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The common link among champions

The common link among champions

DMoney
DMoney

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all of Miami's dominant teams featured outstanding defensive lines...

in my humble opinion, the elite speed SFla routinely produces in the back seven allowed for those teams to flourish with extremely quick and disruptive defensive lines...

when a front four can disrupt an offense by itself, great things can happen for a defense with a fast and aggressive back seven...

that was one of the reasons last year was so horrific to watch as the dline was very poor... that will change as players mature (hopefully)....
 
Respectfully disagree. The common denominator is WINS. HOW that is achieved will vary and a lot of luck is involved. Case in point. 2001 game v BC.

Also, the 2002 NC game was lost by our OL playing soft. OTU punched them in the mouth in the 1st qtr anad we had a hard time recovering.
 
The common link is a dominating or opportunistic defensive unit. Typically, a championship defense excels at taking away one offensive phase, or being efficient at creating turnovers. In rare cases, you will find a defensive unit capable of both. Nebraska '95 comes to mind, as does UM '91. That '91 unit gave up something like 100 points for season.
 
It is the lines, on both sides of the ball.

On defense, when you can stop the run, you are forcing offenses into 3rd and long situations, giving you a statistically advantage of getting them off the field. Additionally, you now have a unit that can harass the QB on these passing plays and create turnovers or change of possessions.

On offense, it's the inverse. You need to be able to consistently run the ball to set up 3rd and manageable. You have to be able to sustain drives with the run game, and keep your QB clean and protected.


Everything else is secondary. I can take an average secondary if they don't have to cover for too long because my DL is terrorizing the QB and disrupting the play. I can get by with a serviceable RB if my OL is opening up huge creases for him and dominating the LOS, but I could have Adrian Peterson and it wouldn't matter if he has nowhere to go.

It's all about the LOS.


/After that, I'd put TO margin next.
 
Dynasty said:
The common link is a dominating or opportunistic defensive unit. Typically, a championship defense excels at taking away one offensive phase, or being efficient at creating turnovers. In rare cases, you will find a defensive unit capable of both. Nebraska '95 comes to mind, as does UM '91. That '91 unit gave up something like 100 points for season.
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But, what's almost always (maybe always) the root cause of said domination or opportunistic nature? The turnovers or even shutting down of one phase are both symptoms.
 
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No doubt, championship defense begins upfront. But, it doesn't stop there. You need difference makers at every level. For example, take '91 unit. That unit had great upfield defensive ends, smoothing linebackers, and an outstanding CB in R McNeil along with a stud FS.
 
Pass defense is a common denominator. The national champion invariably is near the top, in the Top 10 in yards per pass attempt allowed. I think Auburn 2010 is the only recent exception.

This year I believe Notre Dame is low in the Top 10 and Alabama is 15th in that category. It's certainly a weak Alabama defense compared to last year, with the extraordinary 4.6 yards per attempt allowed in the regular season, and lowering that number in the bowl game. That 4.6 bested USC's 4.7 in 2008 as the best number in recent history. It's still unnerving to me that USC was bypassed in favor of Florida in 2008. The voters simply aren't aware of statistical categories like that. They happily use subjective judgment and little else. USC could have been 2.2 and it wouldn't have factored in their evaluation, not with the always handy,"Pac 10 sucks..."

The defensive line absolutely plays a massive role in pass defense. Interior defenders, in particular, disrupt and shorten the play. That's why I knew Auburn's bad number in 2010 wasn't necessarily a disqualifier. Farley and Co. could get motivated and show up in a game like that. Notice that the spread on that game jumped wildly on the final day. Auburn went from -3 to +1 against Oregon. Many big bettors were aware that Auburn had deficiencies in some of the statistical areas that normally align with a champion. Heck, they weren't too far off. It was hardly a dominant performance from that SEC team.

BTW, Miami 2002 had awful turnover numbers compared to 2001. I used to be able to quote it off the top of my head. That's absent now. I think it was roughly half as many takeaways as 2001. We lacked the senior ballhawks.

