The Miami Hurricanes are 60 minutes away from securing their sixth national championship in the program’s history.
The Hurricanes will be at their home stadium, playing the number one team in the country,
a team people are talking about as one of the best ever.
The Indiana Hoosiers have been the best team in the country all year and have remained consistent and disciplined throughout their undefeated season.
There are so many fascinating matchups leading into Monday’s big game. Both rosters have an abundance of talent and have showcased it through their run to the title game.
After sorting out all of the positional battles that will ensue in the game, there is one that really stands out and will determine who walks out of Hard Rock Stadium as a champion.
Miami’s Defensive Line vs. Indiana’s Offensive Line
Two of the best players on Miami’s roster reside on the defensive line, and they need to have the best game of their collegiate careers on Monday.
Indiana has a good offensive line, and the offensive line coach, Bob Bostad, does a great job with those guys upfront. He’s been known for his excellent coaching among offensive linemen. Bostad has his center, Pat Coogan, playing at an outstanding level and arguably their best offensive player (alongside Fernando Mendoza, of course).
The rest around Coogan are good players, but can be susceptible to exposure against a good defensive line.
According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), the Hoosiers have the 18th-best pass blocking grade in the country. There are two teams Miami has played that are graded higher by PFF: SMU and Florida State. Miami ranks as the best graded team in the country in that department.
Indiana has the fourth-best run-blocking grade at 78.8. While they are in the top five, it’s still a number that is somewhat questionable. When diving deeper into the grade, they are around league average in rushing yards per attempt at 4.2 yards in their last three games played. Also, over that span, they are averaging 172 rushing yards, which is 46 fewer than their regular-season total.
They aren’t the best running team, but they can have some big flashes if Miami doesn’t stay disciplined with their gaps.
When Indiana faced a team with as much talent as they had in the trenches, they did not play well. In fact, PFF has its four worst-graded run-blocking games of the season against Oregon (the regular-season game in Eugene), Penn State, Ohio State, and Oregon again in the Peach Bowl.
The same goes for its pass-blocking grades in those types of games. The Hoosiers had a whopping 46.7 and 48.3 pass-blocking grades against Penn State and Oregon, by far their two worst grades of the season. The third- and fourth-worst grades were against Iowa and Ohio State, when they struggled to pass-block, too.
PFF has Miami as the best pass-rushing unit in the country and has graded them at 92.5. Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor have been incredible for Corey Hetherman and his defense. Jason Taylor has his duo rushing the passer better than anyone has this season. But they have been just as good defending the run as well.
PFF has them graded at 92.2 in run defense, which ranks among the best in the country. The main reason for that is Ahmad Moten Sr. He has been banged up these last couple of games, but will be playing on Monday, which is significant for Miami and the defense.
Including sacks, Bain leads the team in pressures with 80, with Mesidor totaling 63. Two players to watch out to make an impact against Indiana are Armondo Blount and Marquise Lightfoot.
This Miami defensive line is littered with talent across the board and they have a favorable matchup ahead of them. It’ll be interesting to see how Curt Cignetti can mitigate some of those pressures and weaknesses of his offensive line by getting the ball out quick or moving the pocket in favorable spots.
But when it comes to talent and who has the advantage, Miami should win this matchup. If they win this matchup the way their trenches have done throughout this postseason run, it can well determine the outcome of the game as well.
