Assessing the significance of Miami’s impressive defensive showing against Florida

Quarterback Cam Ward impressed in his Miami debut versus Florida in The Swap, but the Hurricanes’ defense also played superb in the team’s 41-17 statement win over the Gators to kick off a high-stakes college football season for The U.

CaneSport‘s Gary Ferman joined the On3 Roundtable following Miami’s signature win, putting the Hurricanes’ impressive performance on defense into perspective.

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“We saw it a little bit in training camp, the offense didn’t exactly have their way every day of fall practice and we saw that the defense was making some really good strides,” Ferman revealed. “They’ve had added some key pieces in a Simeon Barrow and Tyler Baron up front for example. Some depth at linebacker and even the defensive backs under the new coach Chevis Jackson clearly have made a significant step forward from a year ago.”

Miami’s defense was just outside of the top five in points and yards allowed per game last season in the ACC. But some key returning players paired with new additions from the transfer portal could lead to the unit not just improving, but being one of the nation’s best and a key in the team’s success this season.

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“So this is a better Miami defense than they were getting credit for coming into the season, I think they’ll start getting a little that credit now,” Ferman added.

The Hurricanes wreaked havoc on Florida’s offense, forcing two turnovers and occupying the backfield with three sacks and eight tackles for loss on the day. Holding the Gators to just 261 yards of total offense with 71 yards coming from a Montrell Johnson touchdown run. But Ferman believes the right mindset will be the key to helping Miami’s team reach new heights.

“But to me, the big thing for Miami moving forward from here is to remember this is a long season. This was just one game, you were playing what was a clearly over matched opponent on Saturday. You did a phenomenal job,” Ferman said. “But all you had to do was say, turn on the TV on Sunday night, for example, and watch USC and LSU play and that was two very talented teams out on the field.”

“There are other teams in college football that could play well also and for Miami to accomplish things this season, they got to win the ACC and then they got to get into the College Football Playoff and represent themselves well,” Ferman explained. “To do all that, they need to keep getting better, and even as euphoric as what happened in The Swamp on Saturday was. To me, moving forward, that’s the key for Miami. Just don’t forget what got you to this place, you’re much better than you were when you were losing the Pinstripe Bowl in December to Rutgers. But just understand this is an intermediate step.”

For as impactful as Miami’s win felt, it was just one win. As the Hurricanes will look to build off of it moving forward this season in what could be a historic year in Coral Gables.