Despite a good defensive performance early on, Miami couldn't last with Louisville down the stretch in the 'Cards ACC debut.
My official message in the gameday post for last night was show me, don't tell me. I wanted to see if the gap had been closed with the team that blew our doors off last year. What this team showed me is that they #Renewed their poor play from the final stretch of 2013. The offense was just as ineffective as they were in the bowl game, even with Duke and Dorsett playing in this game. Louisville was replacing their head coach, OC, DC, had new systems on both sides, was breaking in a new QB, had only 1 returning starter from their defensive front 7 and they still took it to us. Even when the score was close, it never felt like we really had a chance to win. ****, Louisville was without 2 of their biggest weapons on offense in DeVante Parker and Michael Dyer, yet they still dropped a palindrome score of 31-13 on us.
More and more former players are starting to get pist. Phillip Buchanon in particular. Palmer, Pollack, and Davis all said last night that it was time for Golden to produce. The media is also pointing out it's time for Golden to deliver. You've probably already seen this stat but here it is again anyways:
Remember, the Louisville team UM just played wasn't even ranked. Neither was Virginia Tech or Duke last year. We are routinely getting the doors blown off of us by teams in the "others receiving votes" category. That doesn't happen to well coached teams. Just like last year, talent isn't the issue. Petrino just jobbed Golden all night long.
Republicane
Highlights:
[video=youtube;FpQVIubARTQ]www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpQVIubARTQ[/video]
The game wasn't without bright spots. The defense looked pretty good at times, giving up just 1 offensive touchdown in the 1st half. I had no problem with Brad Kaaya. He looked like a true freshman making his 1st ever start in a hostile environment. It went about how I thought it would. Huge problem with the offensive gameplan though. It makes no sense to burn a true freshman's redshirt in the opener if all you are going to do is handcuff him. Once they took away Duke Johnson, and that QB rollout play we ran 789 times, it was all she wrote. Let's recap.
1st Quarter:
Both teams exchanged 3 and outs to start the game. A good punt by Justin Vogel backed Louisville up inside their own 10 yard line. It didn't seem to matter because they marched right down the field pretty easily. Gardner connected to Eli Rogers and Gerald Christian several times, while Dominique Brown was running roughshod against UM's defense. Then on 3rd and goal Gardner rolled right and found Charles Standberry creeping into the endzone for the TD.
Gary Jones/AP
7-0 Louisville
Both teams traded 3 and outs again, but this time Stacy Coley had a good return to set up in the redzone. However it was negated by a block in the back flag. UM went 3 and out again, but Golden decided to go for it on 4th down. Kaaya found Braxton Berrios on a quick slant and gave UM their 1st first down of the night.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald
Next, Malcolm Lewis got flagged for a false start and then Duke got stuffed at the line of scrimmage. This brought the 1st quarter to a close with Louisville still leading 7-0.
2nd Quarter:
On the 1st play of the quarter Kaaya goes play action and then rolls to his right. He finds Clive Walford running down the sideline to the 2 yard line. A pick up of 31 yards.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald
Kaaya took a hit to make the play, which was nice to see. On the very next play he threw his first TD of his college career, which was also nice to see. He spotted Walford again in the back of the endzone to tie up the game.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald
7-7
Louisville gets flagged for a block in the back on the ensuing kickoff, which forces them to start their next drive from inside their own 10. On the very next play Chickillo and Perryman converge on Gardner to force a fumble.
Armbrister is there to pounce on the loose ball and Miami has 1st and goal from the 7. "**** yeah!", everybody thought to themselves. The joy was short lived however. On the next play Kaaya's screen pass to Coley is dropped and picked up by a Louisville player. To make matters worse, it was deemed to be a backwards lateral. The play was blown dead, so we were spared from what should have been a sure touchdown by Louisville. Another reason this whole play sucked was that the 'Cards basically had their whole team on the field before the ball was snapped.
Just a terrible waste of an opportunity. It wouldn't be the last.
Louisville is now methodically moving down the field. On 3rd and 1 they try to run Brown up the middle but Perryman stones him to force 4th down.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald
Petrino goes for it and they get it. UM was offsides anyway. Calvin Heurtelou was injured on the play but did return later on. The drive stalled and they punt it back to Miami. The Canes start inside their own 5 and Duke starts to finally get going. He picks up 6, then 5 yards on consecutive carries. He's horse-collared on the 2nd one and they tack another 15 yards on to it. Mama Duke was having none of it.
Duke scampers for a 24 yard run up the right sideline and now UM is into Louisville territory. A holding call on Walford backs them up a bit, but then Kaaya rolls right and sees Dorsett wide open on a crossing pattern for a pick up of 39 yards.
