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After Monday’s drills, Miami Hurricanes OC Dan Enos took some time to discuss the improvements he saw out of starting QB Jarren Williams in week 2 vs. UNC.
“Jarren made a lot of improvement, it was really good to see him, things we had him focus on,” Enos said. “One was pre-snap, making it more smooth. We were much less chaotic. It was a really good job by him, he was poised, good job of communicating. He made a lot of improvement with his play as well - eyes, pocket presence. He showed toughness, courage, played with much more poise, much more under control of what he was doing.”
“There are some things we need to clean up, he missed a couple of things too. We’ll continue to give him those looks in practice… Our quarterback gave us a chance to win.”
The Miami offense racked up the yardage against UNC, putting up nearly 500 yards of total offense, but UM’s primary issue on offense so far has been converting yards into points. After 2 weeks, UM is one of the worst teams in the country in red zone offense, as they are 107th in the country at scoring in the red zone (67%). The Canes were 4 of 6 on Saturday against the Tar Heels putting points on the board in the red zone and settled for 4 FG attempts in the game.
“We need to clean up third down, red zone - had to settle for field goals when we want to score touchdowns,” Enos said. “We didn’t make every play we wanted to make but played much better.”
In a turnaround from the opener against UF, Miami expanded their rotation on offense, and guys like Larry Hodges, Mark Pope, Dee Wiggins saw many more reps vs. UNC.
“We tried to play a lot more players,” Enos said. “It’s a lot better when you win, we didn’t do enough to do that. But it’s a lot better for your morale when you have more guys playing from a mental standpoint.”
Sophomore TE Brevin Jordan had another big game against UNC, recording 6 catches for 73 yards, and leads UM in both categories (11 catches, 161 yards) through 2 games.
“Brevin is kind of just a really good pass receiver, an excellent blocker,” Enos said. “He’s one of those rare guys - for a guy not being very big in stature as far as his height, he’s very explosive. He played 70 plays, which is a lot for a tight end, but it’s hard to take him off the field because he’s good in all aspects… And he’s got a whole another level to get to.”
Freshman OL Jakai Clark saw his first career action against UNC, drawing the start at RG and helping to stabilize what was a shaky O-Line in week 1.
“We thought there was good communication up front, we played physical, for the most part were on the right guys up there,” Enos said. "Jakai had a really good fall camp, spent most of the time as our backup center and is a really good center. He's smart, has great balance - that's a huge plus for that position. Anyway, after the first game we felt we needed more experience at tackle and DJ (Scaife) is so versatile... John (Campbell) has a bright future as well, but Jakai became an inside guy that with Corey Gaynor and (Navaughn) Donaldson next to him (would play well). Jakai played well, had a few (errors). He played physical, with a lot of good effort."
After having a package for him at QB on display during the UF game and seeing the most backup snaps at WR in week 1, sophomore ATH Tate Martell did not see time vs. UNC.
“We think Tate has a very bright future in this program on offense in a lot of different roles,” Enos said. “Those two weeks helped Tate focus on wide receiver… There’s a lot of things involved. We’d expect his role to continue to grow whether it’s him playing receiver, quarterback. It was more of a comfort level with us knowing he’d be able to handle the things we’d see Saturday because North Carolina was very multiple on defense.”
UM’s running game gashed the Tar Heels, as DeeJay Dallas and Cam Harris combined for 167 yards on 24 carries (6.96 ypc) and were consistently breaking into the second and third levels of the UNC defense.
“We want to be north-south, and those guys exemplified that Saturday to a T,” Enos said. “We felt really, really good about both their performances.”
**The key play in the loss to UNC was undoubtedly their conversion of a 4th and 17 late in the 4th quarter during their game-winning drive. If Miami had stopped that play, the Canes would very likely have won the game, and DC Blake Baker took us through what happened on that down and distance.
“The bottom line is we didn’t execute the call,” Baker said. “We ran the same pressure earlier in the game, actually got a sack on it… But that’s part of it, part of coaching. As coordinator I own that. We have to move on from it, still a lot of ball left to play. At the end of the day 11 guys have to be on the same page.”
The UM secondary gave up multiple big plays as UNC freshman QB Sam Howell appeared to have a field day at times.
“I think coming off a bye week, I don’t think it wasn’t `not ready to play,’ but being inexperienced in the secondary and being able to make checks quickly and adjustments,” Baker said. “We didn’t do a great job with that. And credit them going fast tempo. That’s part of the game, something we have to settle in on and get better week to week… I was proud of how the guys responded. We bounced back (but) the last couple of drives we didn’t execute.”
