There are weeks when watching the game multiple times is a grind. Then there are times like this week, when Miami took their boot and repeatedly played whack-a-mole with the entire Florida State football team. Welcome back to Upon Further Review, where this week we review a special performance. A 52-10 Miami throttling of their rival. Sit back, pop open your favorite beverage, and enjoy a complete decimation of the once proud Seminole program.
ABC did their best with this one. Chris fowler telling us “16 of the last 20 matchups between these two schools have been decided by one score or less.” Clips of the old matchups were dialed up and ready to be shown from the producers. Hype surrounding Norvell and how he is going to turn around the program with several NFL draft prospects leading a loaded defense. Alas, this one slipped into a mercy-killing late as Miami actually used their backup punter. How bad do you have to be beating someone to play your backup punter?
Since my man LuCane slapped me down last week for failing to show Cam press the hole, I figured I’d point out this third down conversion happens because he presses outside to hold the S outside a bit and then sticks his foot in the ground to hit this hole and pick up the first. If Cam just fires into the alley as fast as he can, the defender comes downhill and has a chance to stop him in the hole.
It’s been well-publicized, but King needs to continue working on his base to hit these deep throws. He’s off-balance when throwing these a lot, rather than having a strong base. Little push-off, followed by a grab by the CB. Good no-call. You want to play at the next level, King, gotta hit these because this is open in the NFL.
No pressure, no reason to be jump throwing this ball with these mechanics. Take your time and throw on rhythm.
Absolute dime of a throw on 3rd down. Anticipation as receiver comes out of route, over a defender, right into Pop’s hands. Great blitz pickup by Cam here and good communication as we have seen two guys take the blitzer and leave one defender free before.
Need to hit these if we want to beat Clemson. Brevin is wide open as Lashlee schemes this perfectly to put that deep defender in a bind. He holds the seam, which keeps the safety off the boundary and King just has to hit this. He over throws another one.
Pope runs a stop at the first down marker, Brevin runs vertical, Harley engages the underneath defender, who is watching the QB’s eyes and thinking he’s going to undercut a stop route. #18 now has to cover both Harley/Brevin. When #27 squats on the comeback route, this is a walk-in TD. FSU has coverage, they just bust as #27 is supposed to continue deep and pass off Pope to #4. Whoops. Lashlee has the FSU defensive coordinator on spin cycle.
Mallory springs the big screen pass on 3rd & 14 with this block. Not sure any player has made a bigger improvement than Mallory has made in his blocking from last year to this year.
4th down play is well done as Harley switches from the slot to outside and does so with a slight hesitation so as not to cause offensive pass interference. Pass is on time and an easy conversion. (not pictured)
King does some nice QB’ing on this play. Looks right to hold the MLB close to that hash mark. This gives him a lane to throw the ball to Brevin on the backside skinny post. TD. The play was going to Brevin all along and they ran receivers vertical on both sides to hold the safeties and open that MOF up. Well-executed offense is fun.
4th down play is well done as Harley switches from the slot to outside and does so with a slight hesitation so as not to cause offensive pass interference. Pass is on time and an easy conversion. (not pictured)
King does some nice QB’ing on this play. Looks right to hold the MLB close to that hash mark. This gives him a lane to throw the ball to Brevin on the backside skinny post. TD. The play was going to Brevin all along and they ran receivers vertical on both sides to hold the safeties and open that MOF up. If the Mike had turned and gotten deep on this play to cover Brevin, Wiggins is running a corner-post here and would come underneath the area that Brevin would've run through and been open then. Well-executed offense is fun.
When you read someone talking about a LB being “a step late” here is what they are talking about. Blackman has the ball already and is handing it to the fly sweep motion. Jennings is responsible for the A-gap on this play so you can understand him staying patient to read this, but McCloud has the B-gap, which would be a cutback or a give to the sweep on this play. Instead, he has to actually “see” it before he reacts. He has a key here though. Look at the RT and how he is getting to the outside of Phillips. If this were a run to the B gap, your RT wouldn’t be purposely giving away that gap to the edge defender. He’s obviously trying to get outside of him, which is a sign that it’s a give. I wish McCloud was upfield attacking this NOW. McCloud misses the tackle when he does run towards it.
