Miami Football: Hurricanes Must Show Improvement Against Georgia Tech
A victory over division foe Duke was an encouraging step forward, but the Miami Hurricanes still must show significant improvement when they face another Coastal Division opponent in Georgia Tech.
The 'Canes are still lacking production in four notable areas, and cleaning up those struggles would help the team separate itself from upcoming competition—excluding Florida State, of course.
Miami enters the prime-time battle on Saturday, Oct. 4, striving to earn an important conference victory as the bulk of their ACC schedule looms.
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But if the Hurricanes remain hampered by these issues, the Yellow Jackets and all future opponents are talented enough to overpower Miami.
Wide Receiver Blocking
For better or worse, wide receiver screens are a staple of play-caller James Coley's offense. However, they haven't been very successful.
Miami has tallied more than 10 yards just once in at least 20 screen attempts, and its inability to move forward is largely a product of porous blocking by wideouts. Stacy Coley, Malcolm Lewis and Braxton Berrios are typically the targets, but they haven't had much room to operate.
Against Duke, safety Jeremy Cash completely ignored a D'Mauri Jones block and tackled Coley at the line of scrimmage. Brad Kaaya's pass is barely halfway to Coley by the time Cash is closing on the shifty receiver.
The Hurricanes' best screen of the year came at Nebraska, and to no surprise, blocking was the key.
Lewis cut his man, freeing his teammate for a one-on-one with five yards of separation, and Coley slashed upfield, shook a pair of tacklers and gained 17 yards.
An intended target cannot take his eyes off the ball and look for defenders; his main responsibility is to receive the pass. The difference when Coley actually had time to catch a ball and look upfield is certainly obvious.
Coach Coley has deservedly taken some heat for his post-scripted play selection, but the Miami receivers need to do their jobs better too, because the screen isn't leaving the offense's repertoire.
Penalties
The two easiest ways to lose a game are turnovers and penalties. While the Hurricanes haven't been stellar in either category, the latter is much easier to correct.
Miami's 7.8 penalties per contest cost itself 70.8 yards each outing, two discouraging numbers that rank 95th and 102nd, respectively, at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.
Offensively, the 'Canes have committed seven false starts, six holding penalties and three delay of games, all of which are drive killers. Surprisingly, Ereck Flowers and Clive Walford have been the biggest offenders, so Miami needs a couple key players to focus more.
On the other side of the ball, opposing offenses have been handed 10 free first downs due to pass interference and personal fouls. Saturday's matchup is largely focused on being disciplined, so Miami cannot afford to move the chains for Georgia Tech's run-focused offense.
Third-Down Success
All season long, Miami has struggled on what Al Golden calls the "money down," as noted by Christy Cabrera Chirinos of South Florida Sun Sentinel. A 2-of-13 mark against Duke didn't cost the Hurricanes a win, but it allowed the Blue Devils to hang around until late in the fourth quarter.
Additionally, Matt Porter of the Palm Beach Post notes Kaaya's efficiency is nearly cut in half between the opening and closing downs.
"On the first two downs, the true freshman is completing 67.3 percent of his passes," Porter said. "That number drops to 34.1 percent on third and fourth downs. He is averaging 9.7 yards per attempt on first and second, and 5.2 on third and fourth."
Overall, Miami is just 14-of-58 on third down, posting a 24.1 percent conversion rate that ranks third-worst in the country.
| 1-5 | 12 | 28 | 42.9 |
| 6-10 | 1 | 14 | 7.1 |
| 11-15 | 1 | 9 | 11.1 |
| 16-plus | 0 | 7 | 0.0 |
According to B/R research, the 'Canes have needed a combined 450 yards over those 58 third downs, an average of 7.8 yards.
Miami must start moving forward more consistently on the opening snaps and limit the long-yardage situations it encounters.
Kick Returns
Last season, the 'Canes amassed the nation's seventh-best mark at 25.1 yards per kick return. Comparatively, however, Miami's current 18.6 clip would have finished the 2013 campaign at No. 118 of 125 schools.
"Guys have just got to win their one-on-one battles," Phillip Dorsett said, per Susan Miller Degnan of the Miami Herald. "We have a dynamic returner back there in Stacy. We give him a crease, and he'll take it the distance. Obviously, we pride ourselves in breaking long runs because we're an explosive team, but in looking at the film ... we've got to help our returners out."
Considering Georgia Tech has only defended a handful of kickoffs all year, the Hurricanes may not receive many chances to run it out. Harrison Butker has consistently blasted the ball, forcing 18 touchbacks out of 24 kicks.
However, the Jackets have ceded 26.2 yards when opponents test the coverage. Coley is still looking for a breakout chance, and there's a decent possibility he finds that opportunity if a Butker kick is indeed returnable.
Unless otherwise noted, stats and rankings courtesy of CFBstats.com.
Follow Bleacher Report college football writer David Kenyon on Twitter: @Kenyon19_BR.
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