Linebacker Kiko Mauigoa led the Miami Hurricanes with 9 tackles in the Boston College game. Alex Donno and Rudy Tomarchio describe how Kiko has been Miami's defensive MVP this season.
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00:00 We got Rudy Tamarchio with us breaking down this 45 to 20 Miami Hurricanes win at Boston College.
00:05 So, you know, Rudy, I thought my offensive MVPs on the offensive side of the football, I thought Xavier Restrepo and Henry Parish on defense.
00:13 He's been great all season.
00:15 Kiko Maui, Noah.
00:16 Number 51.
00:17 He's everywhere on the field all at once.
00:20 He has two TFLs and a sack and a team high nine tackles today.
00:25 You could make the argument.
00:27 He might be Miami's best find in the transfer portal.
00:31 I know some of the offensive linemen are in that conversation, but Kiko Maui, Noah, he was a godsend in the portal.
00:36 He's your best defensive find in the transfer portal for sure.
00:40 If you want to make that argument and say he's not the best overall find, but I mean, you can't say enough.
00:46 Yeah.
00:46 The nine tackles were wonderful, but the spots that he was put in to make the saving tackle where he probably saved a couple of big plays.
00:53 And also just some of the hits with authority that he made.
00:56 I mean, there were some shots there where, yeah, he may be one-on-one, but he knocks the guy backwards on a few of these different plays.
01:02 And seeing him fly around the field was really, it's great to see because we've been missing a linebacker like that for a while.
01:09 The last one, I mean, granted we had a great linebacking core a couple of years back, but in terms of having a single linebacker that really kind of takes over the game like that, I hadn't seen since Denzel Perryman at Miami.
01:20 And then looking at just middle linebackers, you go back to Jonathan Vilma, you go back to trying to think of DJ Williams is a great linebacker, but middle linebackers, I'm looking a freshman year, Romeo Davis had some great mobility in terms of what he did for having to step up.
01:37 Obviously a lot of injuries to him, but I compare a lot of this Miami team to those early 2000s post peak.
01:47 I'd say like that 2004, 2005, where they had excellent offensive line play, but would have issues with quarterback play and offensive struggles, but the defense kept them in a lot of these games.
01:57 And that's what the season was really.
01:58 I mean, minus Louisville and UNC, where I think were probably two of the worst defensive performances of the year, your defense kept you in every single game.
02:07 And today was no different with the linebacking play.
02:10 Defensive line play looked pretty good.
02:12 Yeah.
02:12 Short tackling too, like outside of that, that first drive was really a masterpiece.