#44 overruns this play and traps himself. He needs to be in that gap to his right and attacking downhill because he is responsible for that gap. Instead he kept his eyes on Blackman, even though he didn’t have that gap. Biggest issues with our LB play is just getting out of their gap because of eye candy.
Neat play by FSU fools Roche. He’s taking the give or the pull, depending on the play. Here #80 runs motion back across and he doesn’t stay upfield to defend that. The give is an easy edge. I imagine Lashlee might put that in his mental rolodex. You do wish McCloud was stepping up to anticipate a give to 80 though. He was fooled badly.
Roche not looking comfortable in pass coverage here gives up the easy completion. I’d just as soon let him attack and rush the passer.
Florida State clearly watched the Miami LB’s and decided that the best way to attack them is to the flats on their opening scripted drive. It’s eye candy, eye candy, misdirection, toss, flat pass. Rinse/Repeat. It’ll be interesting to see how Miami adjusted, or if FSU just stopped calling it. (not pictured)
This is honestly a sign of a LB group that understands their assignments at least. When no receiver comes into your zone, and the RB steps up to block rather than release into a pattern, you are supposed to go hunt the QB. Jennings and Smith are both attacking right now, as soon as the receiver clears their area (since they aren’t playing zone). Hit Blackman as he throws it.
3rd & 6 and McCloud blocks himself. He goes outside of the hash even though he has B gap. Carter gets picked up by an OL and is taken out. He needs to avoid that block, way too quick to be getting hit square like that. McCloud almost went looking for the TE to get blocked on this play. Bad LB play on a QB who is not going to throw the ball. (not pictured)
Bolden misses a tackle on a swing pass that goes for a 1st down. FSU has attacked the edges at will on this drive. That’s something Clemson will see on tape and Miami will need to address. (not pictured)
3rd & goal and McCloud loses eye discipline and his RB blocks and releases and McCloud doesn’t go with him. Bad pass or it’s a walk-in TD. McCloud really had a bad drive. Some clever plays on the first drive. You felt like that FSU’s best shot. Everything they had and they still only got three points. Felt like the Enos drive against Florida, where there was creativity and attacking an area the defense wasn’t prepared for on scripted plays and once that ended, there was just nothing else. (not pictured)
Knighton has been great to start the year, but I truly do not see what he is seeing here. Mallory is out here lead blocking, we have backside blockers in place between Zion and Harley. This has a real chance to be a TD down the sideline if Knighton has a little patience and lets his blockers get there. Knighton turns it inside instead.
King makes a great throw to Harley as he clears a zone behind the LB and in front of the S. He had Brevin open at the 1st down marker for an easier throw, but it worked out. (Not pictured)
Scaife misses badly on a block here. This delayed blitzer runs right by him and if it weren’t for King’s athleticism, this is a sack and the drive is essentially over. How does Scaife miss him, he’s staring right at him. King picks up a 1st down with his legs. Zion Nelson has Josh Griffis on lock right here. Perfect positioning. It’s possible Campbell is going to have a fight to get that spot back.
King on a 3rd & 5 shows excellent timing on a comeback route by Redding. Want to give props to the freshman, as this is his first collegiate catch and he runs the route perfectly. How many times do you see a WR get anxious and not run this route deep enough before breaking it off and being a yard short of the 1st down? (not pictured because a comeback route is difficult to do with stills)
Mallory settles into a soft zone and makes a catch, then a Seminole grabs his face mask and jerks his head around. Gainer hits Mallory right in the ribs and he wasn’t able to protect himself. I imagine Will will enjoy the week off after that hit. (not pictured)
Zion, you are too athletic to get out front of a screen and just stop like this. Chaney is right behind you, you can’t ever stop your feet on a screen. Chaney actually runs into him on the way by and Zion never touches a soul. These are the plays he needs to excel on with his foot speed.