Besides, Ohio State was a nightmare opponent, the team I feared all season. I remember desperately rooting for Cincinnati to complete a cheap pass into the end zone to knock out Ohio State. That was early season but I'd already identified them as our biggest concern. Miami would have waltzed against uptempo teams like Georgia or upstart USC.

I'm still in amusement that the 2002 Buckeyes are belittled a decade later. That team was the blue collar type that minimizes all our strengths and abuses our weaknesses, no different than Penn State or Alabama. For one thing, we don't take that type of foe seriously enough. Ohio State figured to mangle our interior offensive line but I don't think we had any clue it would play out that way. Pinball games against Syracuse and Virginia Tech to conclude the season was the worst possible way to enter that game. Ohio State warmed up with a game very representative battle against Michigan, the same patience they'd need versus Miami.

Ohio State had a fantastic YPPA Differential. Again, I'm not in peak form in terms of memory these days, after my dad's death, but I think it was in the +3.4 area. Miami was higher than that. Two excellent teams. You can never count out an underdog with a YPPA Differential like Ohio State's. Some of the fraud Oklahoma teams have entered the title games with YPPA Differential less than half as good as Ohio State 2002.

We would have been life and death against that team if we payed a series of games. The pointspread would shorten accordingly. I told Jay Kornegay, then sportsbook manager at the Imperial Palace, that he was out of his mind when he opened Miami -15.5 in that game. He threw up that number during Miami's first half onslaught of Virginia Tech. The number settled at -11.5 on game day.
 
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Turnovers are the common link. Don't turn the ball over, and create turnovers, and you give yourself the best chance to win.

Point in case - the 2010 Miami Hurricanes were a talented squad, if not for the turnovers.
 
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Exactly why i keep telling these dummies that Defensive Ends are more important than tackles. Ends give you the majority of your pass rush, and football is a passing game nowadays.

Awsi Dooger said:
Pass defense is a common denominator. The national champion invariably is near the top, in the Top 10 in yards per pass attempt allowed. I think Auburn 2010 is the only recent exception.

This year I believe Notre Dame is low in the Top 10 and Alabama is 15th in that category. It's certainly a weak Alabama defense compared to last year, with the extraordinary 4.6 yards per attempt allowed in the regular season, and lowering that number in the bowl game. That 4.6 bested USC's 4.7 in 2008 as the best number in recent history. It's still unnerving to me that USC was bypassed in favor of Florida in 2008. The voters simply aren't aware of statistical categories like that. They happily use subjective judgment and little else. USC could have been 2.2 and it wouldn't have factored in their evaluation, not with the always handy,"Pac 10 sucks..."

The defensive line absolutely plays a massive role in pass defense. Interior defenders, in particular, disrupt and shorten the play. That's why I knew Auburn's bad number in 2010 wasn't necessarily a disqualifier. Farley and Co. could get motivated and show up in a game like that. Notice that the spread on that game jumped wildly on the final day. Auburn went from -3 to +1 against Oregon. Many big bettors were aware that Auburn had deficiencies in some of the statistical areas that normally align with a champion. Heck, they weren't too far off. It was hardly a dominant performance from that SEC team.

BTW, Miami 2002 had awful turnover numbers compared to 2001. I used to be able to quote it off the top of my head. That's absent now. I think it was roughly half as many takeaways as 2001. We lacked the senior ballhawks.

Besides, Ohio State was a nightmare opponent, the team I feared all season. I remember desperately rooting for Cincinnati to complete a cheap pass into the end zone to knock out Ohio State. That was early season but I'd already identified them as our biggest concern. Miami would have waltzed against uptempo teams like Georgia or upstart USC.

I'm still in amusement that the 2002 Buckeyes are belittled a decade later. That team was the blue collar type that minimizes all our strengths and abuses our weaknesses, no different than Penn State or Alabama. For one thing, we don't take that type of foe seriously enough. Ohio State figured to mangle our interior offensive line but I don't think we had any clue it would play out that way. Pinball games against Syracuse and Virginia Tech to conclude the season was the worst possible way to enter that game. Ohio State warmed up with a game very representative battle against Michigan, the same patience they'd need versus Miami.

