, the quarterback,” Diaz said. “There’s a lot of familiarity in this game. Duke was really young in 2016, and for the most part, so were we. There’s a lot of guys – their wideouts are all really old and experienced. We have some old and experienced guys in our secondary, of course in the back seven. Their quarterback [Jones], now it’s our third year playing against him. Our guys have a lot of respect for who they have and who they bring to the table. Football is not complicated. The guy who touches the ball on every play is important. Jones got hot, they came out with a very aggressive plan to get after Pitt, and it just turned into one of those games with two offenses executing at a very high level. But regardless of that game, we know enough about them to know they have really good players and really good scheme and we have to be ready to play.”
Miami returns home to Hard Rock Stadium for the first time since the Oct. 6 victory over Florida State. The Hurricanes believe a game back on their home field with a stadium full of their fans will go a long way towards helping get back on track.
“You know, that will be good getting some home field advantage,” Johnson said. “We play [well] at home. I think it is going to bring us together, be great for us.“
“We love being at home with the fans, obviously,” defensive lineman Pat Bethel said. “But at the end of the day it’s us and the white lines. And we have got to play our ball, regardless of where we are at. That’s just the fact of the matter.”
The Canes are excited about the challenges Duke will present and they are eager to get back on the field together again on Saturday.
“The attitude of our guys this week has been how great it is that we have an opportunity to play with our guys,” Diaz said. “Our guys love playing football with each other. As a coaching staff, we love coaching these guys. I drive to work every day and say, ‘I’m so happy I get to coach the Miami Hurricanes defense.’ Because I get to coach Jaquan Johnson. I want to come to the game and Saturday and I want to watch Gerald Willis play. That’s worth me getting in my car. I want to watch Jaquan Johnson play. I want to watch Shaq Quarterman and Mike Pinckney play. We have a bunch of guys that, to me, I want to get out there and watch those guys play. Because they’re fun to coach, they’re fun to be with as teammates, and they’re fun to be around. Their attitude this week, understanding the challenge of what Duke is bringing in and our ability to go back and play at home, has really got us excited to play.”
While the Canes are focused on meeting and exceeding the standards they set for themselves, they also know the ultimate goal is to earn another victory and believe a win on Saturday could get them ready for a very strong finish the rest of the season.
“A win is a win,” Pinckney said. “We have to get it in. We have to do what we have to do. We pride ourselves in winning games and it’s not like us to lose. We don’t like losing. Of course no one likes losing. We put all this effort and time into something and you end up losing, of course no one likes to lose. We come back and try and get that win. It’s going to feel real good.”