After the Canes returned to practice on Tuesday following Saturday’s spring scrimmage, offensive coordinator Dan Enos was blunt in describing how his unit performed.
“The defense totally dominated the offense the entire day,” Enos said.
As they have done all spring, the Canes rotated pretty evenly between N’Kosi Perry, Tate Martell, and Jarren Williams and tried to give equal reps. Enos says he’s still looking for more from his QB group.
“All three still pretty much even,” Enos said. “All of them played really, really slow - slow in the huddle, slow at the line of scrimmage. Too indecisive, all three of them at times. The pocket demeanor got them in problems at times and when they played more decisive and their feet were good, they played very well.”
As for the positives, Enos praised the group for taking care of the ball, as well as Perry for his big play ability.
“The one thing the three of them did - didn’t turn the ball over,” Enos said. “N’Kosi was the benefactor of having a couple of big plays, one time negotiated the pocket well, stepped up, slid, eyes downfield and got a big play out of that. But there wasn’t a lot of offensive explosiveness at all on the day.”
The offensive line continues to be a problem area for UM that has been exacerbated due to injuries along a thin front.
"Very inconsistent, the offensive line - we've been shuffling guys in and out of there because of injuries," Enos said. "We had to move Donaldson to center on Saturday, he hadn't played center all spring. He did a tremendous job moving to center for us. But really, there's been no continuity. We're trying to figure out who is a tackle, the starter, who is a two. It's been hard that way, especially against a defense doing as much as they’re doing.
“We had two freshmen playing left tackle in the scrimmage Saturday - they should be getting ready for the senior prom and they’re out there blocking one of the best defenses in the country. At the end of the day, we’ll have an offensive line we’re excited about."
Despite the struggles, Enos isn’t concerned about the state of the offense and sees the unit slowly learning their way in new terrain.
“We’re trying to learn a whole new offense - not worried at all,” Enos said. “The competition will make better players and the cream rises to the top. May be the best man win… It’s frustrating, humbling at times but hopefully we can learn from those adverse situations.”
**One of the issues so far this spring in the WR group has been dropped balls, something that plagued the unit in 2018 as well. New WR coach Taylor Stubblefield has been drilling his guys hard to break down their bad habits and get the receivers to make the easy catches.
“There’s going to be drops,” Stubblefield said. “The frustrating part for me and for our group is hand position on certain catches, when you don’t have your hands out a certain way, you don’t maximize your catch radius.
“Some habits are hard to break – yes, you can be successful catching the ball with poor hand placement. But if you want to be 10 out of 10, an elite ball-catcher, you have to have your hand placement the right way. We’re stressing it. We have guys on the JUGS machine, have to get more guys on the machine. I’m encouraging them to perfect their craft.”
Coming over from Air Force, Stubblefield hasn’t quite worked with the type of raw talent junior WR Jeff Thomas offers, but Miami’s receiver coach is still pushing him to polish up the finer points of the position.
“Jeff has tons of tools, he really does. He’s fast, he’s quick - with our offense, what we do you have to be detailed in what you do and he’s continuing to learn the skill parts the position,” Stubblefield said. “We don’t have an offense where you just run to an area, run to an open spot. You have to understand what you’re attacking, what the defense is trying to do to maximize this offense. We have to continue to work the skill part.”
Sophomore WR Mark Pope had a 52 yard TD reception in the scrimmage and Stubblefield updated his progress.
“He’s very gifted,” Stubblefield said. “He’s fast, he’s quick, catches the ball pretty naturally. The biggest thing is him understanding. Our offense is complex, but it’s very simple once you understand the foundation of it.
“What’s good with him is he’s up for the challenge, is doing some extra things so that he can learn what he needs to learn. We want him to be confident with what he’s doing. In years past, it was a signal. Now, the quarterback has to speak it, we have to hear it, decipher what it means and act accordingly.”
Another standout this spring has been senior WR KJ Osborn, who transferred in from Buffalo in time for spring ball.
“It’s no longer about how many stars he was out of high school, how much promise he has,” Stubblefield said. “This is his last year playing - he wants to be the best he can be.”
Sophomore WR Evidence Njoku has always been known for his intriguing physical gifts, but has been trying to find his footing after tearing his ACL in his freshman season. Stubblefield recognizes Njoku’s potential and keeps on him hard in an effort to unlock his talents.
“I’m going to continue to challenge Evidence. Evidence has a tremendous amount of talent,” Stubblefield said. “We have to make sure that he has a sense of urgency about his development. There are times he wants to be the best and sometimes we have to motivate him to be the best. He’s improving, has been maybe a little banged up, battling back from that. If he comes out with a workman-like mentality, he’ll have a chance.”
