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Real Talk--The Sobering Slap of Reality Edition...
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Fellas, I’m gonna take the glass half-full approach. No, I’m not blind to our shortcomings and agree that anyone who thought we were making an NC run this year was not only delusional but clueless. The good thing is last night served as a true measuring stick for where we are. I disagree, though, with those suggesting we’re a “long way’’ from the game’s current crust.
The way I see it you have 3, maybe 4 teams right now that separate themselves. Beyond that, you have an equally balanced mix of 15-20 teams that sway dependent on key injuries and home field advantage, etc. We’re in that group. A feisty, solid team that has to compete every Saturday and can’t just assume it’s going to win because of the Miami name.
If we recruit well, we have a chance to scratch that upper level, though it might take 2-3 years. That is also dependent upon continuity of staff and system, something we’ve lacked over the last decade or so.
Thoughts on last night and going forward:
-- Staff has done a nice job filling holes on the fly with the likes of Justin Renfrow, David Gilbert (though he’s disappeared of late), but a huge difference Saturday night was the play of the defensive fronts – absolutely no push in the face of the QB. Not a big fan of the star system, though believe this might be the position where you get the truest rating-to-performance ratio. FSU is loaded with 4 and 5 stars. This is also where the likes of Bama and LSU build their programs. This is why the Perrymans of the world are fighting to get off blocks 5-10 ayrds down the field. Will be hard to take the next step until we attract difference-makers at defensive tackle.
-- Safety play. You have to trust the coaches, but as stated above if 30 is the best we can put out there we’re in serious trouble. Great, smart kid, but his skill set doesn’t match the speed of the game. And he’s not the only problem here. We need to develop and recruit to make this a stength.
-- Wide receiver play. We’re basically down to 3 guys we can put out there – Hurns, Waters and Coley. Again, need to improve talent level. Hurns made two great catches, but as a group saw minimal separation. Coley has talent, but showed his freshman colors Saturday night – didn’t locate the ball soon enough to come back and help Morris on the under-throw and later didn’t lay out for a ball he probably could have caught.
-- We’re still young. In a year or two, Coley hopefully will make those plays. He and Burns will learn this isn’t HS and you can’t be indecisive returning against a Florida State. Muhammad will learn to break down and get under control coming up on an athletic QB.
-- Running back. As stated all over this board, we need more of them and need some with a physical presence. Yeah, BC ran the ball well against FSU earlier in the season, but they did it with a brute, physically put together back who might only run a 4.6-4.7 40. We don’t have that guy.
-- Beau Sandland. Didn’t realize he was still on the roster until a late cameo Saturday night. Assuming the coaches know what they’re doing, but why can’t we create mismatches with a hybrid tight end? Or is the talent not there? Let’s find out.
-- Quarterback play. Morris play about as well as expected. Nice first half and then as the game progressed he had no choice but to take more chances and force some throws. He’s hardly the reason we lost. Again, sad that folks sit at a computer criticizing a college kid who has been playing most of the season with a bad ankle/achilles. Also, if you go back to the injury it was a bit of a cheap shot – one that’s put a damper on the kid’s senior year.
-- ACC officials or college officials in general. Going forward, something needs to be done about bringing the officials under one roof, holding them accountable and hopefully improving performance. The Duke quick whistle may not have changed the game’s outcome, but it potentially had a huge impact.
-- Defense. It held up fairly well in the first half, but the bend-don’t-break plan just wore them down and went to ****. May have had a chance if they could have ever found a way to get off the field. Wore down and FSU had the scoreboard, momentum and a frenzied crowd on their side in the second half.
-- Going forward, Miami controls its destiny – when was the last time that was said? Yeah, every game will be an interesting challenge – whether Va Tech or at Duke – but this staff and kids have displayed resiliency and the ability to find a way to win. Fasten your seat belt as every game brings a challenge. But there isn’t another FSU on the schedule, until we make it to Charlotte.
-- Again, we’re not Alabama, Oregon, FSU or even Ohio State, but we have the chance to piece together a nice double-digit, Top 20 season. Are we a NC contender? **** no. That said, we’re at least relevant again. We’re recruiting well. And the NCAA is in the rear view mirror. Fellas, breath, relax, stop wth the Debbie Downer act. The glass is more than half full . . . and let's re-group and celebrate putting VA Tech out of its misery.
The way I see it you have 3, maybe 4 teams right now that separate themselves. Beyond that, you have an equally balanced mix of 15-20 teams that sway dependent on key injuries and home field advantage, etc. We’re in that group. A feisty, solid team that has to compete every Saturday and can’t just assume it’s going to win because of the Miami name.
If we recruit well, we have a chance to scratch that upper level, though it might take 2-3 years. That is also dependent upon continuity of staff and system, something we’ve lacked over the last decade or so.
