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Wow! What a game! The "Shock at the Rock." The Hurricanes found themselves down 27-7 in the second half before late game heroics saved the day. N'kosi Perry was not necessarily topping the charts accuracy wise with a 13-32 40% performance but his four touchdowns were platinum. Two touchdown passes were delivered on 4th downs and two others were strokes of downfield brilliance. No hangovers today boys and girls. InSight has work to do. Let's go from the perch.
First things first, I want to identify that some protection issues arose on the offensive line this week. Miami took five sacks and after watching essentially every one of those sacks, I would not really attribute them to Perry holding the ball too long. This is an instance where Left Guard Jahir Jones simply gets bested and Perry simply has nothing he can do. I know there has been a healthy debate on the boards in regards to the offensive line rotation and limiting it. This example is not building a case for the pro rotation contingent.
Here is an example of pressure once again impeding the quarterback's ability. The decision to throw the ball down field and not chip Brian Burns coming off the edge might need to be questioned. On the very next clip I will show you when the staff actually does decide to chip Burns and the result difference. The completion to Cager was on a leveled out concept with Harley underneath. Perry takes the greater yard allocation when the corner gets caught in the middle.
This was the throw of the day. A critical 3rd and 10 late in the game when the offense desperately needed to convert. We have documented on InSight how effective Perry has been week to week throwing the seam route. This again is one of those instances and you will see how this ball is pretty indefensible. Perry really has much better eye and head manipulation than his predecessor. You will see how that subtle tactic keeps both safeties at bay and gives him the best chance to complete the pass. The thread shows you a behind the quarterback view.
One of the things moving forward I would like to see out of this offense is to have another play call ready on these 3rd and shorts. Or Perry must be more assertive in the audible department and understand the numbers game. If the staff is handcuffing Perry in situations like this they are doing him and the offense a disservice. There is an 8 to 6 advantage and the slot is wide open for a HOT route. Brevin misses on his block but ultimately it wouldn't have mattered. The safety is quickly in tow to mop this up. Typically you don't account the free safety in the run game but when he is this close to the LOS you at least need to notice the man.
https://twitter.com/romancane/status/1048936757704777728
I did not particularly like the fact the Hurricanes went for it here on this fourth down. This decision ultimately led to a change of possession and FSU kicked a late field goal as a result. This concept was covered when Perry decided to throw it. It is the same slant/flat concept to the boundary that Miami runs constantly but this was read wrong by the quarterback in my opinion. This is actually an RPO. You notice it when the offensive lineman is shooting out to run block. This would have been an illegal man down field penalty even if it was completed.
Miami ran this concept successfully with Rosier several times last year and the Notre Dame game comes to mind. The offensive lineman and quarterback need to read this right. Essentially if they read man coverage (which this was) then the offensive lineman will shoot out and the quarterback must run. Miami needs to clean this up moving forward especially if they run this concept on fourth down.
https://twitter.com/romancane/status/1048924288949133312
Here will be a touchdown to Jeff Thomas. Thomas will run a stemmed corner route. His speed and ability to sell the post gets the safety's hips to open up inside. This is all that is needed in terms of separation and Perry delivers an exquisite ball correctly placed outside here. Also note the match-up to the field. Brevin Jordan is flexed and lined up on the same linebacker running the same route he ultimately scores a touchdown on. Great job by staff to identify this mismatch and thus exploit it later on.
Richt mentioned in a post game interview that he in fact thought the ball was going to go to Jordan based on the pre snap look. Perry felt the safety would have factored in the play and was aligned more towards Jordan. I would tend to agree and as you can see here, the single high safety is nowhere near the play here.
https://twitter.com/romancane/status/1048954497647742978
On cue, the mismatch showed up again. Jordan will take the vertical on a dagger concept. The Z receiver will run a dig underneath the seem and as you can see, FSU is in man one. It is a single high look and once again Perry's eye discipline plays key. Notice how he opens up looking directly at the safety. This essentially puts cement shoes on the single high and he simply has no shot helping on this mismatch. Miami would take the lead on this play and never look back.
