Canes Eager for Challenge vs. Georgia Tech
By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – There have been highs and some lows over the opening six games of head coach Manny Diaz’s first season at the helm of his hometown program, but the Miami Hurricanes have never dodged a challenge.
Whether it was a nationally televised season opener against the rival Florida Gators, an ACC road opener at North Carolina, a resilient Central Michigan squad looking to steal a win at Hard Rock Stadium or a ranked Virginia team looking to climb in the ACC Coast standings, the Hurricanes have battled to until the final whistle.
“We have been through the first half of the season,” Diaz said. “We have faced plenty of adversity throughout the games or even during the week, in between games. Now this is a week where, when you get an ‘attaboy,’ you have to understand it’s still time to get back to work. You can’t sit there, because last week does not count for this week.”
Miami is halfway through the 2020 season and sits at 3-3 with a 1-2 ACC record. The Canes are coming off a big 17-9 win over then-#19/#20 Virginia and are beginning to look more and more like a team that is playing to the Miami standard with every passing week. But one big win does not establish greatness, especially at a place like the University of Miami.
Instead, the Hurricanes will look to take on every challenge presented to them just like they did a week ago. While many believe Miami’s biggest challenge was the talented UVA Cavaliers, the Canes were challenged by Diaz and his coaching staff to begin playing up to the Miami standard after a gut-wrenching loss to Virginia Tech.
Miami’s defense had surrendered 42 points in the loss to the Hokies that was eye-opening to a unit that was among the best in the country the year before. A defense led by senior linebackers Shaquille Quarterman and Michael Pinckney responded to their coach’s challenge by turning in their best showing of the year and helping Miami earn its biggest win under Diaz’s leadership.
“It’s really about your best players being your best players down the stretch,” Diaz said. “That was a challenge going into the Virginia game last week. It’s going to be very hard for us to be a great football team if our great players, and they know who they are if they consider themselves a great player, don’t play great. I think they took that personally and I think they took that to heart. Both of those guys turned in probably their best performance of the year. That’s what you’re looking for the rest of the way.”
Diaz, who was Miami’s defensive coordinator for three years before taking over as head coach prior to the 2019 season, was more involved with the defense ahead of the Virginia game and Pinckney believes the former defensive coordinator’s involvement helped spark a fire in his old unit.
“Coach Diaz, he came back in and he’s been a big factor,” Pinckney said. “He just demanded that level of urgency. It can come from the players, but when you start something, nobody else knows it how you know it, so he knows what we need on the defensive side of the ball and I think he’s emphasized it throughout the week. That was one of the things that helped us play a great game.”
Pinckney, who had six tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, a pass breakup, and two quarterback hurries last week, was one of several Hurricane defenders to shine against the Cavaliers. Defensive end Greg Rousseau made several big plays in the Virginia backfield, while cornerback Trajan Bandy had six tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery against the Cavaliers before being named ACC Defensive Back of the Week.
“Mike Pinckney and Trajan Bandy by far had their best weeks of practice,” defensive coordinator Blake Baker said. “Overall, when you talk about attention to detail and accountability to each other, there are more than just those two. A lot of guys stepped up and played much better.”
The Hurricanes will look to build off their strong defensive performance from a week ago with another impressive showing this week against ACC Coastal foe Georgia Tech (1-5, 0-3 ACC) inside Hard Rock Stadium. But these Yellow Jackets have a new look, as Georgia Tech is under the direction of head coach Geoff Collins, who is in his first season at the helm in Atlanta and his third season as a head coach.
One glaring difference is the more conventional offense that Collins and his coaching staff implemented after taking over for retired head coach Paul Johnson, who preferred a triple option attack. Pinckney and his fellow defensive players are excited to face the new-look Georgia Tech team.
“It’s definitely a relief that they don’t do the things they used to do,” Pinckney said. “We used to have to take out an extra week to prepare for those guys. We did a good job of adjusting to it, but they have a new scheme. They’re in a spread and that’s something we like. We’re going to prepare just as much as we did for the tripe option.”
Saturday’s game versus Georgia Tech is the 25th all-time matchup in the series, which is tied, 12-12. UM has a 6-2 lead in games played in Miami. The Coastal rivals have met every year since 2004, and Miami has won three of the last four meetings overall and five straight in Miami Gardens.
“What’s ironic is they still have option principles in their offense,” Diaz said. “They still have a running quarterback who is a very good athlete. They still have some athletes on the perimeter that maybe played different roles for them in the past. They’re a team that’s improving.”
The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 41-23 loss to Duke last time out on Oct. 12. The Jackets racked up a season-high 379 yards of offense in the loss. Quarterback James Graham threw for a career-high 206 passing yards last time out, while running back Jordan Mason had the first 100-yard rushing game of his career.
“I think they have a lot of team speed when you look at their skill positions and their quarterback,” Baker said. “Those guys were obviously recruited to play triple option, so those guys can run. We have to do a good job of making sure we know where they’re at and do a good job tackling when we get around them.”
Much like Miami has been all season, Georgia Tech is resilient. The Yellow Jackets play hard and never quit and that is one of the several reasons why Miami’s defense is going to be ready to play for four quarters when they meet at noon on Saturday.
“They do a lot of different things,” Rousseau said. “They move around a lot. Those O-linemen are pretty athletic and they’re used to chopping and just moving a lot. They play with high effort and high intensity. Even though they’re 1-5, we’re not saying, ‘Oh, they’re 1-5, we’re going to go beat them.’ We’re definitely taking them seriously like we should.”
Miami, who has played in five one-score games in 2019, knows the importance of battling until the clock hits zero and Diaz will not allow his team to get complacent in any given week, regardless of the opponent’s record.
“It’s easy to look and say ‘whatever,’ but not in this league,” Diaz said. “We know how the ACC Coastal is and we know how our team is. There are no easy wins. It’s hard to win a football game and every game has to start with that understanding. We have not proven that we can handle that. That’s a big challenge for us this weekend.”