Thoughts on last night and going forward:
-- Staff has done a nice job filling holes on the fly with the likes of Justin Renfrow, David Gilbert (though he’s disappeared of late), but a huge difference Saturday night was the play of the defensive fronts – absolutely no push in the face of the QB. Not a big fan of the star system, though believe this might be the position where you get the truest rating-to-performance ratio. FSU is loaded with 4 and 5 stars. This is also where the likes of Bama and LSU build their programs. This is why the Perrymans of the world are fighting to get off blocks 5-10 ayrds down the field. Will be hard to take the next step until we attract difference-makers at defensive tackle.
-- Safety play. You have to trust the coaches, but as stated above if 30 is the best we can put out there we’re in serious trouble. Great, smart kid, but his skill set doesn’t match the speed of the game. And he’s not the only problem here. We need to develop and recruit to make this a stength.
-- Wide receiver play. We’re basically down to 3 guys we can put out there – Hurns, Waters and Coley. Again, need to improve talent level. Hurns made two great catches, but as a group saw minimal separation. Coley has talent, but showed his freshman colors Saturday night – didn’t locate the ball soon enough to come back and help Morris on the under-throw and later didn’t lay out for a ball he probably could have caught.
-- We’re still young. In a year or two, Coley hopefully will make those plays. He and Burns will learn this isn’t HS and you can’t be indecisive returning against a Florida State. Muhammad will learn to break down and get under control coming up on an athletic QB.
-- Running back. As stated all over this board, we need more of them and need some with a physical presence. Yeah, BC ran the ball well against FSU earlier in the season, but they did it with a brute, physically put together back who might only run a 4.6-4.7 40. We don’t have that guy.
-- Beau Sandland. Didn’t realize he was still on the roster until a late cameo Saturday night. Assuming the coaches know what they’re doing, but why can’t we create mismatches with a hybrid tight end? Or is the talent not there? Let’s find out.
-- Quarterback play. Morris play about as well as expected. Nice first half and then as the game progressed he had no choice but to take more chances and force some throws. He’s hardly the reason we lost. Again, sad that folks sit at a computer criticizing a college kid who has been playing most of the season with a bad ankle/achilles. Also, if you go back to the injury it was a bit of a cheap shot – one that’s put a damper on the kid’s senior year.
-- ACC officials or college officials in general. Going forward, something needs to be done about bringing the officials under one roof, holding them accountable and hopefully improving performance. The Duke quick whistle may not have changed the game’s outcome, but it potentially had a huge impact.
-- Defense. It held up fairly well in the first half, but the bend-don’t-break plan just wore them down and went to ****. May have had a chance if they could have ever found a way to get off the field. Wore down and FSU had the scoreboard, momentum and a frenzied crowd on their side in the second half.
-- Going forward, Miami controls its destiny – when was the last time that was said? Yeah, every game will be an interesting challenge – whether Va Tech or at Duke – but this staff and kids have displayed resiliency and the ability to find a way to win. Fasten your seat belt as every game brings a challenge. But there isn’t another FSU on the schedule, until we make it to Charlotte.
-- Again, we’re not Alabama, Oregon, FSU or even Ohio State, but we have the chance to piece together a nice double-digit, Top 20 season. Are we a NC contender? **** no. That said, we’re at least relevant again. We’re recruiting well. And the NCAA is in the rear view mirror. Fellas, breath, relax, stop wth the Debbie Downer act. The glass is more than half full . . . and let's re-group and celebrate putting VA Tech out of its misery.
Guys were open all night
nadiamufdi
Junior
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Spot on Franchise. VT will be tough. Logan Thomas looks terrible but will somehow rebound against us. With Duke out , no games left on our schedule are a given and unfortunately will be dogfights.
Our second half was ABYSMAL. All facets of the game. 30 has no business playing for UM. 59 and 31 are the epitome of whats wrong with us right now. Its concerning they are still getting so much burn. Coaches are trying to go 11-1 and play it safe squeaking by than by letting Carter, Grace, Burns, etc grow up on the field
Our second half was ABYSMAL. All facets of the game. 30 has no business playing for UM. 59 and 31 are the epitome of whats wrong with us right now. Its concerning they are still getting so much burn. Coaches are trying to go 11-1 and play it safe squeaking by than by letting Carter, Grace, Burns, etc grow up on the field
F
fastcane
Guest
Yup, it seems like half of Fl States team was from SF, gotta find a way to keep those kids home.
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The best example was when it was 14-7, FSU had the ball and called time out. We bring the blitz on one side, and they run a screen pass to the other side for a 50 yard TD. Our coaching staff was owned on that sequence. Our offense actually scored before halftime to get us back in the game.
