In what was your typically sparse non-FSU home crowd for the Hurricanes, they downed Arkansas State 41-20 to improve to 2-1. Not sure what this victory means but it's certainly more meaningful than defeating FAMU. The Red Wolves aren't a bad team and the with the current state of the UM program, a blowout wasn't assured. Some thoughts on this game....
- OK, can they just let Brad Kaaya be Brad Kaaya? Saturday afternoon he flashed the form that had so many of us excited when he signed on the dotted line to play at Miami. He got things started early with a picture perfect post-pattern for six to Phillip Dorsett that covered 63 yards on the second play from scrimmage. That was a familiar theme throughout the day as Kaaya finished 16-for-24 for 342 yards passing and 4 touchdowns and one late pick. ( By the way, it was a bit mind-boggling to see him back out there after Jake Heaps was given that series in the fourth quarter)
Again, will they just let this kid play football?
It's clear that for a true freshman that he has an advanced understanding of the passing game and is an accurate passer. Take the training wheels off and let Kaaya stretch his arm out consistently. And the truth is, this offensive line simply isn't opening up a lot of running lanes for Duke Johnson, they might be a better offense by having a throw-first mentality. Just my highly-uneducated-but-strong opinion is that the Hurricanes most effective offensive set is going shotgun with a one-back set and three wide. Miami's best play-makers are number 8 and a fleet set of wide receivers, why not just go with that set the majority of the time. Regardless, Kaaya looked very comfortable for the most part this game and showed that he can make a wide variety of throws.
Will they trust him as they go into Lincoln next weekend in what will be another scenario to the season opener at Louisville: prime time game versus a ranked foe? They played scared on Labor Day night and it cost them. Kaaya, isn't where he's going to be one day, but you can make an argument that he came a long ways this past weekend.
Let the kid play ball.
- Phillip Dorsett had a career day, four grabs for 201 yards and two scores. If there's one thing he can do is take the top off any defense with his speed. So can Stacy Coley( when he returns, which is hopefully this upcoming week), there's no reason why Miami shouldn't be attacking more vertically upfield on a consistent basis and then letting Braxton Berrios -- who pitched in with three catches and a touchdown for 44 yards. It's clear that Kaaya and 'Honey Nut' Berrios have a certain chemistry. Perhaps I'm biased, but I think the Canes have as good a set of WR's as anyone in the country, why not play to this strength more?
Kaaya seems to be getting very comfortable with Clive Walford( 3 catches, 57 yards and a touchdown)
- Which goes into my other point, this O-line isn't very good and while Duke had another decent box-score( 14 carries, 90 yards and a TD), you take away his nice 33-yard scamper, it was tough sledding for Johnson. This line simply isn't pushing people around upfront and if James Coley insists on establishing the run on early downs, it will keep leading to 2nd and 3rd downs behind the chains( which perhaps explains some of the woes UM has had on converting 3rd downs)
Art Kehoe, is he a sacred cow? I ask this because I really wonder if he didn't have the background and history with this program, would his job be in jeopardy? Many were surprised - and quite frankly concerned - when Al Golden brought him back. Ask yourself, is this unit under-performing and is it a liability to the team?
Going back to a point I made above, if they don't have a real effective run-blocking unit, why not go with more spread, shotgun sets and work on getting Duke out in space in the passing game instead of consistently running the ball ineffectively? There are ways to mitigate weaknesses to an offensive line. However, continuing to get jammed up in the run game and then setting up situations where everyone knows you have to pass, is not one of them.
- Enough of the gimmicky, gadget plays. Wanna get cute, get a Hello Kitty doll. Seriously, they killed Miami's offensive mojo with all these botched flea-flickers, reverses, end-arounds, etc. These calls can be effective if set up properly during the course of a game. Against Arkansas St. it was maddening to see all this non-sense and it actually led to Kaaya taking some real hard shots to the grill. Can we just let 15 do what he does without all this garbage? James Coley sometimes need to adhere to the K.I.S.S philosophy: keep it simple, stupid.