A sweet cut in the hole by Duke gets them to the 5 yard line. On 3rd and 3 Gus Edwards comes in and gets blown up in the backfield. Goudis nails the short field goal to give UM their 1st and only lead of the game.
10-7 Miami
That lead was gone in the blink of an eye as former Northwestern Bull Corvin Lamb returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald
Juwon Young completely blew his lane assignment, and Lamb ran in a straight line through that vacated spot for the score.
14-10 Louisville
Both teams exchange punts in the final minutes. Kamalu and Perryman each tally a coverage sack to bring the 1st half to a close with the Cardinals still up 14-10.
At this point, the biggest things to be upset about were the blown opportunities and OL play. If Coley's turnover inside the 10 and settling for the field goal later on wasn't bad enough, giving up a special teams score like that late in the half is just awful. We went into the break down 14-10, when we probably should have been winning 21-7. As to the poor play of the offensive line. Duke was a sitting duck as soon as he got the handoff it seemed like. Gadbois and Isidora looked out of their depth all night long.
3rd Quarter:
Miami goes 3 and out again to start the 2nd half. A common theme in this game. However, Miami's defense got them the ball back when Kirby and Armbrister came on a delayed blitz to strip Gardner of the football.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald
Kirby is there to scoop it up.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald
But Gardner prevents him from scoring by holding onto his leg for dear life.
With a gift-wrapped opportunity like this, Miami needed to turn this into a touchdown to put the pressure back on Louisville. Instead, what followed was probably the worst display of play calling and execution I've ever seen. First, Duke gets blown up 2 times in a row on running plays to the short side to set up 3rd and goal. For some reason, James Coley thought this would be a good time to get fancy, so he called a reverse with Duke in the Wildcat.
To no one's surprise it failed. Miami settles for another Goudis field goal.
14-13 Louisville
That makes 2 fumbles recovered inside the 10 yard line and 3 points is all they have to show for it. Don't forget about the drive that stalled inside the 10. That makes 3 possessions inside the 10 that resulted in just 6 points. The defense is still standing tall to this point. On Louisville's next drive the get near midfield and are facing 3rd and 1. They try to run Brown up the middle and Perryman blows him up for a loss of 3.
Miami's offense goes 3 and out after that. It's the 3rd consecutive possession in which the offense was on the field for just 3 plays. Gadbois, Isidora, and the rest of the offensive line are just getting worked over. It's sad. Something had to give, and that something was UM's defense. Louisville's drive began at midfield and they went though UM's defense with ease. It culminated with a 15 yard touchdown run by Brown. He was barely touched.
Andy Lyons/Getty
21-13 Louisville
On Miami's next possession they face 3rd and long again. They have yet to convert all night long. In fact, they hadn't converted on 3rd down against them since 2006 when Kyle Wright completed a pass to Lance Leggett. 0 for 23. So naturally they converted here with a short completion to Walford. Before anyone could make any sarcastic jokes about it, Kaaya was picked off by James Sample. With the ball at midfield Louisville runs out the rest of the 3rd quarter by driving into the redzone and still leading 21-13.
4th Quarter:
Miami's defense holds them to a field goal.
24-13 Louisville
It's still a 2 possession game, but the deficit feels like 50. Miami starts moving quickly into Louisville territory. Then Kaaya drops a perfect throw to Duke on a wheel route down to the 2 yard line. It gets called back however because Isidora was illegally downfield. Eventually Miami goes for it on 4th down and they fail to convert it. Kaaya had Dorsett wide open in the flat and never saw him.
[video=youtube;09s-c2JVI40]www.youtube.com/watch?v=09s-c2JVI40[/video]
With less than 10 minutes left in the game, Louisville proceeds to bleed 8 minutes off the clock with a methodical drive that saw heavy doses of Dominique Brown running the ball. The defense was completely gassed and just wanted to get out of there. It was then that Louisville went back to giving us the business, and Miami players just taking it.
Miami forces a 4th down but Louisville goes for it anyways. This is how each team lined up.
5>3. SMH.
There was also this moment.
It's 3rd and 2, and Louisville is in a jumbo package. Miami has 6 guys at the line of scrimmage, with 3 guys at least 6 yards away from the 1st down line. Whatever. The long drive culminates in a 10 yard touchdown pass to Gerald Christian.
Andy Lyons/Getty
31-13 Louisville
UM spends the final 1:43 of the game desperately trying to score to make it look a little more respectable. They get into the redzone fairly quickly, and go as far as the 9 yard line. Then Isidora committs a false start. Flowers commits one too before the next snap. At this point, this guy represents every UM fan.
Kaaya is picked off by Gerod Hollimon right after that to end the game.
Final Score:
Miami 13
Louisville 31
After the game Golden told WQAM that, "...[He] needs to challenge the coaches to look at everything we're doing." No idea what that means. What I do know is that nothing will change.
