Hurricanes Coaches, Players Preview Southern Miss' Defense
Despite losing to Liberty last Saturday, Southern Mississippi's defense showed promise, allowing only 203 passing yards and corralling three interceptions in the quadruple-overtime thriller.
This defensive attack was led by junior Malik Shorts, who had a team-high 12 tackles and one takeaway. The defensive back led the Golden Eagles in multiple statistical categories last season, including tackles and pass deflections, as well as tieing for the most interceptions recorded.
Miami head coach Mario Cristobal spoke highly of Shorts and the rest of Southern Miss's defense.
"[Shorts] is one of several good players. When you play a team like Southern Miss that’s as disruptive as they are and that it is as line-of-scrimmage controlling as they are on both sides of the ball, of course you're very aware of great players but at the same time you’re also making sure that your teams are playing disciplined football and that they’re taking care of business as it relates to us," Cristobal said to reporters Wednesday.
"But I’m always very complimentary of guys that really stand out on tape, and they have several good players on tape that merit accolades and certainly praise."
The Golden Eagles also brought back senior Josh Carr Jr., who led Southern Miss last year with four sacks. The talented linebacker will look to wreak havoc on quarterback Tyler Van Dyke and the rest of Miami's offense in what should be a very blitz-heavy gameplan, according to UM offensive lineman Jalen Rivers.
“They’re gonna blitz a lot, so we gotta be able to pick those up," Rivers said. "We gotta be able to be disciplined and make sure we communicate as well because without communication we will probably kill our running backs and our quarterback … I feel like that’s the biggest thing going into this game.”
Miami's offensive line did a fine job protecting Van Dyke and Jake Garcia against Bethune-Cookman's pass rush, allowing only one quarterback hurry. The group will be aiming for similar results against Southern Miss.
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Luke Chaney is a contributing writer for Sports Illustrated-FanNation's AllHurricanes.com, covering recruiting and Miami Athletics. You can also find Luke on WVUM 90.5 FM as a play-by-play broadcaster. He is also the Sports Editor for The Miami Hurricane. Follow Luke on Twitter @luke_chaney4.