You want to play one defender to the boundary in press coverage and then a S ten yards off the slot while walking a LB over the offset receiver? Last week, when Miami went crazy on Louisville with big plays out of an unbalanced formation? Look how FSU makes sure they are not out-leveraged to the weak side of the formation. In doing so, they outflank themselves to the strong side of the formation and give up what should be an easy conversion. Ivey immediately backs out, Harley runs vertical into the end zone and Pope blocks (poorly). If Pope gets his block, it’s a TD. Additional benefit is FSU had to spend practice time on unbalanced formations and how to defend them.
Miami picks up a 4th and inches out of Wildcat. (not pictured)
Coaches will scheme a play, but sometimes it’s up to the players to make someone miss. Here, Mallory does a great job sealing his edge. Brevin blocks down on his side and Cam has to beat the S in the hole. He does, and this is a TD.
Jaelen Phillips isn’t compiling huge sack numbers yet, but he is definitely making plays with his relentless motor off the edge. Jumps the fly sweep and buries it for a TFL. FSU tried to block it straight up this time, rather than cutting Phillips like they did earlier and it didn’t work at all. (not pictured)
Remember last year when our OL coach tried to employ jump sets into our scheme? The FSU LT tries to jump set and Roche ducks inside of him so quickly he doesn’t touch him. Roche buries this jet sweep for a big loss.
Remember last year when Miami had an undefended receiver on the goal line and the QB didn’t see him, or operate quickly enough to get the ball out to him? Look at the difference here. Miami is moving at such a quick tempo King already has the ball and FSU is not setup defensively. There is truly no one on the boundary to defend two receivers. King simply stands up, fires the ball out to Pope, who has Harley blocking for him out of a stack formation and no defender over there. Think about how well-coached Miami has to be to be able to get lined up this quickly, be in the play, and take advantage of the defense. Pope gets to the 25-yard line here.
Clark crashes down from the LG spot. Look at the benefits of the extra weight for Zion, who has the power to turn this defender out of the hole. Cam once again shows his patience by not flying into the hole, he presses toward #65 and then cuts into the open space and is untouched on this play for a TD.
Bolden was victimized a bit in coverage last week. This week they had him over slot and Warren Thompson 1-on-1, but then Frierson changes the leverage the defense to move the two LB’s to the strength of the formation and then walks out to replace Bolden and move him back to deep safety and covers the slot and knocks the ball away. 14 seconds into this video is the play I’m referring to.
Pope fumbles the punt and I want to punt my dog after this play. (not pictured)
Next play, Nesta absolutely destroys Donte Lucas, blows up the trick play, and Phillips makes the interception.
King looks over and see the boundary CB is going into a bail early. Miami runs “Stick” into that side of the field (boundary WR runs a vertical to clear out the defender, the TE either settles into a soft spot in the seam or runs an out route depending on the leverage of the LB). On this one, Brevin runs an out route directly into the flat vacated by the CB bailing early and it’s an easy completion. The football IQ of the offense is showing with little details like this. (not pictured)
The man being blocked here is ranked #8 overall on PFF draft board, currently. Ahead of any Miami player and is supposedly the best interior DL player in the country. If you are that level of player, you should never be blocked 1-on-1 by a TE, but here we are. My favorite part is the guy in yellow, who at this moment is having an “oh bleep” moment as he realizes this play is going to work.
Here is what King saw as he threw it. What a throw with a giant ready to belly flop on you. Ivey catches this ball at the red circle.
Harvey shows you how to play the read-option perfectly. He has such good acceleration he is able to accelerate upfield to the point he can play both the QB and the RB if it’s a give. You have to go straight upfield and not lose your leverage if the QB pulls on this play. TFL. Donte Lucas loses his helmet, Bradley Jennings kicks it first, then Phillips boots the helmet and it’s his second unsportsmanlike penalty and he’s ejected. We need him to learn from this ejection because we need him on the field.
