Miami’s cornerback picture is getting thin fast, and Thursday night against FAMU gave a glimpse of how the Hurricanes may have to adjust on the fly.
With OJ Frederique and Xavier Lucas both injured in the season opener against Stanford, and Ja'Boree Antone already out after getting hurt during fall camp, Miami is down three of the top five corners it had when camp opened. That leaves Damari Brown and Ethan O'Connor as the only corners on the roster with starting experience.
Corey Hetherman had to shuffle things around against the Rattlers. Starting safety Bryce Fitzgerald slid over to corner, while true freshman JJ Dunnigan stepped into the starting safety role. Miami also mixed in nickels Camdin Portis and Ryan Mack at outside corner.
The setup worked just fine against FAMU. Miami’s outside corners allowed only one catch on eight targets, and that gain went for negative one yard.
The bigger question now is what Hetherman wants to call with all this movement in the secondary. The coverage mix changed from Week 1 to Week 2, and the differences were easy to spot.
Against Stanford, Miami leaned heavily on Cover 3, using it on 49.2% of snaps. Cover 1 followed at 29.2%, with Cover 2 at 6.2% and Cover 6 at 3.1%.
That first-game plan put two outside corners and a safety across the deep field, while also asking the linebackers and safeties to handle the short zones underneath. According to PFF, the Hurricanes were in zone on 60 percent of their coverage snaps.
Against FAMU, the numbers shifted. Cover 3 dropped to 34%, Cover 1 came in at 25.5%, and Quarters showed up on 4.3% of snaps.
The notable change was more Cover 2, a look that helps take away the short throws Stanford had success with in the opener by keeping two safeties deep. PFF said Miami was in zone coverage on 74.5% of its plays.
Cover 1 was the common thread in both games. It’s the man coverage look with one deep safety, designed to tighten windows, support the run, create blitz chances, and limit RPO throws. It can also leave Miami exposed to crossing routes, mesh concepts and deep fades, while linebackers can get stressed against speedy backs, tight ends and slot receivers.
Last season, Miami was mostly a Cover 3 team, using it on 46.4% of snaps. Cover 1 was the next most frequent call at 17.4%, and Quarters came in at 11.5%.
Now the Hurricanes head to Wake Forest on Friday, and the matchup brings a passing game with plenty of explosive potential. The key question is whether Miami stays anchored to Cover 3 or keeps leaning into more Cover 2 while the secondary keeps sorting itself out.
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