- The defense gave up 329 total yards and a late garbage time score. Honestly, I thought for the most part they played OK but you wonder how they hold up against a better team. But ASU does provide a stylistic difficulty for a lot of teams, they play up-tempo and have a pretty good QB in Fredi Knighten. Time will tell if this defense is really improved but early on I do think there is improvement in the front four and the interior line and Thurston Armbrister is really playing at a high level( he had another sack) but I have to say, the defensive back play has been puzzling.
I saw Jamal Carter miss numerous tackles out in space. This past game he was built like Tarzan and played like Jane. He needs to be better. Tracy Howard has been the definition of hit or miss and Artie Burns continues to have problems turning around and looking for the ball. Am I nuts for thinking Corn Elder has been playing as well as any CB this season?
- As long as Tyriq McCord is allowed to come downhill and attack, he is a disruptive force. I think he's poised to have a really big season. This was a guy who probably should've been red-shirted during his first year on campus but that simply wasn't in the cards. But he's now at the stage of his career where he looks like he'll have a very good year as long as he's employed correctly.
- The kicking game, yeah, just gonna put it like this: I'm yearning for Andy Crosland. ( Yeah, those are words you never though you'd ever hear, right?) But seriously, this is as bad as I can remember. And every game this season UM has had a major special teams gaffe. If it isn't missed field goals, it's kickoffs going out-of-bounds, long returns, and speaking of which, on kickoffs, instead of trying to actually kick it deep( which isn't happening) why not just start popping the ball up high and relatively short into a corner( like many teams have done in the past to keep the ball away from the likes of Devin Hester). Yes, you will consistently give the opponents the ball in good field position past the 30 but this tactic does mitigate longer returns.
The problem currently for Miami is that not only are the kickoffs short they are also line drives, giving the coverage unit very little time to actually get upfield with the ability to get into their proper lanes and such. You can be short on your kicks if their is some hang-time, however, its something much different if your short and low with them. Just a thought, but I think our KO coverage unit changed the course of the Louisville game and you get the sense that if nothing significant changes, it will come back to bite them again. And with this team, there may not be that much margin for error.
- So it's off to Lincoln against the undefeated but certainly not invincible Huskers. Unless they transport us back to 1995, this game is there to be won and it's a big game for this program and certainly for one Alfred James Golden, who needs to start winning these type of games.
But again, will they let Kaaya actually do his part?
- OK, can they just let Brad Kaaya be Brad Kaaya? Saturday afternoon he flashed the form that had so many of us excited when he signed on the dotted line to play at Miami. He got things started early with a picture perfect post-pattern for six to Phillip Dorsett that covered 63 yards on the second play from scrimmage. That was a familiar theme throughout the day as Kaaya finished 16-for-24 for 342 yards passing and 4 touchdowns and one late pick. ( By the way, it was a bit mind-boggling to see him back out there after Jake Heaps was given that series in the fourth quarter)
Again, will they just let this kid play football?
It's clear that for a true freshman that he has an advanced understanding of the passing game and is an accurate passer. Take the training wheels off and let Kaaya stretch his arm out consistently. And the truth is, this offensive line simply isn't opening up a lot of running lanes for Duke Johnson, they might be a better offense by having a throw-first mentality. Just my highly-uneducated-but-strong opinion is that the Hurricanes most effective offensive set is going shotgun with a one-back set and three wide. Miami's best play-makers are number 8 and a fleet set of wide receivers, why not just go with that set the majority of the time. Regardless, Kaaya looked very comfortable for the most part this game and showed that he can make a wide variety of throws.
Will they trust him as they go into Lincoln next weekend in what will be another scenario to the season opener at Louisville: prime time game versus a ranked foe? They played scared on Labor Day night and it cost them. Kaaya, isn't where he's going to be one day, but you can make an argument that he came a long ways this past weekend.
Let the kid play ball.
- Phillip Dorsett had a career day, four grabs for 201 yards and two scores. If there's one thing he can do is take the top off any defense with his speed. So can Stacy Coley( when he returns, which is hopefully this upcoming week), there's no reason why Miami shouldn't be attacking more vertically upfield on a consistent basis and then letting Braxton Berrios -- who pitched in with three catches and a touchdown for 44 yards. It's clear that Kaaya and 'Honey Nut' Berrios have a certain chemistry. Perhaps I'm biased, but I think the Canes have as good a set of WR's as anyone in the country, why not play to this strength more?