When this play is called in the huddle and you see this look as a quarterback, you know exactly where you need to go pre-snap. You actually start licking your chops. I also like how Jeff Thomas is taking his seam and bending it up the sideline on the opposite side of the field. This puts a single high safety in further conflict. You have to respect Jeff's speed as well. But as you can see, this is why Brevin is such a nightmare to defend for a linebacker. Especially one that is half is size.
https://twitter.com/romancane/status/1048933972573605894
When you watch week to week you tend to notice little things. Motion anyone? I love this concept here on third down. Brevin will go in motion and essentially make this a bunch formation to the field. The bunch combo will be Thomas on a corner, Cager on a slant and Jordan on an angle. This is thrown well to Cager who essentially dropped what would have been his third touchdown of the day.
I think Miami needs to replicate several looks moving forward in this department. When no one runs with Jordan in motion you know the defense is signaling a zone defense. This makes things so much easier for the quarterback especially in terms of the identification department. Also the decision to go bunch is very effective vs man coverage if FSU decided to cover it that way. More please.
https://twitter.com/romancane/status/1048945753408905217
Here we will show a touchdown Cager actually will catch. It is on a concept we highlight every week. A slant/flat (post/flat) combo is something Perry throws really well. Perry simply reads the #2 db over the slot and when he runs with the flat the window becomes open. This was on a fourth down and the first touchdown of the game. That is a lot of faith in a freshman quarterback and he delivered the ball with precision. The key? It is delivered low. You never want to have the ball potentially tipped in the red zone. That isn't a bad ball. That is knowing where to put the ball where only your receiver can get it.
https://twitter.com/romancane/status/1048951353052200961
This is the play that shows you Perry's athleticism and ability to create. Nothing special here about the play call on this third down. It is an all vertical concept with underlying check downs by Mallory and Homer. What is special is Perry's ability to feel the pressure, find the escape lane, keep his eyes up field and deliver an absolute strike on the move to Thomas.
The right guard Donaldson is getting bodied and the pressure dirties up the pocket straight down main street. Also need to credit Thomas here because "scramble drill" rules instinctively kicked in for the wide out. Thomas redirected his skinny post towards the sideline when he saw his quarterback in trouble. This is an example of a quarterback bailing out your offensive coordinator on a concept that was extremely well covered.
https://twitter.com/romancane/status/1048952067665084417
Ultimately the decision to anoint Perry as your starter proved to be the right decision. The freshman was sacked 5 times and badgered consistently but when you needed him the most, he delivered a four touchdown performance with zero interceptions. That cannot be overstated. Sure, I caught Perry with a little happy feet maybe once or twice but he did not let it become systemic. The pressure did not manifest his body.
So many times when quarterbacks get knocked down consistently you will notice a disposition to freak out. Perry doesn't appear to have that makeup and he proved that yesterday. Number five simply just played the game with an even temperament that you appreciate in rivalry moments like that. Do not get to high when things go your way but do not get too low when the other team makes a play. FSU definitely made some plays on Saturday.
Last week we said that Perry would need to steal one of Chief Osceola's feathers and place it in his own cap if he wanted to solidify his starter status. Rosier stole a feather and hearts last year in Tallahassee and he deserves ultimate credit for that. Now Perry and Rosier can share that bond. They are University Miami starters that have beaten FSU. For seven years that was not the case. For seven years the quarterback position simply could not get it done when it mattered.
The From the Perch portion is now over. But we need to address the elephant in the room. Miami needs to diversify on offense. After six weeks watching every single play there is some room to comment and not really much room to debate. This is not an overly complicated offense. Conversely offenses do not need to be overly complex to be efficient but Miami needs to self scout themselves at the mid point of the season. A diversification prerogative needs to be highly considered.
Before you get too euphoric after this win you need to consider that Miami had a 2.2 yards a rush vs FSU yesterday. They opened the season with a staggering 2.4 yards a rush average vs. LSU. Athletic fronts give Miami fits. And when Miami cannot run the ball effectively enough the quarterback play rightfully seems to suffer. Vs. FSU and LSU in 2018 the quarterback play was in the 40% efficacy range. Miami also gave up a combined nine sacks in those two games. That is not a repeatable formula for success.