UM recorded 10 TFL and 4 sacks on the day vs. UNC, and Baker feels the UM pass rush in beginning to hit its stride after a slow start against UF.
“I think we’re doing a good job rushing the quarterback. Watch the tape, their quarterback made four good throws under pressure,” Baker said. “I do think our pass rush is there. We ended up with four sacks and a lot more hits on him throughout the night. We knew going in he’s a tough kid. I thought he did a good job of staying poised throughout the pressure.”
After junior S Amari Carter was thrown out of the game for targeting in the third quarter, senior S Robert Knowles (5 tackles) came in a played well according to Baker.
“I thought Rob Knowles came in and did a great job… a lot of credit to Rob,” Baker said. “Amari brings a calmness to the secondary. But I can say the same thing about Rob.”
With sophomore CB DJ Ivey out in week 1 due to suspension, sophomore CB Al Blades got the nod against UF. However, Ivey resumed his role in the starting lineup vs. UNC after a great week of practice.
“We started DJ - we grade everything in practice and he had the better week,” Baker said. “You can tell he started very slowly, that was his first game of the season… Once he settled in he was fine. Al played 25 snaps, was fine.”
Redshirt freshman DE Gregory Rousseau is currently leading the team in TFL (3.5) and sacks (2) in limited time off the bench and Baker foresees playing him more often as the season goes along.
“We’ll continue to get him on the field more and more and more. Really proud of him getting better and better and better,” Baker said. “He’s doing some really good things at defensive end and adds a huge dimension for us on third down sliding inside. You’ll see more of Greg as the season progresses.”
Senior LB Shaq Quarterman recorded 6 tackles, 2 TFL, and a sack against UNC, and Baker felt he upped him play after a mediocre week 1 vs. UF.
“I thought he played great when you look at last week,” Baker said. “Florida he probably tried to press, do too much. But he and (Mike) Pinckney played significantly better… They both played very, very well, seemed a lot more poised throughout the game. I thought Shaq did a heck of a job vs. North Carolina.”
However, Baker said he is still looking for more out of striker linebackers Romeo Finley and Gilbert Frierson.
“They’ve been up and down,” Baker said. “I wouldn’t say it’s picking on our strikers, but it’s been up and down. Coach (Jon) Patke’s been hard on them this week just trusting what they need to do. We have to build consistency, trusting technique.”
“Jarren made a lot of improvement, it was really good to see him, things we had him focus on,” Enos said. “One was pre-snap, making it more smooth. We were much less chaotic. It was a really good job by him, he was poised, good job of communicating. He made a lot of improvement with his play as well - eyes, pocket presence. He showed toughness, courage, played with much more poise, much more under control of what he was doing.”
“There are some things we need to clean up, he missed a couple of things too. We’ll continue to give him those looks in practice… Our quarterback gave us a chance to win.”
The Miami offense racked up the yardage against UNC, putting up nearly 500 yards of total offense, but UM’s primary issue on offense so far has been converting yards into points. After 2 weeks, UM is one of the worst teams in the country in red zone offense, as they are 107th in the country at scoring in the red zone (67%). The Canes were 4 of 6 on Saturday against the Tar Heels putting points on the board in the red zone and settled for 4 FG attempts in the game.
“We need to clean up third down, red zone - had to settle for field goals when we want to score touchdowns,” Enos said. “We didn’t make every play we wanted to make but played much better.”
In a turnaround from the opener against UF, Miami expanded their rotation on offense, and guys like Larry Hodges, Mark Pope, Dee Wiggins saw many more reps vs. UNC.
“We tried to play a lot more players,” Enos said. “It’s a lot better when you win, we didn’t do enough to do that. But it’s a lot better for your morale when you have more guys playing from a mental standpoint.”
Sophomore TE Brevin Jordan had another big game against UNC, recording 6 catches for 73 yards, and leads UM in both categories (11 catches, 161 yards) through 2 games.
“Brevin is kind of just a really good pass receiver, an excellent blocker,” Enos said. “He’s one of those rare guys - for a guy not being very big in stature as far as his height, he’s very explosive. He played 70 plays, which is a lot for a tight end, but it’s hard to take him off the field because he’s good in all aspects… And he’s got a whole another level to get to.”
Freshman OL Jakai Clark saw his first career action against UNC, drawing the start at RG and helping to stabilize what was a shaky O-Line in week 1.