Bradley Jennings reads his keys and keeps outside leverage, then sticks his foot in the ground and lays a hit on the RB when he tries to cutback. Nice play by him. Too many times you’ve seen the LB slow to the hole or losing leverage, but not on this play. TFL. (not pictured)
Frierson has clearly grown into the striker role and taken it for his own. There is a tweet above with all of his tackles and plays you can watch. What I want to watch is a guy communicating and not afraid to get the attention of his teammate who isn’t following the defensive audible just called. Frierson moves Blades back off the ball and into a single-high safety look. Then Bolden drops down to cover the slot so that Hall isn’t out there by himself. Then he moves Jennings and McCloud over so that they aren’t outleveraged on the play due to the unbalanced formation. Against Louisville I pointed out several times when the LB’s lost leverage and were too far inside/outside based on the alignment of the formation. Great job of being a leader, here.
Kenny Dillingham was someone who was well-regarded coming out of a mid-major program, but this is a miss by either the OC or by the QB, or both. We overload the weak side of the formation and walk into the A-gap and the 9-technique with McCloud. This leaves two defenders to the strong side of the formation and three receivers. You know you don’t have enough blockers if the blitz comes from McCloud, but you also know you have a man open immediately if you call something quick. They do not, it’s an easy sack for McCloud. By the way, Lucas absolutely tackled Roche on an inside rush. Not called, but blatant holding there.
It works, but here is my problem with it. If Florida State passes this off with their OL and gives him just a second longer, this is an easy conversion with the uncovered receiver out there. I don’t see the need on 3rd & 11, personally.
On 3rd & 1, it’s embarrassing for an FSU defender who tries to tackle Cam for a loss and Cam bounces off of him and gets outside for the 1st down. (not pictured)
King finds Cam along the sideline after pressure breaks through and Cam picks up a long 3rd down. Cam tries the hurdle again and fumbles out-of-bounds. Jakai Clark was just abused on this play and thrown to the ground like a rag doll. You know he took some grief in the film review. (not pictured)
Mistake by King here. This is a give all the way. Edge defender stays home, there is leverage outside for Chaney.
Harley runs a corner route on 3rd and goal and has him beat. The defender rips his facemask and pulls him down. Asante Samuel comes over and talks ish while Harley is down. I liked seeing Harley pop up immediately and chase Samuel down and give him something back. Need to see players not allow themselves to be pushed around. (not pictured)
Jakai Clark struggled with the size and power of FSU in this game. Zion Nelson had no such troubles though as he gets his left shoulder on the outside defender and then gets into the LB and drives him into the end zone. LG might be a spot we need to see growth, but LT has two good candidates at this point. Chaney runs this guy over and gets into the end zone. He has incredible power for a true freshman.
Travis in at QB and you can see this is an RPO. The Run portion is from the QB, rather than a RB, which gives an extra blocker. I’d like to see the LB’s identify their keys quicker here and identify that Travis is probably not throwing the ball here. Backside G is pulling, which is a power concept and while it looks like the LT is passing, he’s really just allowing Roche to run himself out of the play. Jennings and McCloud are stuck in mud here, when they need to be attacking this run without a receiver running a route into their area.
Roche slaps the hands down of the LT who tries to punch and then he is past him for the sack. LT had slow hands and his hands down and then it was already over. (not pictured)
Jennings is “robbing” the slant with Travis at QB and Travis pulls it down and runs. Jennings has him in the hole for a TFL and Travis makes him whiff. Doesn’t even touch him and Travis gets 25. (not pictured)
LT just absolutely hog ties Roche here. No call on this blatant holding right out in the open. Nesta cleans this up for a sack, but it was Roche who caused this. Not usually astonished, but fairly astonished they didn’t call holding here.
We talk about the RB pressing a hole and getting a LB to commit to a gap before the RB cuts, but here is a DT getting the blocker #45 to take his fake outside shoulder and then Harrison-Hunte comes back inside. Whew…this kid might just be something special. I didn’t realize watching it live what he did here, but he used quickness and power to then throw the G into his own help blocker and get a sack. Big. Time.
Want to be sure and highlight this play by Bolden, which was as good a play as I’ve seen by a Miami safety in quite some time. Instincts, anticipation, locates the ball while running full speed. Stole any hope from the souls of FSU and the game was over.