Kaaya seems to be getting very comfortable with Clive Walford( 3 catches, 57 yards and a touchdown)
- Which goes into my other point, this O-line isn't very good and while Duke had another decent box-score( 14 carries, 90 yards and a TD), you take away his nice 33-yard scamper, it was tough sledding for Johnson. This line simply isn't pushing people around upfront and if James Coley insists on establishing the run on early downs, it will keep leading to 2nd and 3rd downs behind the chains( which perhaps explains some of the woes UM has had on converting 3rd downs)
Art Kehoe, is he a sacred cow? I ask this because I really wonder if he didn't have the background and history with this program, would his job be in jeopardy? Many were surprised - and quite frankly concerned - when Al Golden brought him back. Ask yourself, is this unit under-performing and is it a liability to the team?
Going back to a point I made above, if they don't have a real effective run-blocking unit, why not go with more spread, shotgun sets and work on getting Duke out in space in the passing game instead of consistently running the ball ineffectively? There are ways to mitigate weaknesses to an offensive line. However, continuing to get jammed up in the run game and then setting up situations where everyone knows you have to pass, is not one of them.
- Enough of the gimmicky, gadget plays. Wanna get cute, get a Hello Kitty doll. Seriously, they killed Miami's offensive mojo with all these botched flea-flickers, reverses, end-arounds, etc. These calls can be effective if set up properly during the course of a game. Against Arkansas St. it was maddening to see all this non-sense and it actually led to Kaaya taking some real hard shots to the grill. Can we just let 15 do what he does without all this garbage? James Coley sometimes need to adhere to the K.I.S.S philosophy: keep it simple, stupid.
- The defense gave up 329 total yards and a late garbage time score. Honestly, I thought for the most part they played OK but you wonder how they hold up against a better team. But ASU does provide a stylistic difficulty for a lot of teams, they play up-tempo and have a pretty good QB in Fredi Knighten. Time will tell if this defense is really improved but early on I do think there is improvement in the front four and the interior line and Thurston Armbrister is really playing at a high level( he had another sack) but I have to say, the defensive back play has been puzzling.
I saw Jamal Carter miss numerous tackles out in space. This past game he was built like Tarzan and played like Jane. He needs to be better. Tracy Howard has been the definition of hit or miss and Artie Burns continues to have problems turning around and looking for the ball. Am I nuts for thinking Corn Elder has been playing as well as any CB this season?
- As long as Tyriq McCord is allowed to come downhill and attack, he is a disruptive force. I think he's poised to have a really big season. This was a guy who probably should've been red-shirted during his first year on campus but that simply wasn't in the cards. But he's now at the stage of his career where he looks like he'll have a very good year as long as he's employed correctly.
- The kicking game, yeah, just gonna put it like this: I'm yearning for Andy Crosland. ( Yeah, those are words you never though you'd ever hear, right?) But seriously, this is as bad as I can remember. And every game this season UM has had a major special teams gaffe. If it isn't missed field goals, it's kickoffs going out-of-bounds, long returns, and speaking of which, on kickoffs, instead of trying to actually kick it deep( which isn't happening) why not just start popping the ball up high and relatively short into a corner( like many teams have done in the past to keep the ball away from the likes of Devin Hester). Yes, you will consistently give the opponents the ball in good field position past the 30 but this tactic does mitigate longer returns.
The problem currently for Miami is that not only are the kickoffs short they are also line drives, giving the coverage unit very little time to actually get upfield with the ability to get into their proper lanes and such. You can be short on your kicks if their is some hang-time, however, its something much different if your short and low with them. Just a thought, but I think our KO coverage unit changed the course of the Louisville game and you get the sense that if nothing significant changes, it will come back to bite them again. And with this team, there may not be that much margin for error.
- So it's off to Lincoln against the undefeated but certainly not invincible Huskers. Unless they transport us back to 1995, this game is there to be won and it's a big game for this program and certainly for one Alfred James Golden, who needs to start winning these type of games.
But again, will they let Kaaya actually do his part?
