Some thoughts after the Cal rewatch

[HurricanesR1]

- Not much more needs to be said about Cam. He put up 452 total yards, 3 TDs and 1 TO against a solid, well-coached defense. He did have two really poor plays

Nice write-up but Cam had way more than just two really poor plays.

The entire first half was filled with horrible Cam Ward decision making/plays.

 

[miamimike01]

I want someone closer to Cam Ward, but I think Mendoza has shown more athleticism and fluidity than Emory to this point

maybe. Depends on the field.

We all know Emory will never start here.

To all us Central Florida folks, Godspeed, take heed, and be safe.

 

[San Amaro Dr]

You think the play where Baron is covering the wr on screen and the safety on hash over the TE that points as he screams down in one Hill? I dont know the coverage but thats TOUGH..

Hill opens up to bail so my guess is he’s playing 3 there. I’m not positive on this one.

 

[caneworld]

Based on how well-prepared we were vs UF, I expect the same vs Louisville with the bye week to prepare and yes the bye week is much welcomed.

I even think us fans need a break from the craziness of the last 2 games.

We absolutely need the bye week.... i mean the fans

 

[CTCanes]

Maybe not as elite as Cam, but there could be some nice options.

Kevin Jennings at SMU would be super nice here at UM.

I wouldnt mind Kyron Drones either.

Definitely some options. Cam is special, but as the team overall talent goes up, we don't need a heisman level QB to win (though obviously preferable).

Jennings has a very high ceiling Played well yesterday. Someone on here referred to SMU as Miami JV squad so maybe he gets the call up!

Murphy from Duke via Texas could be intriguing if he shows continued improvement.

 

[skyman]

Hill opens up to bail so my guess is he’s playing 3 there. I’m not positive on this one.

Very possible.. #7 always seems to be a player in middle of these issues and never gets any blame and he seems to over pursuit everything like chicken with head cut off. Plays fast but they use his over aggressiveness against him

 

[caneworld]

Nothing from what I watched in the Ville-SMU game tells me that Ville will be a problem.

The defense was horrendous and their QB is dog ****. Not seeing the playmakers on offense at all.

We will boat race them.

Again.. I lose count of how many times we have made absolute scrub QBs look like the second coming of Joe Montana...

 

[NCCanefan]

I will disagree with you on one important point. The run game. We abandoned and did not exploit our ability to run. The gave us light boxes and we didn't exploit it EVERY THOUGH we had success running the ball

in our first possession, we had consecutive runs of 6, 3 and 6 followed by unsuccessful passing resulting in a pun

this pattern repeated itself during the game. even when down 2 scores we should have run it down their throat and we didn't. our success on offense in the fourth quarter was the result of fatigue on Cal's part. that fatigue would have evidenced itself even earlier if we had continued to run.

I don't think Dawson is comfortable running the ball consistently. he always reverts to throwing the ball.

a final benefit of run would have been to keep the Cal offense and our defense on the sidelines

We possessed the ball for almost 38 minutes to their 22.

 

[BigDikDaddyFromCincinnati]

Salute to the CanesInSight members we met in Berkeley. It was an amazing trip. Saturday was a marathon from 5 AM to past midnight, but everyone brought the energy.

The timing is perfect for a bye week. There's a lot to clean up. These last two weeks took a couple years off our lives, but I'll take that over what happened to Alabama, Tennessee, USC, Ole Miss and Michigan. They weren't as fortunate against unranked teams.

Six games in, I can understand the comparisons to 2013 and 2017. Those teams had a lot of NFL players, won close games, and ultimately got exposed. But they also had some unusual coaching dynamics. In 2013, D'Onofrio almost singlehandedly tanked the team. In 2017, Richt was still working with his son in a doomed situation. This 2024 team has a more professional staff. And it also has Cam Ward.

My thoughts on rewatch are below:

OFFENSE

- They weren't perfect, but the offense remains an elite group. The best mainstream stat is Yards Per Play against FBS opponents. Miami ranks first nationally at 8.1 yards per play. For reference, the next four teams are Alabama, Ole Miss, Ohio State and Texas. Miami is also tied with Ohio State for first in Scoring Offense against FBS opponents (46 PPG).

While much of the credit belongs to Cam, his Washington State team ranked 72nd nationally in yards per play (5.3) and 53rd in scoring (28.7). This is a complete group built around a special quarterback.

- Not much more needs to be said about Cam. He put up 452 total yards, 3 TDs and 1 TO against a solid, well-coached defense. He did have two really poor plays, with the coverage sack on the last drive of the half and the pick six. The relaxed confidence that gets him in trouble is also his greatest strength, so it's hard to coach that out of him. His heart rate is the same down 35-10 as it is on the opening kickoff.

Hopefully, Cam continues to cut down on the worst hero ball plays. Pat Mahomes is a great example of someone who matured in this area.

