OK, gonna try and get this over with as quickly as possible because quite frankly, I can't take anymore and honestly, I'm glad this clusterbomb of a season is over. Bottom line, this season was a disaster and absolutely inexcusable on all fronts and Al Golden at many other institutions would be relieved of his duties. If it was my call - he'd be given his pink slip. Simple as that. There, I said it. He needed to come up and build upon last year, instead the reverse took place and a team loaded with upperclass talent finished at 6-7 after falling to a mediocre South Carolina squad in Shreveport in the Independence Bowl by a score of 24-21.
Some thoughts on this wretched end to this 2014 campaign...
- As UM squandered two opportunities early and kicked field goals to go up 6-0, you had that sinking feeling this was going to bite them in the backside and that's precisely what happened as the Gamecocks exploded in the 2nd quarter with several big plays against a secondary that was letting receivers run free all over the field.
For the most part, Miami played at a slow grinding pace and quite frankly, it was boring. This, is Al Golden Football. Again, do kids want to play this style of ball( on either offense or defense?)
- Yeah, I get it, this was Duke's last hurrah, but this game plan was sewerage. The play calling was conservative to a point that it never really exploited the fact that they did in fact, establish the run but that was never really layered with play-action downfield on early downs. This game should've been about transitioning into the Brad Kaaya era, IMO, not just running 8 into the ground for the edification of the NFL scouts. Perhaps that is second guessing but lets be honest, Duke is leaving, this team is 6-6, the only thing this program has is the future( whatever that may be).
That last TD drive by Miami I hope is what will be the template for next years Canes offense.
- I found Andre Ware to be really good today in this sense, he wasn't afraid to say a lot of things about this years Miami's team both from a schematic standpoint and philosophically. It echoed a lot of things that fans/observers have stated all year. A lot of network guys shy away from such talk, he didn't. My hats off to him. Because again, this year is a complete indictment on Al Golden and this staff.
- So according to Todd McShay, 5 of the top 100 NFL draft prospects are Hurricanes. And yet, this team went 6-7. Just let that sink in. The upcoming NFL Draft in May will not be a good luck for this staff. And here's the scary part, while guys like Kaaya will be improved and develop, who can adequately replace the likes of Denzel Perryman( the heart and soul of the D) and the best deep threat( Phillip Dorsett)? If there was ever a year where Golden was going to take a significant step at Miami, this was it.
- And that's about all I can muster. It's been a long year, an incredibly disappointing one. How this administration sticks by Golden is beyond me. I had high hopes for the guy, but there comes a time when you have to cut bait and cut your losses. The question is: does Miami care enough to make a move?
6-7.
Happy f'n New Years everybody.....
