Getting to know Miami: Breaking down the Hurricanes offense

Indiana football is set to take on Miami in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Monday, January 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

We’re previewing the Hurricanes as a team ahead of the game with some in-depth looks at the offense, defense and more. Find all the breakdowns below, with more to come!

Getting to know Miami ahead of the National Championship Game

• Breaking down the Hurricanes’ defense
• Q&A with State of The U

The Hurricanes’ offense

The strength of the Miami offense is that there’s a very clear idea of what the Hurricanes are trying to do and buy-in from the players doing so.

This is a team that’s gonna run the ball behind a big, strong offensive line and keep the ball out of harm’s way in the passing game with short, deliberate strikes to speed with room to work. There’s not a lot of surprise to this group, everyone knows what it’s gonna do. The trick is stopping it.

Here’s where the Hurricanes’ offense ranks in a few key stats:

• Total offense: 409.2 yards per game, 40th nationally
• Rushing offense: 154.6 yards per game, 72nd nationally
• Passing offense: 254.6 yards per game, 36th nationally
• Passing yards: 11.37 yards per completion, 76th nationally
• Scoring offense: 31.6 points per game, 30th nationally
• First downs: 333 first downs (135 rush, 178 pass, 20 penalty)
• Third down conversion %: 47.1%, 18th nationally
• Fourth down conversion %: 68.2%, 14th nationally
• Red zone offense: 88.7%, 36th nationally (additional context, this counts TDs and FGs)
• Sacks allowed: 1.27 per game, 16th nationally
• Tackles for loss allowed: 3.80 per game, 10th nationally
• Turnovers lost: 14 (3 fumbles, 11 interceptions), 44th nationally
• Team passing efficiency: 159.20, 12th nationally

Obviously stats only tell part of the story here. Some of these are meager, which doesn’t mean Miami’s offense isn’t effective, but hints at the way it goes about playing offense.

Miami isn’t a team that’s going to score a bunch of points for the sake of it, the Hurricanes are trying to control the game and set up favorable situations for the defense. That means running the football and risk-averse passing, two things Miami has done especially well during its playoff run.

Leading the way is quarterback Carson Beck, the former Georgia transfer. He’s completing 73.3% of his attempts through the air for an average of 8.2 yards with 29 passing touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He’s even better when the lights are brighter, completing 75.4% of his attempts through the air for 12 touchdowns and just three interceptions.

Beck’s effective because, as stated previously, he knows what the offense is trying to do: extend drives and protect the football. He’ll go for a deep shot if he sees the opportunity but he’s not hunting for that look, instead finding ways to chip away at defenses first and foremost. He’s added something else during the playoff run, using his legs to escape the pocket and pick up yards on the ground, which is how Miami won the Fiesta Bowl to begin with.

Obviously the playoff is a do-or-die scenario, and Beck’s legs proved effective against both of Ohio State and Ole Miss, with gains as long as 11 yards. Indiana has to be prepared for Beck to take off in ways the defenses he’s faced so far haven’t been, with Ole Miss paying dearly for not spying him on his late go-ahead run into the endzone.

To put it simply: Beck plays point guard and is doing it at an especially high level right now. Guard play wins in March. He’s heating up at the right time. Alright, enough basketball references.

Miami’s running game is very, very strong. Literally. The Hurricanes have a massive offensive lane paving the way for a few different backs (and, as previously stated, occasionally Beck) with Mark Fletcher Jr. as the head of the snake out of the backfield.

Fletcher Jr. leads Miami in rushing yards and attempts this season with 1,080 and 199, good for 5.4 yards per carry. He’s a pretty big runner at 6’2”, 225 lbs, making him a difficult tackle. CharMar Brown is right behind him with 469 yards on 119 attempts, good for 3.9 yards per carry.

Both have saved some of their best football for the playoff. Fletcher Jr. ran for 90 yards on 19 carries against Ohio State and an incredible 133 yards on 22 carries against Ole Miss. Brown ran for 26 yards on five carries against Ohio State and 54 yards on 14 carries against Ole Miss. (What were the Rebels onto).

What looms largest? Neither guy lets go of the football. They’ve combined for two fumbles on the year, one each, per ESPN. If Indiana’s looking for turnovers, it’s gonna have to find them elsewhere.

Last, but far from least, is Malachi Toney. My goodness, what a football player. He’s hauled in the most receptions for Miami by some distance with 99 catches on the season and 1,089 receiving yards from those catches, scoring nine touchdowns in the process. Behind him is Keelan Marion with 740 yards on 56 receptions and C.J. Daniels with 495 yards on 46 receptions.

The run is Miami’s bread and butter, but the pass is a great entree. Toney is doing all that as a true freshman while he, and the other receivers, are key as blockers in the run game. As stated previously, there’s buy-in to Miami’s system from across the roster.

It’s not going to be an easy unit to defend. The Ohio State defense was probably the best unit on either side of the ball in college football this season and this offense did enough to beat it, just like Indiana.

This isn’t an offense Indiana is going to be able to shut down entirely, there’s almost certainly something you’re gonna be giving up in the process of creating a favorable game. If Indiana zeroes in on anything, it’ll probably be the run game. Keep Miami from leaning on the Indiana defense and stop the receivers from picking up too many yards after the catch. Don’t give up big play opportunities through the air, Beck is experienced enough to find them, but keep Miami from playing the game it wants.

It’s gonna be a tough assignment, but Indiana has one of the top defenses in the country and coordinator Bryant Haines is one of the very best at what he does. There’s ways to limit this offense and Indiana does a few of those things quite well.