SLIDE 1 of 10 Third down a major focus

During fall camp of 2017, a major focus for the Hurricanes was generating more turnovers on defense. Miami preached to their defensive backs the importance of being aggressive and forcing turnovers. Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz created the turnover chain, the turnovers became infectious during the course of the year, and the Hurricanes finished the year with 31 forced turnovers, which ranked third in the country.

This fall camp, the major point of emphasis for both sides of the ball appears to be third down efficiency. Miami didn’t waste any time focusing on correcting that issue by putting both sides of the ball in competitive third down situations in the first practice of camp. Miami’s third down offense was abysmal in 2017 as the Hurricanes converted just 28 percent of their opportunities to rank 125th in the country. Miami’s offense was boom or bust in 2017. They didn’t have a problem generating big plays, but they struggled to move the ball with consistency. For UM to take the next step on offense in 2018, they must be more efficient. Only one other ten-win power five conference team ranked in the lower half of the country in third down percentage offense.

Defensively, the Hurricanes were elite in a lot of ways in 2017 except on third down. Miami allowed opponents to convert 39.5 percent of their third down attempts, which ranked them No. 75 in the country. It is scary to think how good Miami’s defense could have been if they had better play on third down. There was not another power five team in the country that won at least ten games that had a worse third down percentage defense number than the Hurricanes. Miami will look to do a better job of getting off the field on third down in 2018.