“We thought there was good communication up front, we played physical, for the most part were on the right guys up there,” Enos said. "Jakai had a really good fall camp, spent most of the time as our backup center and is a really good center. He's smart, has great balance - that's a huge plus for that position. Anyway, after the first game we felt we needed more experience at tackle and DJ (Scaife) is so versatile... John (Campbell) has a bright future as well, but Jakai became an inside guy that with Corey Gaynor and (Navaughn) Donaldson next to him (would play well). Jakai played well, had a few (errors). He played physical, with a lot of good effort."
After having a package for him at QB on display during the UF game and seeing the most backup snaps at WR in week 1, sophomore ATH Tate Martell did not see time vs. UNC.
“We think Tate has a very bright future in this program on offense in a lot of different roles,” Enos said. “Those two weeks helped Tate focus on wide receiver… There’s a lot of things involved. We’d expect his role to continue to grow whether it’s him playing receiver, quarterback. It was more of a comfort level with us knowing he’d be able to handle the things we’d see Saturday because North Carolina was very multiple on defense.”
UM’s running game gashed the Tar Heels, as DeeJay Dallas and Cam Harris combined for 167 yards on 24 carries (6.96 ypc) and were consistently breaking into the second and third levels of the UNC defense.
“We want to be north-south, and those guys exemplified that Saturday to a T,” Enos said. “We felt really, really good about both their performances.”
**The key play in the loss to UNC was undoubtedly their conversion of a 4th and 17 late in the 4th quarter during their game-winning drive. If Miami had stopped that play, the Canes would very likely have won the game, and DC Blake Baker took us through what happened on that down and distance.
“The bottom line is we didn’t execute the call,” Baker said. “We ran the same pressure earlier in the game, actually got a sack on it… But that’s part of it, part of coaching. As coordinator I own that. We have to move on from it, still a lot of ball left to play. At the end of the day 11 guys have to be on the same page.”
The UM secondary gave up multiple big plays as UNC freshman QB Sam Howell appeared to have a field day at times.
“I think coming off a bye week, I don’t think it wasn’t `not ready to play,’ but being inexperienced in the secondary and being able to make checks quickly and adjustments,” Baker said. “We didn’t do a great job with that. And credit them going fast tempo. That’s part of the game, something we have to settle in on and get better week to week… I was proud of how the guys responded. We bounced back (but) the last couple of drives we didn’t execute.”
UM recorded 10 TFL and 4 sacks on the day vs. UNC, and Baker feels the UM pass rush in beginning to hit its stride after a slow start against UF.
“I think we’re doing a good job rushing the quarterback. Watch the tape, their quarterback made four good throws under pressure,” Baker said. “I do think our pass rush is there. We ended up with four sacks and a lot more hits on him throughout the night. We knew going in he’s a tough kid. I thought he did a good job of staying poised throughout the pressure.”
After junior S Amari Carter was thrown out of the game for targeting in the third quarter, senior S Robert Knowles (5 tackles) came in a played well according to Baker.
“I thought Rob Knowles came in and did a great job… a lot of credit to Rob,” Baker said. “Amari brings a calmness to the secondary. But I can say the same thing about Rob.”
With sophomore CB DJ Ivey out in week 1 due to suspension, sophomore CB Al Blades got the nod against UF. However, Ivey resumed his role in the starting lineup vs. UNC after a great week of practice.
“We started DJ - we grade everything in practice and he had the better week,” Baker said. “You can tell he started very slowly, that was his first game of the season… Once he settled in he was fine. Al played 25 snaps, was fine.”
Redshirt freshman DE Gregory Rousseau is currently leading the team in TFL (3.5) and sacks (2) in limited time off the bench and Baker foresees playing him more often as the season goes along.
“We’ll continue to get him on the field more and more and more. Really proud of him getting better and better and better,” Baker said. “He’s doing some really good things at defensive end and adds a huge dimension for us on third down sliding inside. You’ll see more of Greg as the season progresses.”
Senior LB Shaq Quarterman recorded 6 tackles, 2 TFL, and a sack against UNC, and Baker felt he upped him play after a mediocre week 1 vs. UF.
“I thought he played great when you look at last week,” Baker said. “Florida he probably tried to press, do too much. But he and (Mike) Pinckney played significantly better… They both played very, very well, seemed a lot more poised throughout the game. I thought Shaq did a heck of a job vs. North Carolina.”
However, Baker said he is still looking for more out of striker linebackers Romeo Finley and Gilbert Frierson.
“They’ve been up and down,” Baker said. “I wouldn’t say it’s picking on our strikers, but it’s been up and down. Coach (Jon) Patke’s been hard on them this week just trusting what they need to do. We have to build consistency, trusting technique.”