At some point, you stop blaming EVERYTHING on the offense, and realize that the defense couldn't make stops at any point in the game - early, middle, or late.
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You're exactly right. The coaches are trying to play it safe and squeak by with seniors who are very limited athletically but know where to line up.
And Logan Tbomas will chew us up as long as we don't put pressure on him. The times that he makes mistakes are when the opponent hurries him. BC got guys in his face yesterday and made him make quick decisions. That's where he falls apart. I don't know if we're capable of that.
D
deleted3746
Guest
Abysmal is a bit harsh. They do nothing, but they're still better than last season.
D
deleted3746
Guest
Impossible.
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I think the difference is in our expectations. We know what the defense is--a unit that has improved from absolutely terrible last year to just about average (or maybe a little below average) this year. They couldn't stop FSU, but they did come up with two big turnovers in the first half, and they had us in position to make it a game coming out of halftime down just seven.
But we expect more from the offense. We've got a good OL, weapons all over the field, and a senior QB with an NFL arm. We NEED the offense to carry us. Score coming out of the half and who knows what happens. Maybe Jameis tightens up, maybe we go back and forth for a while, etc. Instead, the offense fails to DO ANYTHING, sending our average defense back out there time and time again. And at that point, it's just a matter of time before the inevitable happens and the flood gates open.
BoxingRobes
Junior
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Miami has a pretty average third down defense. They are Top 50 in the nation, but then again, we've played nobody of consequence outside of Florida State. Miami just can't generate a front four pass rush. Miami has done pretty decent when they've sent an extra man or two, but with just the front four, nothing.
The play that stands out for me in that regard was that long third down Winston picked up on the ground when we rushed four, Muhammad (I believe) came in hard, Winston sidestepped him and had 20 yards of green in front of him and took off because Miami was in man. That is one of those plays where even if Muhammad comes in hard and is sidestepped, someone needs to be there to clean the play up, but the result was no one around him and he took off for the first down and extended a drive.
There were a few more similar plays during the game where Winston didn't take off, but side stepped a rusher and no one else was there to make the pocket dirty, and Winston just dumped it off to a check down.
DeadPoets
Senior
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--The early whistle on the Duke "forward progress" run was criminal. The guy who supposedly stopped him was being blocked and had only one arm loose. That would have been a TD and would have really energized our team.
Ummmm Duke was not scoring on that play. In fact one if the DL (who stopped playing because the whistle) likely would have had him down around the 5
Ummmm Duke was not scoring on that play. In fact one if the DL (who stopped playing because the whistle) likely would have had him down around the 5
cane33
Thunderdome
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Constantly getting stuffed on 4th and 1. Yep....OL is just fine.
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One thing this board has discussed and was done "better" was getting the hands up - anyone studying film on Winnie is going to see that's one of the few areas he cannot compensate for. It definitely was a factor with the interceptions. There are times when I wonder about some of the fundamentals being taught, like staying home and boxing in. I also agree to some degree with the comment that weight is perhaps overemphasized, in place of strength and agility.
Guts on Golden for going for that 4th & 1 and up yours to Jimbo for the late field goal - remember the "flop" I'm looking forward to the day we pay back.
Onward to VT.
Guts on Golden for going for that 4th & 1 and up yours to Jimbo for the late field goal - remember the "flop" I'm looking forward to the day we pay back.
Onward to VT.
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I also doubt he would of scored but he had a clear line for 10 to 15 yards, and yes it could have been a needed spark and was an extremely bogus call and I hope the official is at least reprimanded. Between spots, phantom downed appendages, and just plain inane calls, we have gotten an inordinate amount of bad calls. Sure a few have gone our way - but balance is obvious.
U
User-4525
Guest
I made an obvious point but to me I don't believe next year is our year like everyone has been saying it will be. We need 3 consecutive classes stockpiled wih talent (I.e. this 2014 class through the 2016 class) to be in NC contention.
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U
User-4525
Guest
Kids are always going to leave. That's why we get who we get down here and mix it in with some OOS talent (AQM, Olsen, Elder, Griffin, etc.) and talent in the other regions of Florida (McCord, Chick, Crawford, Jenkins).
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CaneHammer
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Our 3rd down O sucks cause our QB cannot attack the middle of the field. Our power run game is fine. Our QB does not allow us to take advantage of it. Our pass rushers are freshman.
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That play was a dagger in the heart. You can't keep giving up 3rd and 10+ and expect to do anything. AQM will be a great player for us down the road, but he needs to break down and make the play there. I get what you're saying though, and you're right. We often have situations where one guy makes an explosive move, but there's never anyone else there to clean it up. I think that problem is mainly the fact that we don't have enough guys who move their feet quickly enough.
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Ummmmm, I don't agree.
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