Miami goes to 9-0, it wasn't always easy and lets admit, as #Canes fans we were *****ing and moaning in the 3rd quarter as they went down 28-17. But that's the great thing about Air Cristobal, having an explosive offense makes things so much easier and can cover up a defense that quite frankly, isn't great.
The Canes scored 36 points in the second half on their way to a 53-31 victory over the Manny Diaz Blue Devils.
A few thoughts:
- Cam Ward is who he is. You have to live with the good and bad with him. Quick start, then missed a few open throws, scuffled in the second quarter. Then after a terrible cross-field INT with an 8 point lead, he throws big time shots for a TD to put Duke away. That's Ward in a nutshell. He still frustrates me a bit when he doesn't pick up the loose, easy change on the underneath stuff,
- This team is a bit of the 2017 team in reverse. That squad had an offense that was inconsistent and a defense that was very good and opportunistic. But the '24 Air Cristobal team is just the opposite. And quite frankly, they probably need 40-plus points a game to cover them up a bit. When you can score (and as quickly as the Canes can) it gives you a much bigger margin of error
- I'll say this again, Xavier Resterpo is an an all-time great Miami Hurricane. I said before the season he'd go down as the greatest pure slot WR in program history, but his legacy goes FAR beyond that. Google him
- Unfortunately Jadais Richard got hurt during his INT. So does that mean Robert Stafford is now pressed into action? Damari Brown can't come back soon enough
- The real football experts can get into this, but Lance Guidry's defensive plan in the first half was mind-boggling considering this secondary. They really need Bain and Comp. upfront to harass quarterbacks late in games. There was a stretch when Malik Murphy looked like Doug Williams in the Super Bowl. Keep in mind, this is an offense that had 180 total yards vs FSU two weeks ago, and hadn't scored more than 27 this whole season. They had 28 after the opening drive of the second half
- On the flipside, Duke hadn't give up more than 28(in an overtime game against SMU), and they could've easily gotten to 60 when it was all said and done. Again, with this offense and Ward, you want more plays, quicker tempo. They wear teams down, but not necessarily the traditional way
- Didn't love that RPO late in the game that got Ward hit and the ensuing fumble. Personally, I just run the ball up the gut and keep Cam clean.
- This team isn't perfect(far from it) but as I said before, just enjoy this ride. Week in and week out, they our incredibly entertaining
