FL Cane
Senior
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2018
- Messages
- 4,792
Another week, another come from behind Miami win. This win though - on the road against a Cal team ahead by 25 points late into the third quarter - was miraculous. Here's some thoughts and observations after watching this very late ACC matchup.
Offense
Offense
- Yet another week where Miami started fast but failed to keep up any offensive momentum, it was beyond frustrating.
- Shannon Dawson called, arguably, his worst half of football as our OC in the first half. They play calling was mind boggling at times. We - finally - established the run, but didn't seem to want to stick with it. Also, we kept going back to that TE pass in the flat, off of playaction, despite Cal killing it every time. Playcalling was far better in the second half but, again, it didn't need to be this way.
- The running game finally got going tonight. Mark Fletcher played well, and Damien Martinez had some key runs. I will say, lining up Lyle on that third down was odd. Not our biggest or strongest back, Martinez or Fletcher should've been in, which leads to another issue...
- Our offensive personnel management needs to be far better. It was odd seeing Mark Fletcher on the sidelines after hitting some nice runs. Why ruin the flow, why rotate a back that's making progress against a good defense? At times it seems that we're too dedicated to sticking to the script and not breaking it when we need to.
- Xavier Restrepo will go down as an all time great Miami Hurricane WR. The guy is, hands down, the best receiver we've had in the past 15-20 years. Makes crucial plays and is always reliable. He has a future in the NFL as a Julian Edelman type WR.
- Our WR group was touch and go tonight. Lots of drops, especially from JG3 and Sam Brown (who continues to struggle at times). Isaiah Horton also dropped a TD that he should've had. Despite that...
- Isaiah Horton needs to play more. He's been our second best WR, and for the most part is reliable.
- TE's weren't used as much as they should have been, they disappeared for long stretches, albeit Arroyo caught the game winning TD pass.
- Cam Ward is elite. Yes, it wasn't perfect, but who else in CFB has the composure and skill to bring back a team down 25 late in the third? It was absolutely remarkable. Nevertheless, Cam has got to take what's in front of him. We had multiple plays where he had a wide open checkdown or receiver and opted to go for the big play. That cannot happen again, and in the postgame interview he acknowledged it.
- Cam was a bit off today. Quite a few passes were behind the targeted receiver, and a few were high. Even though he was off, he still had elite production. It's remarkable to watch him play.
- That pick six gave me flashbacks of Jacory Harris throwing pick six's back in 2010 and 2011. It was a terrible decision, and came cannot let that happen again. One of the worst interceptions I've ever seen, and it almost cost us the game.
- OL was better in run protection, but struggled in pass protection at times. We need Jalen Rivers back. Markell Bell is gonna be a good one, but he's not there yet.
- Where do I even start with this dumpster fire of a group. We've almost lost two games because our defense (1) blows coverages, (2) has routine communication breakdowns, and (3) can't tackle in space.
- Our DL had a solid game. We shut down Cal's run game and we got to Mendoza a bit. Bain being back in a blessing, and Simeon Barrow had his best game at Miami to date.
- Our secondary is this team's most glaring weakness. We blow too many coverages and make too many mistakes. Fernando Mendoza is a good QB, he's solid. However, he's never lit up a team like he did to us tonight. We need to stop making average to good QBs look elite.
- Tackling has to get better. Less missed tackles than last week, but still nowhere near good enough.
- Teams have realized that the way to beat our D is to (1) use a lot of misdirection, (2) use a lot of eye candy, and (3) force 1 on 1 matchups in space. We need to figure out how to confront this.
- Lance Guidry got absolutely cooked tonight. Thankfully, his second half adjustments did prove to be crucial, and Cal didn't do much of anything.
- We desperately need Damari Brown back. He would significantly improve our secondary.
- Our safeties continued to get burned in coverage. We gave up a ton of explosive plays today.
- I'll give the defense credit, they came through in the second half. They, for the most part, completely shut down Cal's offense and gave us a chance. Either way, they dug us into a massive hole and a miracle isn't going to always happen.
- This is a unit that needs to retool over the Bye.
- Say what you want about Mario and his gameday coaching, but the biggest difference between now and pre-him is that this team does not quit or give up. That's culture. We will fight till the end, and we do not lose our composure. The games we've won the past two weeks are games we would've lost last year or the past 15-20 years.We may lose, but it's gonna be a dogfight.
- Dawson and Guidry have to go back to the drawing board. Yes, the second half adjustments were key and both units played far better, but we cannot get into a hole. Teams are seeing that if they can withstand our initial push, they can hang around.
- The penalties tonight were unacceptable. This team has to be more disciplined. Teams are literally baiting JG3 as part of their gameplanning. The call on him was pretty weak, but still, he's got a microscope on him.
- We have a big game at UL in two weeks. The bye couldn't have come at a better time; we need it bad.
- Even though UL is 3-2, they will give us their best game. We are everyone's super bowl, and we need to continue to rise to the challenge.
- This team has the mark of destiny on it, lets enjoy the ride and see where we go.
- FSU is 1-5 (1-3) on the season. They are a horrific team, and we need to drop 70 on them.
- Mizzou was exposed at total frauds today.
- Tennessee laid an egg against Arkansas.
- Bama overlooked Vandy.
- PJ Fleck ruined USC's season.
- Washington got its revenge against Michigan.
