Jenkins, Heurtelou, Kamalu, Perryman, Chickillo, Bright Spots for Miami Football in Loss at Louisville

Need some positivity in your life, Hurricanes fans?

The defense, that beleaguered defense, surrendered just 330 yards of total offense Monday Night. And one can argue that the last 67 yards of Louisville's final scoring drive were when the unit was completely gassed.

Take away that and the 93 yards they allowed on the Cardinals second drive of the game when they mostly rushed 3 and played a soft zone behind it, and UM's D only gave up 170 yards for the better part of the game.

But even taking those factors out of the equation, the overall play and especially the tackling, were impressive.

Two bad bookend drives,  and the rest was pretty darn good.

Denzel Perryman was all over the field, and looks like has gotten even better as a player than in his first 3 seasons in the program, which is saying a lot.

DP finished with 12 tackles overall, 1 sack, and 3 TFL.

For a change, he was not alone.

Fellow senior Anthony Chickillo had 6 tackles, 1 TFL, a sack, and a forced fumble.  And he could have had a second sack had he not taken a bad angle on one of his rushes of Cardinals QB Will Gardner. But overall he was very impressive, a carry over from his very strong fall camp.

Another DE, Ufomba Kamalu chipped in with 4 tackles and a sack, and OLB/DE Tyriq McCord had a few big hits and pitched in an early TFL as well.

OLB Thurston Armbrister made a huge third quarter play with a sack and forced fumble that should have been a game changer.

And on the interior, Calvin Heurtelou and freshman Courtel Jenkins, were stout all night.  Their play was miles ahead of what the 'Canes had at DT last season.   If Jenkins can bring that type of effort each game, he might be the sleeper of the 2014 class.

Heck, even Olsen Pierre showed up and made a few plays.

With the inside guys on Miami's front projected to be the biggest weakness on the entire team, this is very encouraging.

Bottom line, if the Hurricanes get this kind of defensive effort every week of the season, they should have a successful season.

Yesterday, our newest author Madison Cramer pleaded with UM fans to stay positive and John Pickens recapped why his glass is half full.

Both writers touch upon the fact that the offense is going to get better.  'Canes fans may have lost a lot of faith in the coaches, but the players (especially freshman QB Brad Kaaya and the entire O line up) are going to improve.  It is hard to believe that Duke Johnson and Stacy Coley do not end up having big seasons.

And once that O finds its' rhythm, if it is joined consistently by the type of D we saw Vs Louisville,  you will have a complete team.

I know Monday's performance was a major letdown and was unacceptable as a whole for so many reasons. But in every storm cloud there is a silver lining.

Miami's defensive play on Monday, is a big reason for hope.