Ohio State had a fantastic YPPA Differential. Again, I'm not in peak form in terms of memory these days, after my dad's death, but I think it was in the +3.4 area. Miami was higher than that. Two excellent teams. You can never count out an underdog with a YPPA Differential like Ohio State's. Some of the fraud Oklahoma teams have entered the title games with YPPA Differential less than half as good as Ohio State 2002.

We would have been life and death against that team if we payed a series of games. The pointspread would shorten accordingly. I told Jay Kornegay, then sportsbook manager at the Imperial Palace, that he was out of his mind when he opened Miami -15.5 in that game. He threw up that number during Miami's first half onslaught of Virginia Tech. The number settled at -11.5 on game day.
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Citing Coker as an example that good coaching isn't important is just poor.

An extremely well trained chimpanzee could have coached that 2001 team and still won a championship. You're talking about one of the top 5 best teams in the history of college football from a collection of talent standpoint.

I'm totally with you on the D Line thing...it's extremely important. But sorry...coaching matters unless you get one of those once in a generation type squads. The fact Coker almost found a way to lose with that team (Boston College) speaks louder than anything else.
 
Jedi Master Cane said:
Citing Coker as an example that good coaching isn't important is just poor.

An extremely well trained chimpanzee could have coached that 2001 team and still won a championship. You're talking about one of the top 5 best teams in the history of college football from a collection of talent standpoint.

I'm totally with you on the D Line thing...it's extremely important. But sorry...coaching matters unless you get one of those once in a generation type squads. The fact Coker almost found a way to lose with that team (Boston College) speaks louder than anything else.
Click to expand...

Mack Brown
Les Miles
and
Gene Chizik

Have national championships...
 
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you could say Coker PROVES the point about coaching being important since we struggled in 2002 even though we had amazing talent still on the team and a better coach may have been able to beat the buckeyes by outscheming their running qb offense

Bigtip said:
its all about OL and DL plus quality depth. Coker does not really disprove the coaching part since he waltzed into the best situation in CFB history. Butch put the program in place and recruited all the players. so, the answer is that a mediocre game day coach can win a MNC if they are elite in the recruiting, talent evals, program implementation part
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Dline play is huge, particularly in the college game. It makes the back 7's job easier. Obviously difference-makers in the back 7 become elite when the Dline is good.

You also need depth and the ability to stay relatively injury.

OL and QB play have to be solid, efficient, and timely.

A lot of factors, but no doubt that DLine play is up there.

Staying relatively injury free helps.
 
MiamiNites said:
DMoney said:
MiamiNites said:
Also 1991 Miami and other teams have proven you don't need nfl talent on the d-line per say to win a natty.
Click to expand...

Rusty Medearis had four sacks in the national title game. Kevin Patrick was an All-American caliber player. The team as a whole had 44 sacks, which is elite.

You need stud defensive linemen to win a national championship. It's the one essential position.
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Agree but those guys weren't nfl type guys.
Click to expand...

Medearis would've been a longtime NFL player without his knee being destroyed.
 
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Football 101: you need good lines at both ends of the ball. We miss the Jerome Brown's, Sapp's, Kennedy's, Maryland's, of the world. We have not produced those kind of players in years. Why do you think the SEC is so strong? Their OL's and DL's are superior to other conferences.
 
DS, are you concerned with our lack of talent and recruiting at the DT position?
 
Hurracanes said:
DS, are you concerned with our lack of talent and recruiting at the DT position?
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At the risk of sounding like a homer......I'll defer to Al Golden on this. I'm sure he isn't recruiting talentless hacks at the position.
 
A good DL is paramount for success in college football.

A great DL can mask a mediocre DB. The inverse isn't true.

Look back at the 2000 season. Jamal Green was suspended for a bar fight against Washington. So William Joseph played DE with Andrian Wilson getting the start at DT. And Andrian Wilson (and backup DE Javon Rhodes) got destroyed by the Huskies.

Later when J Green returned to the starting lineup, Butch moved William Joseph to DT alongside Damien Lewis. Joseph and Lewis started wrecking havoc in the middle and the entire defense was transformed into a beastly unit.

When our DL started playing well in 2000 is when the Miami Hurricanes were back as a national power.
 
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