Short week. FAMU kicks off in like 7 minutes.
My official message in the gameday post for last night was show me, don't tell me. I wanted to see if the gap had been closed with the team that blew our doors off last year. What this team showed me is that they #Renewed their poor play from the final stretch of 2013. The offense was just as ineffective as they were in the bowl game, even with Duke and Dorsett playing in this game. Louisville was replacing their head coach, OC, DC, had new systems on both sides, was breaking in a new QB, had only 1 returning starter from their defensive front 7 and they still took it to us. Even when the score was close, it never felt like we really had a chance to win. ****, Louisville was without 2 of their biggest weapons on offense in DeVante Parker and Michael Dyer, yet they still dropped a palindrome score of 31-13 on us.
Stephen King said:
More and more former players are starting to get pist. Phillip Buchanon in particular. Palmer, Pollack, and Davis all said last night that it was time for Golden to produce. The media is also pointing out it's time for Golden to deliver. You've probably already seen this stat but here it is again anyways:
Remember, the Louisville team UM just played wasn't even ranked. Neither was Virginia Tech or Duke last year. We are routinely getting the doors blown off of us by teams in the "others receiving votes" category. That doesn't happen to well coached teams. Just like last year, talent isn't the issue. Petrino just jobbed Golden all night long.
Republicane
Highlights:
[video=youtube;FpQVIubARTQ]www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpQVIubARTQ[/video]
The game wasn't without bright spots. The defense looked pretty good at times, giving up just 1 offensive touchdown in the 1st half. I had no problem with Brad Kaaya. He looked like a true freshman making his 1st ever start in a hostile environment. It went about how I thought it would. Huge problem with the offensive gameplan though. It makes no sense to burn a true freshman's redshirt in the opener if all you are going to do is handcuff him. Once they took away Duke Johnson, and that QB rollout play we ran 789 times, it was all she wrote. Let's recap.
1st Quarter:
Both teams exchanged 3 and outs to start the game. A good punt by Justin Vogel backed Louisville up inside their own 10 yard line. It didn't seem to matter because they marched right down the field pretty easily. Gardner connected to Eli Rogers and Gerald Christian several times, while Dominique Brown was running roughshod against UM's defense. Then on 3rd and goal Gardner rolled right and found Charles Standberry creeping into the endzone for the TD.
Gary Jones/AP
7-0 Louisville
Both teams traded 3 and outs again, but this time Stacy Coley had a good return to set up in the redzone. However it was negated by a block in the back flag. UM went 3 and out again, but Golden decided to go for it on 4th down. Kaaya found Braxton Berrios on a quick slant and gave UM their 1st first down of the night.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald
Next, Malcolm Lewis got flagged for a false start and then Duke got stuffed at the line of scrimmage. This brought the 1st quarter to a close with Louisville still leading 7-0.
2nd Quarter:
On the 1st play of the quarter Kaaya goes play action and then rolls to his right. He finds Clive Walford running down the sideline to the 2 yard line. A pick up of 31 yards.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald
Kaaya took a hit to make the play, which was nice to see. On the very next play he threw his first TD of his college career, which was also nice to see. He spotted Walford again in the back of the endzone to tie up the game.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald
7-7
Louisville gets flagged for a block in the back on the ensuing kickoff, which forces them to start their next drive from inside their own 10. On the very next play Chickillo and Perryman converge on Gardner to force a fumble.
Armbrister is there to pounce on the loose ball and Miami has 1st and goal from the 7. "**** yeah!", everybody thought to themselves. The joy was short lived however. On the next play Kaaya's screen pass to Coley is dropped and picked up by a Louisville player. To make matters worse, it was deemed to be a backwards lateral. The play was blown dead, so we were spared from what should have been a sure touchdown by Louisville. Another reason this whole play sucked was that the 'Cards basically had their whole team on the field before the ball was snapped.
Just a terrible waste of an opportunity. It wouldn't be the last.
Louisville is now methodically moving down the field. On 3rd and 1 they try to run Brown up the middle but Perryman stones him to force 4th down.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald
Petrino goes for it and they get it. UM was offsides anyway. Calvin Heurtelou was injured on the play but did return later on. The drive stalled and they punt it back to Miami. The Canes start inside their own 5 and Duke starts to finally get going. He picks up 6, then 5 yards on consecutive carries. He's horse-collared on the 2nd one and they tack another 15 yards on to it. Mama Duke was having none of it.
Duke scampers for a 24 yard run up the right sideline and now UM is into Louisville territory. A holding call on Walford backs them up a bit, but then Kaaya rolls right and sees Dorsett wide open on a crossing pattern for a pick up of 39 yards.
A sweet cut in the hole by Duke gets them to the 5 yard line. On 3rd and 3 Gus Edwards comes in and gets blown up in the backfield. Goudis nails the short field goal to give UM their 1st and only lead of the game.
