FACTORS - Have the Miami Hurricanes Returned to Glory?

     Mark Richt has been a big name coach in college football for almost two decades now. After head coaching the Georgia Bulldogs for 15 seasons between 2001 and 2015, Richt was fired after a season of letdown from very high expectations and shortly thereafter hired by the University of Miami to be their next football coach. Richt took over a mess of a program, stumbling through decades of mediocrity, all the while trying to return to the glory days of the late 1980's and early 1990's.

     Richt is now 16-4 as the head coach of Miami, and the Hurricanes are on a 12 game winning streak stretching back into last regular season, starting this season at 7-0. Going into this week, Miami has a chance to prove that they are for real, with a homecoming victory over Virginia Tech on November 4th.

     A 7-0 start, filled with magical victories and last second scores to win, has everyone wondering if the Hurricanes are returning to their glory days of old. Are they back yet? Have the Hurricanes returned to dominance?

FACTOR ONE - The Defense

     Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz has turned this defense into a Hurricane storm on the field for opposing offenses, bringing exotic blitz packages and coaching up a young but talented secondary. Compiling 23 sacks and 16 turnovers over the first 7 games, opposing quarterbacks have been rattled early with hits and turnovers. Five players have 5 or more tackles for loss, and Four players have 3 or more sacks.

     The entire starting front seven from last season returned for 2017, featuring three sophomore linebackers and two senior defensive ends. DE Chad Thomas is expected to be a mid round pick next April in the NFL Draft. He has 7 TFL and 2 sacks. The secondary is performing at a very high level and have broken up 38 passes. Miami's pass defense has been very strong. They play a lot of man coverage and let the cornerbacks make plays. It's working.

     The blitz packages that Diaz dials up screams for chaos. He uses his linebackers to the best of their abilities, using their elite speed to make big plays. It's evident that the coaching staff completely trusts their players and allows them to make big reads. Miami is a very good defense who plays very well at all times.

FACTOR TWO - Mark Richt

     Richt is a strong Christian man, who's not just a great guy and a true sportsman on and off the field, but an elite recruiter who landed the 15th best class this year and the 17th best class last season. He is a great coach who has sent several big-time players on to the NFL. Think Matthew Stafford, AJ Green, Todd Gurley, Thomas Davis, Knowshon Moreno. Those are all Georgia alumni who were recruited by Richt and played for him.

     Richt had a great career at Georgia, going 145-51 (9-5 in bowl games), but couldn't seem to win the big games. Everytime Georgia had risen to the top of its potential, another team rose higher in the SEC. Florida under Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer. Nick Saban and the Alabama train. Tennessee under Butch Jones. Richt was simply outdone by the competition he faced in the SEC alone. Restarting in the ACC, sharing a conference with Dabo Swinney at Clemson and Jimbo Fisher at Florida State, Richt has a great chance to truly become recognized as one of the nation's best coaches.

FACTOR THREE - Depth at Running Back

     Pre-Season All Conference Running Back Mark Walton is out for the season, being knocked out with a right ankle injury in the October 7th win over Florida State in Tallahassee. Walton's production over the first four games, 428 rushing yards and 3 TD's, had to be replaced.

     Picking up the slack is sophomore tailback Travis Homer. Homer isn't as skilled as Walton is taking a handoff, but he's more of a option in the passing game. He's already doubled Walton's reception total this season, and leads the team in scrimmage yards with 619 and 6 TD's.

     Behind him is Junior RB Trayone Gray, who hasn't seen many snaps this season (nor his career for that matter) but was a top 60 RB prospect coming out of high school. He's got 7 carries for 42 yards this season, so watch out if he gets some more playing time.

FACTOR FOUR - The Turnover Chain

     Miami started a new tradition this season to inspire the defense to collect turnovers with the "Turnover Chain." A golden chain link necklace with the Miami U hanging off of the bottom, it is crowned to the defender who comes up with the ball on a turnover play. Diaz and Richt both have spoken at length at how the players have rallied around this new motivational tool that the defense plays for, and ESPN ran a feature on it a week ago on College Gameday.

What's Holding Them Back
     Miami is a very good team in the ACC this season, and the program is definitely stabilized. They currently have the 3rd ranked recruiting class of 2018 at the moment, according to 247 Sports, featuring a five star and 13 four star recruits. However, this season the Hurricanes have yet to face a real test in their opponents. The divisional rivals that they have played have compiled a 15-25 record this season. They've struggled to close out games against weak opponents and escaped back to back weeks with a touchdown pass that took a 24-20 lead over Florida State on October 7th, and a game winning field goal that gave them the win 25-24 over Georgia Tech.

     The offense doesn't appear to be capable of scoring very many points. They struggle to keep possession, pick up first downs and convert on third down in general. Give them another big playmaker, and the Hurricanes will be dominant. But this season, they've hit their high.

     Miami is coming back to the glory days of national dominance, and with a strong recruiting class this season they will easily be in the top 5 next season. The back end of the defense is young and talented, and the playmakers are coming. Watch out, Dabo. Watch out, Jimbo. Miami is coming for you.