You changed the quarterback. So what is it then? Is it that your offensive line rotation is too big? Potentially. But then again how much advantage are you giving this offensive line when 70% of your play calls were running into the teeth of the defense on first down? I have said this before and I will say it again, Miami must diversify its run game. It simply does not have the offensive line to grind teams out when it needs to. It is an above average ACC line at best. You simply can't expect them to dominate good defensive teams in the run game. So you might want to play call accordingly to compensate that fact.
Miami will eventually have to operate much better vs. higher echelon athletically gifted defenses if it ever wishes to reach the promise land again. I do not really think that is debatable. You need both sides of the ball to fire on all cylinders and that includes the coordinators. Miami is second in the nation in total defense after six weeks. Miami is 70th in the country in total offense. (A respectable 20th in scoring) I think it is safe to say there is room for improvement. There always is.
There are plenty of teams across the country who are able to create with offensive lines that are far less talented and less star laden than Miami. You do not have to look to far up the road on I-4 to show evidence of that fact. And take what was a historically pedestrian offense with Alabama and now they are in the midst of an offensive renaissance. They obviously self scouted and adapted to the tune of being the number 4 overall offense in the country. Alabama averages 567 yards a game.
Mark Richt needs to go into Manny Diaz's office today and say a heartfelt sincere thank you. Miami's defense held FSU to 40 yards in the second half. Then he needs to ask Manny, "What do I need to do to get better?" "What do I need to do to be harder to defend?" I want to parallel Diaz because he adapted a striker position this off season. You obviously see the results of that move. The defense is in a much better position to succeed these days. Diaz obviously felt something was needed on that side of the ball to get better.
Richt runs a lot of slants. All verticals. A ton of post/flat combos. A RPO here and there. He runs inside zone/outside zone. He runs power concepts. Richt runs things that are tried and true. That is absolute fact. However innovative is not an adjective I would use. Nor is anyone in national media using that adjective when describing this 2018 offense. At this point I could only hope Mark Richt would have his own Striker position revelation. If only that type of thinking in the Hecht Center was contagious.
First things first, I want to identify that some protection issues arose on the offensive line this week. Miami took five sacks and after watching essentially every one of those sacks, I would not really attribute them to Perry holding the ball too long. This is an instance where Left Guard Jahir Jones simply gets bested and Perry simply has nothing he can do. I know there has been a healthy debate on the boards in regards to the offensive line rotation and limiting it. This example is not building a case for the pro rotation contingent.
Here is an example of pressure once again impeding the quarterback's ability. The decision to throw the ball down field and not chip Brian Burns coming off the edge might need to be questioned. On the very next clip I will show you when the staff actually does decide to chip Burns and the result difference. The completion to Cager was on a leveled out concept with Harley underneath. Perry takes the greater yard allocation when the corner gets caught in the middle.
This was the throw of the day. A critical 3rd and 10 late in the game when the offense desperately needed to convert. We have documented on InSight how effective Perry has been week to week throwing the seam route. This again is one of those instances and you will see how this ball is pretty indefensible. Perry really has much better eye and head manipulation than his predecessor. You will see how that subtle tactic keeps both safeties at bay and gives him the best chance to complete the pass. The thread shows you a behind the quarterback view.
One of the things moving forward I would like to see out of this offense is to have another play call ready on these 3rd and shorts. Or Perry must be more assertive in the audible department and understand the numbers game. If the staff is handcuffing Perry in situations like this they are doing him and the offense a disservice. There is an 8 to 6 advantage and the slot is wide open for a HOT route. Brevin misses on his block but ultimately it wouldn't have mattered. The safety is quickly in tow to mop this up. Typically you don't account the free safety in the run game but when he is this close to the LOS you at least need to notice the man.
https://twitter.com/romancane/status/1048936757704777728
I did not particularly like the fact the Hurricanes went for it here on this fourth down. This decision ultimately led to a change of possession and FSU kicked a late field goal as a result. This concept was covered when Perry decided to throw it. It is the same slant/flat concept to the boundary that Miami runs constantly but this was read wrong by the quarterback in my opinion. This is actually an RPO. You notice it when the offensive lineman is shooting out to run block. This would have been an illegal man down field penalty even if it was completed.