10-7 Miami
That lead was gone in the blink of an eye as former Northwestern Bull Corvin Lamb returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald
Juwon Young completely blew his lane assignment, and Lamb ran in a straight line through that vacated spot for the score.
14-10 Louisville
Both teams exchange punts in the final minutes. Kamalu and Perryman each tally a coverage sack to bring the 1st half to a close with the Cardinals still up 14-10.
At this point, the biggest things to be upset about were the blown opportunities and OL play. If Coley's turnover inside the 10 and settling for the field goal later on wasn't bad enough, giving up a special teams score like that late in the half is just awful. We went into the break down 14-10, when we probably should have been winning 21-7. As to the poor play of the offensive line. Duke was a sitting duck as soon as he got the handoff it seemed like. Gadbois and Isidora looked out of their depth all night long.
3rd Quarter:
Miami goes 3 and out again to start the 2nd half. A common theme in this game. However, Miami's defense got them the ball back when Kirby and Armbrister came on a delayed blitz to strip Gardner of the football.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald
Kirby is there to scoop it up.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald
But Gardner prevents him from scoring by holding onto his leg for dear life.
With a gift-wrapped opportunity like this, Miami needed to turn this into a touchdown to put the pressure back on Louisville. Instead, what followed was probably the worst display of play calling and execution I've ever seen. First, Duke gets blown up 2 times in a row on running plays to the short side to set up 3rd and goal. For some reason, James Coley thought this would be a good time to get fancy, so he called a reverse with Duke in the Wildcat.
To no one's surprise it failed. Miami settles for another Goudis field goal.
14-13 Louisville
That makes 2 fumbles recovered inside the 10 yard line and 3 points is all they have to show for it. Don't forget about the drive that stalled inside the 10. That makes 3 possessions inside the 10 that resulted in just 6 points. The defense is still standing tall to this point. On Louisville's next drive the get near midfield and are facing 3rd and 1. They try to run Brown up the middle and Perryman blows him up for a loss of 3.
Miami's offense goes 3 and out after that. It's the 3rd consecutive possession in which the offense was on the field for just 3 plays. Gadbois, Isidora, and the rest of the offensive line are just getting worked over. It's sad. Something had to give, and that something was UM's defense. Louisville's drive began at midfield and they went though UM's defense with ease. It culminated with a 15 yard touchdown run by Brown. He was barely touched.
Andy Lyons/Getty
21-13 Louisville
On Miami's next possession they face 3rd and long again. They have yet to convert all night long. In fact, they hadn't converted on 3rd down against them since 2006 when Kyle Wright completed a pass to Lance Leggett. 0 for 23. So naturally they converted here with a short completion to Walford. Before anyone could make any sarcastic jokes about it, Kaaya was picked off by James Sample. With the ball at midfield Louisville runs out the rest of the 3rd quarter by driving into the redzone and still leading 21-13.
4th Quarter:
Miami's defense holds them to a field goal.
24-13 Louisville
It's still a 2 possession game, but the deficit feels like 50. Miami starts moving quickly into Louisville territory. Then Kaaya drops a perfect throw to Duke on a wheel route down to the 2 yard line. It gets called back however because Isidora was illegally downfield. Eventually Miami goes for it on 4th down and they fail to convert it. Kaaya had Dorsett wide open in the flat and never saw him.
[video=youtube;09s-c2JVI40]www.youtube.com/watch?v=09s-c2JVI40[/video]
With less than 10 minutes left in the game, Louisville proceeds to bleed 8 minutes off the clock with a methodical drive that saw heavy doses of Dominique Brown running the ball. The defense was completely gassed and just wanted to get out of there. It was then that Louisville went back to giving us the business, and Miami players just taking it.
Miami forces a 4th down but Louisville goes for it anyways. This is how each team lined up.
5>3. SMH.
There was also this moment.
It's 3rd and 2, and Louisville is in a jumbo package. Miami has 6 guys at the line of scrimmage, with 3 guys at least 6 yards away from the 1st down line. Whatever. The long drive culminates in a 10 yard touchdown pass to Gerald Christian.
Andy Lyons/Getty
31-13 Louisville
UM spends the final 1:43 of the game desperately trying to score to make it look a little more respectable. They get into the redzone fairly quickly, and go as far as the 9 yard line. Then Isidora committs a false start. Flowers commits one too before the next snap. At this point, this guy represents every UM fan.
Kaaya is picked off by Gerod Hollimon right after that to end the game.
Final Score:
Miami 13
Louisville 31
After the game Golden told WQAM that, "...[He] needs to challenge the coaches to look at everything we're doing." No idea what that means. What I do know is that nothing will change.
Short week. FAMU kicks off in like 7 minutes.