Some of you might be hoping to see breakdowns of the youngsters, but I’ll do that when they play minutes in a game that isn’t in garbage time. For now, I’m going to sign-off at this point, as Miami played their backup punter and kicker in the second half. When you feel so badly for your opponent that you play your backup punter, you know it was a straight massacre.
ABC did their best with this one. Chris fowler telling us “16 of the last 20 matchups between these two schools have been decided by one score or less.” Clips of the old matchups were dialed up and ready to be shown from the producers. Hype surrounding Norvell and how he is going to turn around the program with several NFL draft prospects leading a loaded defense. Alas, this one slipped into a mercy-killing late as Miami actually used their backup punter. How bad do you have to be beating someone to play your backup punter?
Since my man LuCane slapped me down last week for failing to show Cam press the hole, I figured I’d point out this third down conversion happens because he presses outside to hold the S outside a bit and then sticks his foot in the ground to hit this hole and pick up the first. If Cam just fires into the alley as fast as he can, the defender comes downhill and has a chance to stop him in the hole.
It’s been well-publicized, but King needs to continue working on his base to hit these deep throws. He’s off-balance when throwing these a lot, rather than having a strong base. Little push-off, followed by a grab by the CB. Good no-call. You want to play at the next level, King, gotta hit these because this is open in the NFL.
No pressure, no reason to be jump throwing this ball with these mechanics. Take your time and throw on rhythm.
Absolute dime of a throw on 3rd down. Anticipation as receiver comes out of route, over a defender, right into Pop’s hands. Great blitz pickup by Cam here and good communication as we have seen two guys take the blitzer and leave one defender free before.
Need to hit these if we want to beat Clemson. Brevin is wide open as Lashlee schemes this perfectly to put that deep defender in a bind. He holds the seam, which keeps the safety off the boundary and King just has to hit this. He over throws another one.
Pope runs a stop at the first down marker, Brevin runs vertical, Harley engages the underneath defender, who is watching the QB’s eyes and thinking he’s going to undercut a stop route. #18 now has to cover both Harley/Brevin. When #27 squats on the comeback route, this is a walk-in TD. FSU has coverage, they just bust as #27 is supposed to continue deep and pass off Pope to #4. Whoops. Lashlee has the FSU defensive coordinator on spin cycle.
Mallory springs the big screen pass on 3rd & 14 with this block. Not sure any player has made a bigger improvement than Mallory has made in his blocking from last year to this year.
4th down play is well done as Harley switches from the slot to outside and does so with a slight hesitation so as not to cause offensive pass interference. Pass is on time and an easy conversion. (not pictured)
King does some nice QB’ing on this play. Looks right to hold the MLB close to that hash mark. This gives him a lane to throw the ball to Brevin on the backside skinny post. TD. The play was going to Brevin all along and they ran receivers vertical on both sides to hold the safeties and open that MOF up. Well-executed offense is fun.
4th down play is well done as Harley switches from the slot to outside and does so with a slight hesitation so as not to cause offensive pass interference. Pass is on time and an easy conversion. (not pictured)
King does some nice QB’ing on this play. Looks right to hold the MLB close to that hash mark. This gives him a lane to throw the ball to Brevin on the backside skinny post. TD. The play was going to Brevin all along and they ran receivers vertical on both sides to hold the safeties and open that MOF up. If the Mike had turned and gotten deep on this play to cover Brevin, Wiggins is running a corner-post here and would come underneath the area that Brevin would've run through and been open then. Well-executed offense is fun.
When you read someone talking about a LB being “a step late” here is what they are talking about. Blackman has the ball already and is handing it to the fly sweep motion. Jennings is responsible for the A-gap on this play so you can understand him staying patient to read this, but McCloud has the B-gap, which would be a cutback or a give to the sweep on this play. Instead, he has to actually “see” it before he reacts. He has a key here though. Look at the RT and how he is getting to the outside of Phillips. If this were a run to the B gap, your RT wouldn’t be purposely giving away that gap to the edge defender. He’s obviously trying to get outside of him, which is a sign that it’s a give. I wish McCloud was upfield attacking this NOW. McCloud misses the tackle when he does run towards it.