Miami ran this concept successfully with Rosier several times last year and the Notre Dame game comes to mind. The offensive lineman and quarterback need to read this right. Essentially if they read man coverage (which this was) then the offensive lineman will shoot out and the quarterback must run. Miami needs to clean this up moving forward especially if they run this concept on fourth down.
https://twitter.com/romancane/status/1048924288949133312
Here will be a touchdown to Jeff Thomas. Thomas will run a stemmed corner route. His speed and ability to sell the post gets the safety's hips to open up inside. This is all that is needed in terms of separation and Perry delivers an exquisite ball correctly placed outside here. Also note the match-up to the field. Brevin Jordan is flexed and lined up on the same linebacker running the same route he ultimately scores a touchdown on. Great job by staff to identify this mismatch and thus exploit it later on.
Richt mentioned in a post game interview that he in fact thought the ball was going to go to Jordan based on the pre snap look. Perry felt the safety would have factored in the play and was aligned more towards Jordan. I would tend to agree and as you can see here, the single high safety is nowhere near the play here.
https://twitter.com/romancane/status/1048954497647742978
On cue, the mismatch showed up again. Jordan will take the vertical on a dagger concept. The Z receiver will run a dig underneath the seem and as you can see, FSU is in man one. It is a single high look and once again Perry's eye discipline plays key. Notice how he opens up looking directly at the safety. This essentially puts cement shoes on the single high and he simply has no shot helping on this mismatch. Miami would take the lead on this play and never look back.
When this play is called in the huddle and you see this look as a quarterback, you know exactly where you need to go pre-snap. You actually start licking your chops. I also like how Jeff Thomas is taking his seam and bending it up the sideline on the opposite side of the field. This puts a single high safety in further conflict. You have to respect Jeff's speed as well. But as you can see, this is why Brevin is such a nightmare to defend for a linebacker. Especially one that is half is size.
https://twitter.com/romancane/status/1048933972573605894
When you watch week to week you tend to notice little things. Motion anyone? I love this concept here on third down. Brevin will go in motion and essentially make this a bunch formation to the field. The bunch combo will be Thomas on a corner, Cager on a slant and Jordan on an angle. This is thrown well to Cager who essentially dropped what would have been his third touchdown of the day.
I think Miami needs to replicate several looks moving forward in this department. When no one runs with Jordan in motion you know the defense is signaling a zone defense. This makes things so much easier for the quarterback especially in terms of the identification department. Also the decision to go bunch is very effective vs man coverage if FSU decided to cover it that way. More please.
https://twitter.com/romancane/status/1048945753408905217
Here we will show a touchdown Cager actually will catch. It is on a concept we highlight every week. A slant/flat (post/flat) combo is something Perry throws really well. Perry simply reads the #2 db over the slot and when he runs with the flat the window becomes open. This was on a fourth down and the first touchdown of the game. That is a lot of faith in a freshman quarterback and he delivered the ball with precision. The key? It is delivered low. You never want to have the ball potentially tipped in the red zone. That isn't a bad ball. That is knowing where to put the ball where only your receiver can get it.
https://twitter.com/romancane/status/1048951353052200961
This is the play that shows you Perry's athleticism and ability to create. Nothing special here about the play call on this third down. It is an all vertical concept with underlying check downs by Mallory and Homer. What is special is Perry's ability to feel the pressure, find the escape lane, keep his eyes up field and deliver an absolute strike on the move to Thomas.
