Well, without getting into any video breakdown, let's just call out some facts:
- Miami held FSU to 259 total yards on 52 plays. That's a hair under 5 yards per play at 4.98. In their previous three games, FSU averaged 6.2 yards per play.
- Miami held FSU to 13 total first downs and 3 first downs in 1st half!
- On 29 rush attempts, Miami allowed 2.2 yards per carry.
- Miami held FSU to ONE offensive TD the entire game, and it was one of the strangest plays (a seeming surefire turnover) we'll see for a while.
The reason I'm more impressed with this defensive performance than the two other standout performances (OSU and Gtech) this season is because this was the only team of those three that could realistically hurt us through the air. In fact, if you read my pre-game stuff, I fully expected them to spread out our defense and pick up chunks of yardage in 3 specific ways: read-option (through the QB), seam routes in the middle of the field, and lack of Safety range.
FSU only took advantage of the Safety range - particularly on that Touchdown. However, it was a perfect defensive call, the defender was in almost flawless pre-snap position and, again, it was a very awkward result.
I feel hamstrung giving a breakdown of the game without any video support, but I can say I felt comfortable that Coach D mixed up coverages decently well. We saw some press. We saw 2 Safeties over the top. We saw some interesting games/stunts with Vernon as a DT in pass rush situations. The most impressive thing from the defense last Saturday was that they played team football. Solid angles and solid tackling. It goes to show you that the team doesn't *necessarily* need superstars to play solid defense against an opponent that was NOT one dimensional.
When the videos go up, I'll get into it more.