#44 overruns this play and traps himself. He needs to be in that gap to his right and attacking downhill because he is responsible for that gap. Instead he kept his eyes on Blackman, even though he didn’t have that gap. Biggest issues with our LB play is just getting out of their gap because of eye candy.
Neat play by FSU fools Roche. He’s taking the give or the pull, depending on the play. Here #80 runs motion back across and he doesn’t stay upfield to defend that. The give is an easy edge. I imagine Lashlee might put that in his mental rolodex. You do wish McCloud was stepping up to anticipate a give to 80 though. He was fooled badly.
Roche not looking comfortable in pass coverage here gives up the easy completion. I’d just as soon let him attack and rush the passer.
Florida State clearly watched the Miami LB’s and decided that the best way to attack them is to the flats on their opening scripted drive. It’s eye candy, eye candy, misdirection, toss, flat pass. Rinse/Repeat. It’ll be interesting to see how Miami adjusted, or if FSU just stopped calling it. (not pictured)
This is honestly a sign of a LB group that understands their assignments at least. When no receiver comes into your zone, and the RB steps up to block rather than release into a pattern, you are supposed to go hunt the QB. Jennings and Smith are both attacking right now, as soon as the receiver clears their area (since they aren’t playing zone). Hit Blackman as he throws it.
3rd & 6 and McCloud blocks himself. He goes outside of the hash even though he has B gap. Carter gets picked up by an OL and is taken out. He needs to avoid that block, way too quick to be getting hit square like that. McCloud almost went looking for the TE to get blocked on this play. Bad LB play on a QB who is not going to throw the ball. (not pictured)
Bolden misses a tackle on a swing pass that goes for a 1st down. FSU has attacked the edges at will on this drive. That’s something Clemson will see on tape and Miami will need to address. (not pictured)
3rd & goal and McCloud loses eye discipline and his RB blocks and releases and McCloud doesn’t go with him. Bad pass or it’s a walk-in TD. McCloud really had a bad drive. Some clever plays on the first drive. You felt like that FSU’s best shot. Everything they had and they still only got three points. Felt like the Enos drive against Florida, where there was creativity and attacking an area the defense wasn’t prepared for on scripted plays and once that ended, there was just nothing else. (not pictured)
Knighton has been great to start the year, but I truly do not see what he is seeing here. Mallory is out here lead blocking, we have backside blockers in place between Zion and Harley. This has a real chance to be a TD down the sideline if Knighton has a little patience and lets his blockers get there. Knighton turns it inside instead.
King makes a great throw to Harley as he clears a zone behind the LB and in front of the S. He had Brevin open at the 1st down marker for an easier throw, but it worked out. (Not pictured)
Scaife misses badly on a block here. This delayed blitzer runs right by him and if it weren’t for King’s athleticism, this is a sack and the drive is essentially over. How does Scaife miss him, he’s staring right at him. King picks up a 1st down with his legs. Zion Nelson has Josh Griffis on lock right here. Perfect positioning. It’s possible Campbell is going to have a fight to get that spot back.
King on a 3rd & 5 shows excellent timing on a comeback route by Redding. Want to give props to the freshman, as this is his first collegiate catch and he runs the route perfectly. How many times do you see a WR get anxious and not run this route deep enough before breaking it off and being a yard short of the 1st down? (not pictured because a comeback route is difficult to do with stills)
Mallory settles into a soft zone and makes a catch, then a Seminole grabs his face mask and jerks his head around. Gainer hits Mallory right in the ribs and he wasn’t able to protect himself. I imagine Will will enjoy the week off after that hit. (not pictured)
Zion, you are too athletic to get out front of a screen and just stop like this. Chaney is right behind you, you can’t ever stop your feet on a screen. Chaney actually runs into him on the way by and Zion never touches a soul. These are the plays he needs to excel on with his foot speed.
You want to play one defender to the boundary in press coverage and then a S ten yards off the slot while walking a LB over the offset receiver? Last week, when Miami went crazy on Louisville with big plays out of an unbalanced formation? Look how FSU makes sure they are not out-leveraged to the weak side of the formation. In doing so, they outflank themselves to the strong side of the formation and give up what should be an easy conversion. Ivey immediately backs out, Harley runs vertical into the end zone and Pope blocks (poorly). If Pope gets his block, it’s a TD. Additional benefit is FSU had to spend practice time on unbalanced formations and how to defend them.
