That's the fandom in them to think Miami will be only slightly better. We beat Clemson and loss to FSU by 7 with very little production from our freshman QB EW. The math doesn't add up for them to think Miami's offense will be only "slightly" better with Cam Ward. I think they may be better in 2024 on their interior DL because Jackson sat out in 2023 and they added some nice pieces. It's just optimism for their team because they have a bunch of unproven players. We did it for years and then we were disappointed with the outcomes.
The difference this year is we have proven experience at every starting position and most of the 2-deep. It's a matter of our team gelling. The expectations and outcomes are much more predictable with experienced proven players even if they weren't starters the previous year. If anything you'd expect a backup with experience to improve the following year. With FSU's transfers, many don't have experience. They may have talent, but not experience. So, they can talk smack and believe whatever they want, but they have a wider range of potential failure with so many unproven players.
Maybe it's just the fan in me, but I think we put the boom on them at home this year. I really believe our offense is going to be top 10. I think our team is like 2023 Washington, but better. I wasn't as optimistic about the defense until I listened to the Miami FLO video cast on YouTube. FLO is really conservative about the team. He didn't buy into the 10 wins and was adamant about setting the bar at 9 wins for a long time. After our recent portal additions, he's come around to 10 wins. His last show he went position group by position group asking the question, "Are we better than last year?" The answer was a "YES" at every group with the exception of Safety being a push.
We were ranked 24th in total defense last year and that was with an injury depleted DL and Guidry's 1st year. In year 2 of Guidry, this defen se could be top 10-15. For comparison, Washington was 96th. Yes, 96th. It was their #12 offense that carried them to the National Championship game and in particular it was their passing game. They weren't very good running the ball at 104th, but had the 2nd best passing offense in the nation.
I say all this because I really think we have a team that can compete nationally. We haven't seen it in over 2 decades, but this roster is built for it. If Cam Ward has a "Penix like" EDIT: "Cam Ward" year averaging 300+ passing, Cam was 8th in passing last year. In contrast, DJ U was 53rd in passing and over 1,000 yards less than Cam Ward. DJ U had the same number of INT (7) as Ward, but had 170 less pass attempts. DJ U is a game manager. He can't carry a team like Ward. Nationally, the media is talking about Carson Beck as a Heisman. In 2023, Beck had 1 less TD (24) and 1 less INT (6) than Cam Ward. Beck threw for 195 more yards (3,941). Very similar numbers, but Ward had no OL and far less weapons. Ward has as good a shot as any to win the Heisman.
We'll have a top 10 offense. We'll blow teams out because our defense will be much better than Washington's. FSU has no clue what's waiting for them. Hopefully, we see the beginning of it August 31st in the Swamp.
