Euan McCreath - The Miami Hurricanes are a favorite to win the ACC Coastal Division despite the fact that they will be starting a quarterback with little or no experience. However their stellar defense returns eight starters including the best linebacking duo in the country in sophomores Shaq Quarterman and Michael Pinckney. Quarterman shared this thoughts at ACC Media Day in Charlotte, NC when asked about what he’s doing to improve on an impressive freshman year,“I’ve been focused on my pre-snap analysis and trying to understand what the offense is trying to do to me. So once you understand that you’re one step ahead of the offense. Even reading the stance of the lineman and looking to see how the quarterback identifies the defense and also the wide receiver splits.” I thought to myself this film study hardly sounds like a sophomore linebacker, the student of the game characteristic is rare to see in such a young player.
This dynamic linebacker duo recorded 17 tackles for loss in addition to six sacks. Speaking of sacks the Canes finished 22nd in the nation in sacks. Although these two linebackers are key make no mistake, this is a unit that plays together and with an unselfishness. Penetration was key in 2016 as the Canes finished sixth in the nation in tackles for loss. This stat is key considering that this statistic puts opposing offenses behind the chains and often in predictable passing situations. Not to be undone that same penetration allowed the Canes to block five kicks. Only four teams in the nation had more. Defensive end Joe Jackson is back after an excellent freshman season. In just two starts and limited action off the bench Jackson still managed to tally 17 solo tackles, 11 of those were for a loss. He also recorded 7.5 sacks. A second team freshman All-American, Jackson should be a more dominant force this year creating even more havoc in the backfield not to mention tackling lanes by eating up blockers for his formidable linebacking core. Pressure and penetration are even more critical to the units success considering the Canes have an unproven and young secondary. The experience the Canes front seven has will undoubtedly have to carry them until their quarterback gets settled in, whomever that is. Miami allowed a mere 18.5 points per game last year and had the best turnover margin in the ACC last year at plus nine, tied for 13th in the nation. It’s a great luxury for the Canes to face Bethune-Cookman and Arkansas State the first two weeks of the season to allow their new signal caller to gain some confidence. Last year head coach Mark Richt returned the Canes to national prominence as Miami finished in the top 25 of both the Associated Press and in the Amway Coaches Poll. Richt needs to see what kind of quarterback he has in the first two weeks. The Canes take a major step up in competition in their first real test of the season in week three when they travel to Tallahassee to face the hated Florida State Seminoles where undoubtedly this sports writer thinks they will be double digit underdogs. However with a defense that’s only going to get better the Canes will never be out of game this season.
5 Comments
johnny fernandez
7/25/2017 08:58:55 am
Great piece. I like how McCreath breaks it all down. We need more from this guy!
Reply
Bart Gasiorowski
7/25/2017 10:06:43 am
What a fantastic article and thoughtful analysis by Euan McCreath! This guy is on fire! His passion for writing and sports is exemplified in this article!
Reply
Christian Mitchell
7/25/2017 10:35:05 am
Outstanding defensive analysis, I'm looking forward to watching the U develop further and how that week 3 Seminole matchup plays out...
Reply
Mike Flynn
7/25/2017 11:20:32 am
I'm on board w the Caines this year .... great article !
Reply
Peter
7/26/2017 06:54:13 pm
Top notch analysis! Nobody covers the U better than Uski McCreath!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Euan McCreath Archives
November 2018
Categories |