Miami picks up a 4th and inches out of Wildcat. (not pictured)
Coaches will scheme a play, but sometimes it’s up to the players to make someone miss. Here, Mallory does a great job sealing his edge. Brevin blocks down on his side and Cam has to beat the S in the hole. He does, and this is a TD.
Jaelen Phillips isn’t compiling huge sack numbers yet, but he is definitely making plays with his relentless motor off the edge. Jumps the fly sweep and buries it for a TFL. FSU tried to block it straight up this time, rather than cutting Phillips like they did earlier and it didn’t work at all. (not pictured)
Remember last year when our OL coach tried to employ jump sets into our scheme? The FSU LT tries to jump set and Roche ducks inside of him so quickly he doesn’t touch him. Roche buries this jet sweep for a big loss.
Remember last year when Miami had an undefended receiver on the goal line and the QB didn’t see him, or operate quickly enough to get the ball out to him? Look at the difference here. Miami is moving at such a quick tempo King already has the ball and FSU is not setup defensively. There is truly no one on the boundary to defend two receivers. King simply stands up, fires the ball out to Pope, who has Harley blocking for him out of a stack formation and no defender over there. Think about how well-coached Miami has to be to be able to get lined up this quickly, be in the play, and take advantage of the defense. Pope gets to the 25-yard line here.
Clark crashes down from the LG spot. Look at the benefits of the extra weight for Zion, who has the power to turn this defender out of the hole. Cam once again shows his patience by not flying into the hole, he presses toward #65 and then cuts into the open space and is untouched on this play for a TD.
Bolden was victimized a bit in coverage last week. This week they had him over slot and Warren Thompson 1-on-1, but then Frierson changes the leverage the defense to move the two LB’s to the strength of the formation and then walks out to replace Bolden and move him back to deep safety and covers the slot and knocks the ball away. 14 seconds into this video is the play I’m referring to.
Pope fumbles the punt and I want to punt my dog after this play. (not pictured)
Next play, Nesta absolutely destroys Donte Lucas, blows up the trick play, and Phillips makes the interception.
King looks over and see the boundary CB is going into a bail early. Miami runs “Stick” into that side of the field (boundary WR runs a vertical to clear out the defender, the TE either settles into a soft spot in the seam or runs an out route depending on the leverage of the LB). On this one, Brevin runs an out route directly into the flat vacated by the CB bailing early and it’s an easy completion. The football IQ of the offense is showing with little details like this. (not pictured)
The man being blocked here is ranked #8 overall on PFF draft board, currently. Ahead of any Miami player and is supposedly the best interior DL player in the country. If you are that level of player, you should never be blocked 1-on-1 by a TE, but here we are. My favorite part is the guy in yellow, who at this moment is having an “oh bleep” moment as he realizes this play is going to work.
Here is what King saw as he threw it. What a throw with a giant ready to belly flop on you. Ivey catches this ball at the red circle.
Harvey shows you how to play the read-option perfectly. He has such good acceleration he is able to accelerate upfield to the point he can play both the QB and the RB if it’s a give. You have to go straight upfield and not lose your leverage if the QB pulls on this play. TFL. Donte Lucas loses his helmet, Bradley Jennings kicks it first, then Phillips boots the helmet and it’s his second unsportsmanlike penalty and he’s ejected. We need him to learn from this ejection because we need him on the field.
Bradley Jennings reads his keys and keeps outside leverage, then sticks his foot in the ground and lays a hit on the RB when he tries to cutback. Nice play by him. Too many times you’ve seen the LB slow to the hole or losing leverage, but not on this play. TFL. (not pictured)
Frierson has clearly grown into the striker role and taken it for his own. There is a tweet above with all of his tackles and plays you can watch. What I want to watch is a guy communicating and not afraid to get the attention of his teammate who isn’t following the defensive audible just called. Frierson moves Blades back off the ball and into a single-high safety look. Then Bolden drops down to cover the slot so that Hall isn’t out there by himself. Then he moves Jennings and McCloud over so that they aren’t outleveraged on the play due to the unbalanced formation. Against Louisville I pointed out several times when the LB’s lost leverage and were too far inside/outside based on the alignment of the formation. Great job of being a leader, here.
