The common link among champions

May 10, 2012

As Miami gets further and further away from its glory days, a question dawned on me: What is the common thread among national champions? In other words, what is keeping Miami from the top?

One theory is that it's quarterback play. But AJ McCarron just won a title, and Matt Mauck and Greg McElroy have rings. Is it coaching? Coker disproves that theory by himself, and Gene Chizik and Les Miles were punchlines until they won it.

So what is the one thing that all college football champions had? It's defensive line. Let's look at the champions since Miami's last title and the talent they had up front (NFL draft round in parenthesis):

2001- William Joseph (1), Vince Wilfork (1), Jerome McDougle (1), Andrew Williams (3)
2002- Will Smith (1), Kenny Peterson (3), Tim Anderson (3), Darrion Scott (3)
2003- Keneche Udeze (1), Mike Patterson (1), Shaun Cody (2), Frostee Rucker (3)
2003- Marcus Spears, (1) Kyle Williams, (5- All Pro), Marquise Hill (2)
2004 - Mike Patterson (1), Shaun Cody (2), Frostee Rucker (3)
2005- Brian Orapko(1), Tim Crowder (2), Brian Robison (4)
2006- Derrick Harvey (1), Jarvis Moss (1), Ray McDonald (3)
2007- Tyson Jackson (1), Glenn Dorsey (1)
2008- Carlos Dunlap (2), Jermaine Cunningham (2)
2009- Marcell Dareus (1), Terrance Cody (2)
2010- Nick Fairley (1)
2011- Courtney Upshaw (2), Jesse Williams (2013 prospect), Damion Square (2013 prospect)

If you look at the 2000 Miami team and the 2001 Miami team, they were very, very close in talent. The only real difference is that the 2001 team had far superior defensive ends, due in large part to Jerome McDougle and Andrew Williams coming in from JUCO. The defensive line took the 2001 team to a whole new level.

Anthony Chickillo looks like a keeper. Guys like Tyriq McCord and Jelani Hamilton will make us or break us.

Click to expand...

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Comments (181)

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DMoney

Jan 4, 2017

Thread Killa said:
@DMoney

Same story every year. Clemson lost a lot of talent on DL but replaced them with elite recruits like Lawrence, Wilkins and Ferrell. Carlos Watkins is an All-America and the team is third nationally in sacks. They dominated Ohio State up front.

The strength of Alabama's team is their defensive line, which might be the best of the Saban era.

At Miami, we've seen the impact of Coach Kool and guys like McIntosh, Norton and Jackson. Our defense is fun to watch again.

Hurracanes

Jan 4, 2017

One of my favorite and accurate threads ever on this site. Defense wins championships.

G
grogz26

Jan 4, 2017

DMoney said:
Thread Killa said:

@DMoney

Click to expand...

Same story every year. Clemson lost a lot of talent on DL but replaced them with elite recruits like Lawrence, Wilkins and Ferrell. Carlos Watkins is an All-America and the team is third nationally in sacks. They dominated Ohio State up front.

The strength of Alabama's team is their defensive line, which might be the best of the Saban era.

At Miami, we've seen the impact of Coach Kool and guys like McIntosh, Norton and Jackson. Our defense is fun to watch again.

Couldnt be more true

RiDLer80

Jan 4, 2017

We'll definitely have a championship caliber front-7 the next two years. Problem is nowhere else on the team measures up at an elite level.

armstead98

Jan 4, 2017

Without any doubt this is the most promising aspect of the team. The DL is nasty and this will be our 4th straight very good recruiting class. Championship caliber DL and front 7. Richt needs to fill in the gaps in the back 7 and on offense so this front 7 can shine on a big stage next year.

fivecent

Jan 4, 2017

DMoney said:
Thread Killa said:

@DMoney

Click to expand...

Same story every year. Clemson lost a lot of talent on DL but replaced them with elite recruits like Lawrence, Wilkins and Ferrell. Carlos Watkins is an All-America and the team is third nationally in sacks. They dominated Ohio State up front.