The right guard Donaldson is getting bodied and the pressure dirties up the pocket straight down main street. Also need to credit Thomas here because "scramble drill" rules instinctively kicked in for the wide out. Thomas redirected his skinny post towards the sideline when he saw his quarterback in trouble. This is an example of a quarterback bailing out your offensive coordinator on a concept that was extremely well covered.
https://twitter.com/romancane/status/1048952067665084417
Ultimately the decision to anoint Perry as your starter proved to be the right decision. The freshman was sacked 5 times and badgered consistently but when you needed him the most, he delivered a four touchdown performance with zero interceptions. That cannot be overstated. Sure, I caught Perry with a little happy feet maybe once or twice but he did not let it become systemic. The pressure did not manifest his body.
So many times when quarterbacks get knocked down consistently you will notice a disposition to freak out. Perry doesn't appear to have that makeup and he proved that yesterday. Number five simply just played the game with an even temperament that you appreciate in rivalry moments like that. Do not get to high when things go your way but do not get too low when the other team makes a play. FSU definitely made some plays on Saturday.
Last week we said that Perry would need to steal one of Chief Osceola's feathers and place it in his own cap if he wanted to solidify his starter status. Rosier stole a feather and hearts last year in Tallahassee and he deserves ultimate credit for that. Now Perry and Rosier can share that bond. They are University Miami starters that have beaten FSU. For seven years that was not the case. For seven years the quarterback position simply could not get it done when it mattered.
The From the Perch portion is now over. But we need to address the elephant in the room. Miami needs to diversify on offense. After six weeks watching every single play there is some room to comment and not really much room to debate. This is not an overly complicated offense. Conversely offenses do not need to be overly complex to be efficient but Miami needs to self scout themselves at the mid point of the season. A diversification prerogative needs to be highly considered.
Before you get too euphoric after this win you need to consider that Miami had a 2.2 yards a rush vs FSU yesterday. They opened the season with a staggering 2.4 yards a rush average vs. LSU. Athletic fronts give Miami fits. And when Miami cannot run the ball effectively enough the quarterback play rightfully seems to suffer. Vs. FSU and LSU in 2018 the quarterback play was in the 40% efficacy range. Miami also gave up a combined nine sacks in those two games. That is not a repeatable formula for success.
You changed the quarterback. So what is it then? Is it that your offensive line rotation is too big? Potentially. But then again how much advantage are you giving this offensive line when 70% of your play calls were running into the teeth of the defense on first down? I have said this before and I will say it again, Miami must diversify its run game. It simply does not have the offensive line to grind teams out when it needs to. It is an above average ACC line at best. You simply can't expect them to dominate good defensive teams in the run game. So you might want to play call accordingly to compensate that fact.
Miami will eventually have to operate much better vs. higher echelon athletically gifted defenses if it ever wishes to reach the promise land again. I do not really think that is debatable. You need both sides of the ball to fire on all cylinders and that includes the coordinators. Miami is second in the nation in total defense after six weeks. Miami is 70th in the country in total offense. (A respectable 20th in scoring) I think it is safe to say there is room for improvement. There always is.
There are plenty of teams across the country who are able to create with offensive lines that are far less talented and less star laden than Miami. You do not have to look to far up the road on I-4 to show evidence of that fact. And take what was a historically pedestrian offense with Alabama and now they are in the midst of an offensive renaissance. They obviously self scouted and adapted to the tune of being the number 4 overall offense in the country. Alabama averages 567 yards a game.
Mark Richt needs to go into Manny Diaz's office today and say a heartfelt sincere thank you. Miami's defense held FSU to 40 yards in the second half. Then he needs to ask Manny, "What do I need to do to get better?" "What do I need to do to be harder to defend?" I want to parallel Diaz because he adapted a striker position this off season. You obviously see the results of that move. The defense is in a much better position to succeed these days. Diaz obviously felt something was needed on that side of the ball to get better.
Richt runs a lot of slants. All verticals. A ton of post/flat combos. A RPO here and there. He runs inside zone/outside zone. He runs power concepts. Richt runs things that are tried and true. That is absolute fact. However innovative is not an adjective I would use. Nor is anyone in national media using that adjective when describing this 2018 offense. At this point I could only hope Mark Richt would have his own Striker position revelation. If only that type of thinking in the Hecht Center was contagious.
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It was FSU week and the half way mark of the season. I had a lot on my chest.