- The main topic with the offense is always the running game. Cal came out a little differently than prior opponents. They played the pass, dared us to run, and counted on Cam forcing a mistake. We did a good job running the ball early, especially with a relentless Mark Fletcher. The game flow changed when Cal started hitting explosive plays and got us more into a shootout mode.

- One way to juice up the running game: more Elija Lofton at fullback. He has a fullback body with the strength and toughness for collisions, but he can also make contested catches, run routes like a receiver, and carry the ball like a tailback. It's impossible to match up with a player like that. He's playing fullback already in short yardage, but we can add more to the package during the bye week.

Some might say that using a fullback is caveman football. But I see teams like the Ravens, Dolphins and 49ers using fullbacks consistently on Sundays, and those fullbacks aren't as versatile as Lofton. We'll be able to hit big plays off play action and get Damien Martinez running downhill in a more familiar style.

- When the game gets tough, Cam looks for three guys: Xavier Restrepo, Isaiah Horton, and Elijah Arroyo. These are the guys who worked on their bodies all offseason and consistently show up on Greentree. To me, the most underrated trait in a pass-catcher is play strength. This includes core strength, balance and strong hands. Just look at the top NFL receivers over the past couple years. All three of those guys are strong physically and mentally, and it shows up on money downs.

One play that jumped out early was the failed screen to Sam Brown with Jacolby George blocking. We got knocked back and took a loss. That play would look a lot different if we ran it with Restrepo and Horton. We'll need the whole group to win the ACC, and I'm hopeful we will see Brown and George come out of the bye week hungry. JoJo Trader will also put pressure for snaps.

- I can't wait until Jalen Rivers returns, but the internal perception on Markel Bell is different than what I see in the boards and social media. Yes, he's been beaten for sacks in each of the past two games. He'd be redshirting in a perfect world. But on many key plays, he's engulfing guys. His combination of length and movement is pretty rare, and the coaches trust him between the ears. These reps will benefit the team in the long run.

DEFENSE

- The story of this game was Cal hitting explosives. On paper, I loved the matchup for Miami because Cal struggled to generate chunk plays. But on Saturday, Cal hit four plays of 40+ yards. That's more than they had in the previous four games combined.

Miami now ranks 101st nationally in 40+ yard plays allowed. Some of that is secondary talent, but the bigger issue is eye discipline. Whether it was D'Yoni Hill biting on a fake tunnel screen or the entire defense losing Jaden Ott on fourth down, these are correctable mistakes. We have some very smart human beings in the secondary, and the bye week is a perfect opportunity for Guidry and the back end to tighten the screws.

- Miami hit on every item of their Portal wishlist except one: nickel back. That hole is hurting us now, especially with Damari Brown missing extended time.

- The 3rd and 15 screen from Cal felt like a replay from the USF game. I love how fast Jaden Harris plays, but those are two examples of him playing too fast. Both times, he flew right by the running back and allowed backbreaking plays. Harris is still relatively new to safety, and is a work in progress seeing the game from that spot.

- Simeon Barrow has been making an impact the past few weeks. Twitchy, aware and plays hard. He's already the best DT of the Mario era.

- On one hand, we have to give credit to the opponent. Virginia Tech and Cal were both highly motivated, aggressive, and a executed at high level. They played their best games of the season. But of course, Miami's defense was part of that. It won't get any easier with a desperate Louisville team playing at home. They have the offense we've faced this season.

- I was impressed with Fernando Mendoza. When we first wrote about him CanesInSight, he was a Yale commit with no FBS interest. I said he was a big-framed (6'5) kid that showed improved athleticism and FBS talent as a senior. He ended up at Cal, and continues to develop physically. He hit some big-boy throws in the first half against the blitz, and he even made Kiko Mauigoa and Rueben Bain whiff in space. We know he's a worker with an elite makup, so I expect him to continue to make meaningful gains over the next few years.

- This applies to both the offense and the defense, but there continues to be a lack of discipline with penalties. We had two brainless post-snap penalties and several big mistakes (facemask, hands to the face) before the whistle.

CONCLUSION

Through six games, we have an elite offense, an average defense, and very good special teams. Every game with a good opponent is shaping up to be a shootout. We're not going to pull Rod Woodson and Bennie Blades off the street during the bye week, but the secondary play can improve from a mental standpoint. We'll find out very early if anything has changed against Louisville. Until then, it feels good to be 6-0.

LOVE what you said about putting Lofton in as FB with Martinez.

 

[rsa coral gables]

We possessed the ball for almost 38 minutes to their 22.

of course we did, given the 4-5 40 yard explosive plays.

 

[Gables Cane]

our plan was obviously control the game running the ball and limit possessions with our glacial pace (taking the play clock under 5 almost every play), that sh*t got thrown out the window real quick lmao

I’m not sure that was the plan. It was likely take what the D gives us. Exploit the D’s weakness. Cal played with 6 in the box so we ran the ball and ran it well for the most part.

