Canezum5
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Miami Hurricanes football: Manny Diaz happy about first win, but ‘a million things to fix’ on defense | Canes Watch
Diaz said he liked what he saw from the defensive line, which was missing Willis (he’s back this week) and got a handful of snaps from Harris (wearing a cast on his left hand). Tackle RJ McIntosh had a team-best eight tackles (two for loss) and all three of Jenkins’ tackles were for losses. End Demetrius Jackson, making the first start of his career along with McIntosh, posted five tackles, three for losses, and two sacks. He and junior Chad Thomas (three tackles, one for loss, pass break-up) created immense pressure all night. Sophomore Kendrick Norton (three tackles, 1.5 for loss) and redshirt freshman Ryan Fines, thrust into action with Willis out, performed well.
“The question I had going in was would we go and disrupt in game one, or would we kind of still stand around and be unsure,” Diaz said. “At least on field level, it looked like we went.”
For a defense that lacks experience, Saturday was a crucial step. FAU will be another.
“Now you finally have something to fix,” Diaz said. “You can tell them every day in practice, they’re like, ‘I hear you coach, I hear you.’ But then you see in a game, and it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, we left that guy wide open. OK, now, I get it.’ And you make game corrections.
“Good football teams usually make a big jump from week one to week two. We understand that our opponent next week will be a tougher out than this opponent was. It’s imperative – because we’re going to get patted on the back for the next 24 hours – that we improve off this performance next week.”
I think all of us were asking the same question; hoping there wouldn't be any lingering Golden cancer stuck in the psyche of the defense.
Glad to see the beast unleashed for sure. I cant wait to see how our DB and LB coverage communication is adjusted.
Diaz said he liked what he saw from the defensive line, which was missing Willis (he’s back this week) and got a handful of snaps from Harris (wearing a cast on his left hand). Tackle RJ McIntosh had a team-best eight tackles (two for loss) and all three of Jenkins’ tackles were for losses. End Demetrius Jackson, making the first start of his career along with McIntosh, posted five tackles, three for losses, and two sacks. He and junior Chad Thomas (three tackles, one for loss, pass break-up) created immense pressure all night. Sophomore Kendrick Norton (three tackles, 1.5 for loss) and redshirt freshman Ryan Fines, thrust into action with Willis out, performed well.
“The question I had going in was would we go and disrupt in game one, or would we kind of still stand around and be unsure,” Diaz said. “At least on field level, it looked like we went.”
For a defense that lacks experience, Saturday was a crucial step. FAU will be another.
“Now you finally have something to fix,” Diaz said. “You can tell them every day in practice, they’re like, ‘I hear you coach, I hear you.’ But then you see in a game, and it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, we left that guy wide open. OK, now, I get it.’ And you make game corrections.
“Good football teams usually make a big jump from week one to week two. We understand that our opponent next week will be a tougher out than this opponent was. It’s imperative – because we’re going to get patted on the back for the next 24 hours – that we improve off this performance next week.”
I think all of us were asking the same question; hoping there wouldn't be any lingering Golden cancer stuck in the psyche of the defense.
Glad to see the beast unleashed for sure. I cant wait to see how our DB and LB coverage communication is adjusted.