The strength of Alabama's team is their defensive line, which might be the best of the Saban era.

At Miami, we've seen the impact of Coach Kool and guys like McIntosh, Norton and Jackson. Our defense is fun to watch again.

Our front 7 is the main reason we don't have time for Richt and the growing pains of his annointed one.

Got to strike while the iron is hot!

Last edited: Jan 4, 2017

DMoney

Nov 12, 2017

If you want to know why Miami is back, start with the defensive line.

B
BoxingRobes

Nov 12, 2017

DMoney said:
If you want to know why Miami is back, start with the defensive line.

They need a nickname. Let me propose...

THE CONCERTO.

supacane

Nov 12, 2017

You are right, and it's a certain style of defense for us as well. People always ask if Miami is back. Miami could never be back under NO D. In 2012 we probably had the best statistical season on offense with Morris slinging it. But had a Swiss cheese D. We attack, we hit, we intimidate and now that toughness in practice transfer to the OL, now we can run the ball. Now we don't need 500 yards to win a game, we can get 374 and blow out ND. That's back. I can say it. We back.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

Silver King

Nov 12, 2017

Great post I missed originally, but I think all of us older Fans have been wirting for this type Defense and that attck philosphy for most of this century. It's been so long, we almost forgot what it looks like and Bama and Clemson Ds became the posters for what it should.

But this is the sign the Canes are back - when coaches find reasons to take some of the best opposing players out of the game to preserve them.

LuCane

Nov 12, 2017

LuCane said:
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.

Click to expand...

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.

Commenting again because of the "turnover chain" symptom rearing its ugly head for our opponents.

I doubt anyone would successfully challenge the theory proposed about DL play. It's the root cause of almost all types of great defensive play. Ask anyone who has played DB at any level. You're helped and hurt by what happens up front.

W
We'retheBoss

Nov 12, 2017

BoxingRobes said:
DMoney said:

If you want to know why Miami is back, start with the defensive line.

Click to expand...

They need a nickname. Let me propose...

THE CONCERTO.

you skipped over "Kool and the Gang" for that?

S
swampcougar1

Nov 12, 2017

I have always said the skill.players get most of the press and glory but the games are won.or lost in the trenches

D
dogcane

Nov 14, 2017

DMoney said:
If you want to know why Miami is back, start with the defensive line.

Ironically most of them were recruits from previous staff. I actually always appreciate their effort, just hate that they wasted so much talents

scrantoncane

Nov 14, 2017

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.

1 Wisconsin 5.4 4.7 1.7 4.8 6.3 6.5
2 Washington 5.4 5.6 7.8 4.9 5.8 5.6
3 Alabama 5.5 5.0 6.6 5.2 6.0 5.9
4 Miami (FL) 5.5 5.7 5.6 5.6 5.4 6.2
5 Central Mich 5.5 4.1 5.2 6.7 5.1 7.2
6 Michigan 5.5 5.1 4.2 4.7 6.0 5.6
7 Georgia 5.6 6.3 10.0 5.8 5.4 7.2
8 Penn State 5.7 6.7 2.1 4.5 7.0 6.4
9 Boston Col 5.7 4.4 4.6 5.8 5.7 7.3
10 Utah 5.8 5.1 4.5 5.7 5.9 7.3

Because it didn't post correctly, the columns are the following, left to right: 2017, Last 3, Last 1, Home, Away, 2016.

At 5.5/per, we are tied with Bama and behind only Wash and Wisc, who are each at 5.4/per. Down from a respectable 6.2 last year.

No doubt attributable in large part to our DL play, and no coincidence that 3 of the top 4 teams are likely to be in the top 4 tonight.

R
Reppingtheu

Nov 14, 2017

dogcane said:
DMoney said:

If you want to know why Miami is back, start with the defensive line.

Click to expand...

