Hurricanes working on fixing run defense ahead of Pitt showdown

Although the Hurricanes held Virginia Tech to 17 points in UM’s win in Blacksburg, Virginia, on Saturday, there was one glaring issue with Miami’s defense: UM allowed the Hokies to run all over it.

Virginia Tech ran for 194 net yards — and gained well over 200 if you do not include sacks — which surpassed the previous opponent high-water mark against UM this season by more than 30 yards.

“I think they had a new wrinkle, something we hadn’t seen going into it on film,” defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said. “I thought they executed it really well. And then, I really think a lot of it was just our details. And that was the biggest message to the team really on the sideline (at Virginia Tech). And then back when we got home, going back through it in the unit meeting and in the position meetings was it wasn’t really like one thing, it was kind of collective.”

The Hokies’ running backs gashed the Hurricanes, especially when running to the outside. Senior running back Marcellous Hawkins ran for 72 yards and had 9 yards per carry. Freshman Jeffrey Overton Jr. added another 69 yards — including a 38-yard touchdown — and notched 9.9 yards per carry. Quarterback Kyron Drones had 31 rushing yards (which includes negative yards from sacks) but proved difficult to take down behind the line of scrimmage.

“They played with our eyes a lot,” defensive end Akheem Mesidor said. “They pulled a bunch of people, a lot of movement pre-snap, post-snap. And it was difficult to know where the ball was going. But if you just play good football, good technique, hold your gap, and all 11 guys do their job, you can stop anything.”

Although the Hokies are a solid running team, their performance against the Hurricanes was still surprising. Ever after giving up nearly 200 yards, Miami ranks sixth in the nation in rushing yards allowed per game (an average of 92 yards). Pro Football Focus gives UM the No. 15 run defense in the nation.

Hetherman cited tackling issues as one reason why the Hokies were able to gain so many yards on the ground. PFF says UM missed 12 tackles and gave the Hurricanes a tackling grade of 58, which is not their worst of the season (that dishonor goes to the Louisville game, where the Hurricanes had 24 missed tackles and earned a tackling grade of 29.2). While the Hurricanes’ defense has improved vastly from last year’s, PFF says UM is 121st nationally in tackling — which is 31 spots lower than it ranked last year.

Hetherman said he believed last week was UM’s worst tackling game of the year, crediting the Hokies with being evasive while being critical of the Hurricanes’ technique.

“It’s different guys in different spots where I think our guys went for like kill shots rather than taking one more step, throwing their hands, accelerating through contact or pinning the knees and working a wrap-and-roll,” Hetherman said. “And we’re trying to take the knockout shot, which — the quarterback’s a good player. And that kid broke a lot of tackles. He extended a lot of plays. And there were times it’s fourth and 2 or fourth and 1, and we hit him 1 or 2 yards deep in the backfield, and he falls forward for the first down. Or there’s times we hit a guy at the line of scrimmage and next thing we know it’s a 5-yard gain. And those are some of the things, just fundamentally and technique-wise, we have to do a better job of trusting the fundamentals to play the way we want to play.”

Miami will have to correct the issues that cropped up last week, as its next opponent, Pittsburgh, has been explosive in the running game. Panthers freshman Ja’Kyrian Turner was named the Shaun Alexander Freshman Player of the Week by the Maxwell Football Club after rushing for 201 yards and a score against Georgia Tech. Miami Gardens native and Pitt offensive weapon Desmond Reid missed last week’s game with a lower-body injury, and it’s not known whether he will play vs. UM.

“They have a pretty complete offense,” Mesidor said. “They can run the ball, the quarterback can throw the ball really well. So the goal is to make them one dimensional and just beat them.”