“The defense totally dominated the offense the entire day,” Enos said.
As they have done all spring, the Canes rotated pretty evenly between N’Kosi Perry, Tate Martell, and Jarren Williams and tried to give equal reps. Enos says he’s still looking for more from his QB group.
“All three still pretty much even,” Enos said. “All of them played really, really slow - slow in the huddle, slow at the line of scrimmage. Too indecisive, all three of them at times. The pocket demeanor got them in problems at times and when they played more decisive and their feet were good, they played very well.”
As for the positives, Enos praised the group for taking care of the ball, as well as Perry for his big play ability.
“The one thing the three of them did - didn’t turn the ball over,” Enos said. “N’Kosi was the benefactor of having a couple of big plays, one time negotiated the pocket well, stepped up, slid, eyes downfield and got a big play out of that. But there wasn’t a lot of offensive explosiveness at all on the day.”
The offensive line continues to be a problem area for UM that has been exacerbated due to injuries along a thin front.
"Very inconsistent, the offensive line - we've been shuffling guys in and out of there because of injuries," Enos said. "We had to move Donaldson to center on Saturday, he hadn't played center all spring. He did a tremendous job moving to center for us. But really, there's been no continuity. We're trying to figure out who is a tackle, the starter, who is a two. It's been hard that way, especially against a defense doing as much as they’re doing.
“We had two freshmen playing left tackle in the scrimmage Saturday - they should be getting ready for the senior prom and they’re out there blocking one of the best defenses in the country. At the end of the day, we’ll have an offensive line we’re excited about."
Despite the struggles, Enos isn’t concerned about the state of the offense and sees the unit slowly learning their way in new terrain.
“We’re trying to learn a whole new offense - not worried at all,” Enos said. “The competition will make better players and the cream rises to the top. May be the best man win… It’s frustrating, humbling at times but hopefully we can learn from those adverse situations.”
**One of the issues so far this spring in the WR group has been dropped balls, something that plagued the unit in 2018 as well. New WR coach Taylor Stubblefield has been drilling his guys hard to break down their bad habits and get the receivers to make the easy catches.
“There’s going to be drops,” Stubblefield said. “The frustrating part for me and for our group is hand position on certain catches, when you don’t have your hands out a certain way, you don’t maximize your catch radius.
“Some habits are hard to break – yes, you can be successful catching the ball with poor hand placement. But if you want to be 10 out of 10, an elite ball-catcher, you have to have your hand placement the right way. We’re stressing it. We have guys on the JUGS machine, have to get more guys on the machine. I’m encouraging them to perfect their craft.”
Coming over from Air Force, Stubblefield hasn’t quite worked with the type of raw talent junior WR Jeff Thomas offers, but Miami’s receiver coach is still pushing him to polish up the finer points of the position.
“Jeff has tons of tools, he really does. He’s fast, he’s quick - with our offense, what we do you have to be detailed in what you do and he’s continuing to learn the skill parts the position,” Stubblefield said. “We don’t have an offense where you just run to an area, run to an open spot. You have to understand what you’re attacking, what the defense is trying to do to maximize this offense. We have to continue to work the skill part.”
Sophomore WR Mark Pope had a 52 yard TD reception in the scrimmage and Stubblefield updated his progress.
“He’s very gifted,” Stubblefield said. “He’s fast, he’s quick, catches the ball pretty naturally. The biggest thing is him understanding. Our offense is complex, but it’s very simple once you understand the foundation of it.
“What’s good with him is he’s up for the challenge, is doing some extra things so that he can learn what he needs to learn. We want him to be confident with what he’s doing. In years past, it was a signal. Now, the quarterback has to speak it, we have to hear it, decipher what it means and act accordingly.”
Another standout this spring has been senior WR KJ Osborn, who transferred in from Buffalo in time for spring ball.
“It’s no longer about how many stars he was out of high school, how much promise he has,” Stubblefield said. “This is his last year playing - he wants to be the best he can be.”
Sophomore WR Evidence Njoku has always been known for his intriguing physical gifts, but has been trying to find his footing after tearing his ACL in his freshman season. Stubblefield recognizes Njoku’s potential and keeps on him hard in an effort to unlock his talents.
“I’m going to continue to challenge Evidence. Evidence has a tremendous amount of talent,” Stubblefield said. “We have to make sure that he has a sense of urgency about his development. There are times he wants to be the best and sometimes we have to motivate him to be the best. He’s improving, has been maybe a little banged up, battling back from that. If he comes out with a workman-like mentality, he’ll have a chance.”
