Hurricanes defense shows knack to finish strong. It needs to ‘pick up the intensity’ early

Miami Hurricanes defensive coordinator Lance Guidry spent about a minute and a half on Monday at the start of his weekly news conference breaking down his group’s performance on Saturday in UM’s 53-31 win over Duke.

His entire assessment in reality could be boiled down to the final three sentences:

“It’s not pretty, but the wins are the most important thing, and the guys are playing good enough to win at the end,” Guidry said. “They’re showing it. They’re tough-minded, and they don’t quit, which is awesome.”

That has been the state of the Hurricanes’ defense most of the season and especially in conference play. There are a lot of head- scratching moments, especially early in the game, that leads to either Miami trailing or playing in games that could be too close for comfort.

But as the game nears the end, the group locks in and does what it needs to do to support arguably the top offense in the country.

It shows the potential of the group that they can hone in when it matters. It also shows the danger Miami plays with if they need to continually rely on late efforts to win games.

Guidry said the defense has taken on average “about a quarter and a half” to make adjustments.

That assessment tracks with how the Hurricanes have performed quarter by quarter this season.

The Hurricanes have allowed 162 points through five conference games, an average of 32.4 points per game.

The majority of the damage has come in the second quarter, with teams scoring 62 points — 12.4 per game — in that frame.

Things generally settle down after that. Miami has allowed an average of 7.6 points in the third quarter of ACC games (with two of the third-quarter touchdowns being an interception returned for a touchdown and a kickoff return for a touchdown) and 6.8 points in the fourth quarter.

In five ACC games, the defense has given up double-digit points in the fourth quarter just once, when it allowed 14 points to Louisville.

In Miami’s three comeback wins in conference play, the Hurricanes gave up just seven fourth-quarter points against Virginia Tech, three against Cal and three on Saturday against Duke.

“We’ve just gotta start faster,” defensive lineman Simeon Barrow said.

What goes into starting faster and not hitting lulls in the middle of the game?

“Pick up the intensity,” Barrow said. “Don’t get complacent when we do get a three and out. Keep on going until the clock hits zero.”

Added freshman cornerback OJ Frederique: “We’ve just got to come out there and do what we do. If we’re all on the same page and come out there hot, then we’re going to create some problems. But we just got to keep staying focused.”

On Saturday against Duke, the defense held its own to start. The Blue Devils had just 5 total yards on offense on their first three drives — a pair of three-and-outs and then a first-play interception — before scoring touchdowns on four consecutive drives (not including a four-play drive at the end of the first half) that each went at least 75 yards to take a 28-17 lead.

After that, Miami’s defense held Duke to just a field goal and 118 total yards (68 of which came on the field goal drive) on seven drives the rest of the way.

“We started out fast in the beginning, and then kind of stopped executing,” said linebacker Francisco Mauigoa, who missed a few tackles and was isolated in coverage on a 40-yard catch by running back Peyton Jones that led to one of Duke’s touchdowns during that stretch. “So just being able to adjust on the field and lock in on your keys and just be able to play fast, that’s what we did on the second half. These guys came out ready.”

What has gone right for the Hurricanes’ defense

While the Hurricanes are giving up points at a rate far higher than they would like, there are some metrics that have gone in their favor. Among them...

▪ Their 13 interceptions are tied for seventh nationally and tied for second in the ACC.

The Hurricanes forced a season-high four turnovers on Saturday against Duke, including three interceptions (by Mishael Powell, Frederique and Jadais Richards) and a fumble recovery. It’s the first time Miami has logged that many turnovers in a game since Nov. 12, 2022, at Georgia Tech.

Miami scored 21 points off those four turnovers.

On the season, the Hurricanes are plus-six in turnover margin. UM hasn’t finished with a positive turnover margin since the 2020 season when it was plus-four.

▪ Miami is holding opponents to just a 30.09 percent success rate on third down, the 12th-best mark nationally and second in the ACC. After allowing Virignia Tech to convert 9 of 14 third-down attempts in its ACC opener, Miami has held its past four ACC opponents to a combined 13 for 48 on third down (27.1 percent).

▪ While the results have tapered off a bit recently, Miami is still tied for 10th nationally in sacks (27) and tied for 16th in tackles for loss (61). The Hurricanes’ ability to win at the line of scrimmage will be key down the stretch, especially with the hits the secondary has taken with the injuries to Richard (who will be out for a while) and Damari Brown (who has been out since the team’s season-opening win at Florida).