Miami Hurricanes O-Line Earns Power 5's Highest Grade in Week 1
The Mario Cristobal era is off to a strong start and it looks like the former Hurricanes offensive tackle turned head coach has lit a fire beneath this Miami front five.
Cristobal and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal have completely retooled the Hurricanes blocking schemes and techniques. In Miami's first appearance under this staff last Saturday, they put forth a dominant performance and earned a 93.5 blocking grade from Pro Football Focus, the highest mark in the Power 5.
To be perfectly transparent, the Canes did play FCS bottom feeder Bethune-Cookman. But then again, just about every program in the Power 5 opened up against bottom-shelf competition, and few units looked as impressive as the Hurricanes. Baylor, which returns every member of an offensive line that was in conversations for the nation's best in 2021, played FCS Albany and only graded out at an 86.
Highest-graded Power Five offensive lines in Week 1:
— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 8, 2022
🥇 Miami (FL.) - 93.5
🥈 Iowa State - 89.2
🥉 Baylor - 86.0
(📸: @CanesFootball) pic.twitter.com/s5zTrhATPr
The Canes are featuring some old faces in new places, with DJ Scaife at guard/tackle and Jalen Rivers returning from injury to a slot at left guard. Rivers, a third year freshman, looked especially commanding and earned ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors.
"It took a while to get used to, that scheme that we do, but when you practice it and you've been able to do it since spring, summer, you get really comfortable," said Rivers. "To utilize [our linemen] in a way to move or move people, is a strong advantage in our offense."
For someone who stands at 6-foot-5, 325 pounds, Rivers sure can move. In fact, all of the Canes linemen have some real athleticism and versatility to them.
The players attribute a lot of that to the cross-training that they did under Mirabal during the off-season. Bulldozing blockers like Zion Nelson, John Campbell, and Justice Oluwaseun provide serious size and can move with the nimbleness of much lighter players. On the interior, center Jakai Clark did his fair share of mauling as well and anchored the Canes from the middle.
It's this new philosophy and strategy that allowed Miami to steamroll BCU on its way to that Power 5 best blocking grade. The Hurricanes chalked up a fitting 305 yards on the ground, and added 300 more through the air, all without allowing a single sack to any of their three quarterbacks.
The ball carriers following that lane clearing unit benefitted massively, as Henry Parrish Jr. and Thad Franklin both scored multiple rushing touchdowns. By the end of the day, Miami had lit up the scoreboard for seven team scores on the ground, a new program record.
It will be intriguing to see how the Miami offensive line performs as the competition gets tougher. They'll face a slightly more challenging task this weekend against Southern Miss, but their real show-me moment will be in Week 3 against No. 6 Texas A&M on the road.
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