Kenny Dillingham was someone who was well-regarded coming out of a mid-major program, but this is a miss by either the OC or by the QB, or both. We overload the weak side of the formation and walk into the A-gap and the 9-technique with McCloud. This leaves two defenders to the strong side of the formation and three receivers. You know you don’t have enough blockers if the blitz comes from McCloud, but you also know you have a man open immediately if you call something quick. They do not, it’s an easy sack for McCloud. By the way, Lucas absolutely tackled Roche on an inside rush. Not called, but blatant holding there.
It works, but here is my problem with it. If Florida State passes this off with their OL and gives him just a second longer, this is an easy conversion with the uncovered receiver out there. I don’t see the need on 3rd & 11, personally.
On 3rd & 1, it’s embarrassing for an FSU defender who tries to tackle Cam for a loss and Cam bounces off of him and gets outside for the 1st down. (not pictured)
King finds Cam along the sideline after pressure breaks through and Cam picks up a long 3rd down. Cam tries the hurdle again and fumbles out-of-bounds. Jakai Clark was just abused on this play and thrown to the ground like a rag doll. You know he took some grief in the film review. (not pictured)
Mistake by King here. This is a give all the way. Edge defender stays home, there is leverage outside for Chaney.
Harley runs a corner route on 3rd and goal and has him beat. The defender rips his facemask and pulls him down. Asante Samuel comes over and talks ish while Harley is down. I liked seeing Harley pop up immediately and chase Samuel down and give him something back. Need to see players not allow themselves to be pushed around. (not pictured)
Jakai Clark struggled with the size and power of FSU in this game. Zion Nelson had no such troubles though as he gets his left shoulder on the outside defender and then gets into the LB and drives him into the end zone. LG might be a spot we need to see growth, but LT has two good candidates at this point. Chaney runs this guy over and gets into the end zone. He has incredible power for a true freshman.
Travis in at QB and you can see this is an RPO. The Run portion is from the QB, rather than a RB, which gives an extra blocker. I’d like to see the LB’s identify their keys quicker here and identify that Travis is probably not throwing the ball here. Backside G is pulling, which is a power concept and while it looks like the LT is passing, he’s really just allowing Roche to run himself out of the play. Jennings and McCloud are stuck in mud here, when they need to be attacking this run without a receiver running a route into their area.
Roche slaps the hands down of the LT who tries to punch and then he is past him for the sack. LT had slow hands and his hands down and then it was already over. (not pictured)
Jennings is “robbing” the slant with Travis at QB and Travis pulls it down and runs. Jennings has him in the hole for a TFL and Travis makes him whiff. Doesn’t even touch him and Travis gets 25. (not pictured)
LT just absolutely hog ties Roche here. No call on this blatant holding right out in the open. Nesta cleans this up for a sack, but it was Roche who caused this. Not usually astonished, but fairly astonished they didn’t call holding here.
We talk about the RB pressing a hole and getting a LB to commit to a gap before the RB cuts, but here is a DT getting the blocker #45 to take his fake outside shoulder and then Harrison-Hunte comes back inside. Whew…this kid might just be something special. I didn’t realize watching it live what he did here, but he used quickness and power to then throw the G into his own help blocker and get a sack. Big. Time.
Want to be sure and highlight this play by Bolden, which was as good a play as I’ve seen by a Miami safety in quite some time. Instincts, anticipation, locates the ball while running full speed. Stole any hope from the souls of FSU and the game was over.
Some of you might be hoping to see breakdowns of the youngsters, but I’ll do that when they play minutes in a game that isn’t in garbage time. For now, I’m going to sign-off at this point, as Miami played their backup punter and kicker in the second half. When you feel so badly for your opponent that you play your backup punter, you know it was a straight massacre.