Ironically most of them were recruits from previous staff. I actually always appreciate their effort, just hate that they wasted so much talents

They could get talent, just didn’t know how to develop or use it

Miami Nights

Nov 14, 2017

Biloxi said:
Bigtip said:

but, why didn't the 2002 team win it? that was an arguably more talented team. I think the poor coaching caught up with

Click to expand...

The worst call in CFB history.

The call that is the reason why we have instant replay in CFB.

The worst 2 calls in cfb history. The Sean Taylor strip play was worse..... with that said had nothing to do with the 2002 line being lazy.

Dwinstitles

Nov 14, 2017

Hurracanes said:
One of my favorite and accurate threads ever on this site. Defense wins championships.

D wins titles bruh

S
sfcane2

Nov 21, 2022

DMoney said:
As Miami gets further and further away from its glory days, a question dawned on me: What is the common thread among national champions? In other words, what is keeping Miami from the top?

One theory is that it's quarterback play. But AJ McCarron just won a title, and Matt Mauck and Greg McElroy have rings. Is it coaching? Coker disproves that theory by himself, and Gene Chizik and Les Miles were punchlines until they won it.

So what is the one thing that all college football champions had? It's defensive line. Let's look at the champions since Miami's last title and the talent they had up front (NFL draft round in parenthesis):

2001- William Joseph (1[SUP]st[/SUP]), Vince Wilfork (1[SUP]st[/SUP]), Jerome McDougle (1[SUP]st[/SUP]), Andrew Williams (3[SUP]rd[/SUP])
2002- Will Smith (1[SUP]st[/SUP]), Kenny Peterson (3[SUP]rd[/SUP]), Tim Anderson (3[SUP]rd[/SUP]), Darrion Scott (3[SUP]rd[/SUP])
2003- Keneche Udeze (1[SUP]st[/SUP]), Mike Patterson (1[SUP]st[/SUP]), Shaun Cody (2[SUP]nd[/SUP]), Frostee Rucker (3[SUP]rd[/SUP])
2003- Marcus Spears, (1[SUP]st[/SUP]) Kyle Williams, (5[SUP]th[/SUP]- All Pro), Marquise Hill (2[SUP]nd[/SUP])
2004 - Mike Patterson (1[SUP]st[/SUP]), Shaun Cody (2[SUP]nd[/SUP]), Frostee Rucker (3[SUP]rd[/SUP])
2005- Brian Orapko(1st), Tim Crowder (2[SUP]nd[/SUP]), Brian Robison (4[SUP]th[/SUP])
2006- Derrick Harvey (1[SUP]st[/SUP]), Jarvis Moss (1[SUP]st[/SUP]), Ray McDonald (3[SUP]rd[/SUP])
2007- Tyson Jackson (1[SUP]st[/SUP]), Glenn Dorsey (1[SUP]st[/SUP])
2008- Carlos Dunlap (2[SUP]nd[/SUP]), Jermaine Cunningham (2[SUP]nd[/SUP])
2009- Marcell Dareus (1[SUP]st[/SUP]), Terrance Cody (2[SUP]nd[/SUP])
2010- Nick Fairley (1[SUP]st[/SUP])
2011- Courtney Upshaw (2[SUP]nd[/SUP]), Jesse Williams (2013 prospect), Damion Square (2013 prospect)

If you look at the 2000 Miami team and the 2001 Miami team, they were very, very close in talent. The only real difference is that the 2001 team had far superior defensive ends, due in large part to Jerome McDougle and Andrew Williams coming in from JUCO. The defensive line took the 2001 team to a whole new level.

Anthony Chickillo looks like a keeper. Guys like Tyriq McCord and Jelani Hamilton will make us or break us.

I'm going to update this and say that offensive line is equally important. You look at the top three teams and they have lines that can control the game (although Ohio State's is more with pass blocking.)

Georgia basically has no threat at RB and WR yet can just grind down teams with a mediocre QB. CJ Stroud is basically playing 7 on 7. Alabama is no longer dominant because the oline can't control the games in the 4th quarter anymore. Look at a team like Oregon. They take a journeyman QB and turn him into a top quarterback because he never gets touched.