Working Toward the Standard
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – It didn’t matter that the Hurricanes had a 31-point lead, that their defense hadn’t allowed Ball State in the end zone or that Miami’s defensive line was delivering big play after big play.
Defensive line coach Jason Taylor believed his group could be even more effective and so, he kept right on coaching, his passion on full display on the Miami sideline, the same sideline he once patrolled during his Pro Football Hall of Fame career with the Miami Dolphins.
His efforts paid off, with Miami’s defensive line contributing in a big way throughout the remainder of the 10th-ranked Hurricanes’ 62-0 win over Ball State on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium.
Simeon Barrow Jr. totaled four tackles and had 1.5 sacks. Elijah Alston added three tackles, a sack and an interception. And Tyler Baron, who had three sacks in Miami’s win over Florida A&M last week, turned in another big performance with two tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
As a whole, the Hurricanes held Ball State to just 115 yards of total offense, including a meager six rushing yards. Miami also totaled four sacks of Ball State quarterback Kadin Semonza and had nine tackles for loss.
All of it left Taylor plenty proud – even as he knows the Hurricanes can keep growing.
“I mean, to be honest, that’s the expectation. We think highly of ourselves. We expect highly of ourselves, and we understand there’s a standard,” said Taylor, now in his second year as Miami’s defensive line coach after serving as a defensive analyst for the Hurricanes in 2022. “The guys have accepted that, and they’ve molded into the culture. They understand what we’re about as a team and a defense and a defensive line unit in particular. They really push themselves and when you get talented guys in a room like that, and you get a lot of talented guys, there’s a lot of competition.”
Barrow, Alston and Baron all joined the Hurricanes (3-0) during the offseason and it hasn’t taken them long to not only adapt to Miami’s culture, but to build chemistry with their new teammates, including veterans like Akheem Mesidor, Ahmad Moten Sr. and the reigning ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year Rueben Bain Jr., who while recovering from an injury, is still a constant presence on the Miami sideline and in the locker room.
Freshmen like Justin Scott, Armondo Blount, Cole McConathy II, and Marquise Lightfoot have gotten playing time, too and the hope is they will keep learning from the veterans around them as they continue developing.
“When we all first got here, it didn’t take long for us to click,” said Alston. “I mean, when a new person comes into the building, it probably takes you like a day or two to try to figure somebody out. But once you’re around a person every day, like you learn that person pretty quickly. Chemistry-wise, we picked up on it very quickly. We just all get along. We all feed off each other, you know what I’m saying? We coach each other and when we’re down, we pick each other up. It is just a lot of encouragement in the room, so, we all click.”
Added Barrow, “Well, we already knew coming in we’ve just got to build chemistry with each other and learn how to work off each other and I feel like we already had our mindset ready right before we started practice in fall camp. I feel like we were on a good route doing that, so I guess it’s showing up now.”
The Hurricanes’ efforts on the line, and on the defense as a whole, were so impressive even quarterback Cam Ward – who has been a leader and a force for Miami through the Hurricanes’ first three games – couldn’t help but praise the unit’s performance on Saturday.
“It was good. Tyler Baron, Simeon, Ahmad, Akheem when he was out there, it’s good. We’re deep, for sure,” Ward said. “And the battles [in the] trenches you have to go through in practice is showing off in the game and that’s where they’ll be able to play more games like they did today.”
Weathering the Storm
While Miami and Ball State figured they’d be kicking off at 3:30 on Saturday afternoon, that wasn’t the case.
At all.
A line of thunderstorms that moved through South Florida delayed the start of the game by more than two hours and more than once, forced the teams off the field during pregame warm-ups.
It was the longest delay Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal said he’d experienced during his coaching career.
“Well, it’s the first I’ve ever had like that. You know, you prepare for it forever and now, 28 years later, we finally [got] to implement those processes,” Cristobal said. “The first thing is we have really good older guys, [and] we leaned on them. We’re not going to be all tense. We’re not going to also be in goofy mode, right? We’ve got to stay relaxed, take care of our bodies and wait for the next thing because we went out a couple of times and then sent back in. It’s like, ‘Giddy up, whoa, giddy up, whoa.’ And that could play games with you.
“It’s like we simply say, ‘Look, they’re going through the same thing, so who’s it going to mean to more and who’s going to handle it better when we come out of the tunnel?’ So, extra snacks, extra hydration. Then at one point in time, when it got pushed back to 6:00 [p.m.] plus, then we went to something a little bit more solid to eat and those guys, heck, the skinny guys, probably gained a couple pounds, so all good.”
Along with snacking on fruit and sandwiches, the Hurricanes found several ways to keep themselves occupied in the locker room during the delay. Some listened to music, while others watched other games that were being played.
Ultimately, Miami was unfazed by the wait. The Hurricanes scored 10 points in the first quarter and never looked back in their dominant win.
Honoring the Champs
During Saturday’s game, the Hurricanes honored the 1989 national championship team, which is celebrating the 35th anniversary of its title.
Roland Smith, Miami’s Director of High School Relations and a member of the 1989 championship team, served as the game’s honorary captain and at halftime, the team came onto the field to cheers from fans at Hard Rock Stadium.
And fortunately, the 2024 Hurricanes delivered a big performance – something their head coach, who was also a member of that 1989 team – appreciated.
“Well, those are my teammates now so there was some natural pressure that they better play well in front of my guys,” Cristobal quipped. “In the springtime, when the alumni came for the alumni reunion and the spring game and they spoke to our team, we’ve been here for a couple years, but that one hit different.
“I go back to what Michael Irvin said to the team and what Andre Johnson and Devin Hester said to the team and then those guys spent a couple hours just sitting at tables with our guys and talking to them. It just hit different. They understand Miami and what the Miami brotherhood is more now than they did when they arrived, a lot of these guys. So, it meant a lot to them, and hopefully it meant a lot to the 1989 guys, as well.”