The problem is that we were not consistent and would abandon the run at the first sign of trouble. We fell behind quickly thanks to the D and had to pivot and throw the ball more often.

 

[k9cane]

Not going to make excuses and just pretend like there are no warts. There are, clearly. But I think Cal is a much better football team than we probably gave them credit for.

And it’s likely because they lost to fsu, which is obviously inexcusable. But they had a 67% postgame win expectancy in that game. They should have won that game handedly and should have been 4-0 coming into last nights game. And this is without their clear best player being healthy all year. Add in the extra week, biggest home game they’ve had in 10+ years, Gameday in town. And we found a way to win.

they have as good a set of corners (Nohl Williams and Marcus Harris) as Miami will face this season. And that FSU loss they out- gained, out-first downed and out-time of possession'd the Noles...

 

[Calinative]

Pleasure meeting ya @DMoney

I agree, I'd like to see some more under center a bit. But honestly literally the only change we NEED offensively is literally hoping Cam limits the extremely negative plays - or hopefully to 1 or fewer per game.

All our focus needs to be on how we fix this defense up. Idk why people are so confident about Damari in the Nickel role though. Idk, just I'm not sure why we'd be more confident in him defending quick slot receivers and following all this motion teams are attacking us with, when DP2 has had his struggles with it. I mean he'd be a bigger run presence than Porter, and can likely be used more efffectively on blitzes. But idk... Though we have seriously struggled with Outside contain and tackling out of our Safeties (and honestly LBs and guys wrapping up and finishing offf QBs). So maybe he helps with that a lot. And it'd have the secondary effect of allowing us to put Porter back outside which should be better for us. But like Cal didn't do anything crazy in the pass game either, we just bit on stuff way too much and allowed the easiest 50+ yard pass plays a QB could ask for.

But I think as Alston comes back and Bain gets his legs fully back under him, this will all be up to the LBs and DBs stepping their game up. We need them to take a step forward. Jaden Harris needs to be constantly doing triangle tackling drills. But also like where the **** are any of our LBs on these outside plays? It's like they don't exist. We're putting all this pressure on Meesh/Harris to make 1 on 1 tackles on a good RB in space to the outside. Like yeah Jaden Harris blew it and it was a terrible attempt, but it's also not like he had any help really... Look we need to just trust our 4 down Lineman and like Kiko to be able to stop the run between the tackles. I'm expecting teams to significantly increase how much they test out contain and forcing our CBs/Safeties to make these tackles.

Like I think we need to have our DLine and Kiko maybe (cause that's his strength) playing really aggressive, but the rest of the D needs to be playing conservative.

 

[NCCanefan]

of course we did given the 4-5 40 yard explosive plays.

Yep, I know that. My point is our D was well rested. We need to do on offense what scores the most not some artifical control the clock bs

 

[camward4heisman]

Bain started to dominate late. Gonna be nice when he's back in game shape. He, Barrow, & Barron are a very nice group. Secondary is def the weakness but we got a nice bye week to fix things.

 

[BS85]

Maybe not as elite as Cam, but there could be some nice options.

Kevin Jennings at SMU would be super nice here at UM.

I wouldnt mind Kyron Drones either.

Definitely some options. Cam is special, but as the team overall talent goes up, we don't need a heisman level QB to win (though obviously preferable).

Kevin Jennings please

 

[ssvir]

Maybe not as elite as Cam, but there could be some nice options.

Kevin Jennings at SMU would be super nice here at UM.

I wouldnt mind Kyron Drones either.

Definitely some options. Cam is special, but as the team overall talent goes up, we don't need a heisman level QB to win (though obviously preferable).

Eli Holstein.

Bama redshirt and now r-fresh for Pitt.

Added benefit of Narduzzi tears

 

[E1k]

Good write up. We have to protect our DB’s by probably mixing up a little more zone coverages and two deep. We were getting torched when we were playing man to man one safety high in the beginning. I trust our d line to get pressure consistently, especially with Bain being back. I said after the UF game that the DB’s scare me. But, all we can do is keep getting better and putting them in the best positions to succeed.

I’d also like to see us control the game more with the running game. Seeing pulling lineman and backs getting up field is beautiful when executed properly. You cannot abandon the run when you have a guy, Mark Fletcher, averaging 9 yards a carry on 8 attempts at the half. After stopping Cal with a quick three and out coming out of halftime down 11, we promptly go 5 wide from our own 20. Yeah, Cam made a boneheaded play, but as coaches, what were we trying to accomplish with that set early in the 2nd half on 1st down? Just questions I have while watching.

Agreed here, i think guidry is gonna have to switch up the fronts or something to feel more comfortable stopping the run out of two deep,its too much mofc right now imo. More gap discipline will be needed but at least we can limit big plays that way

 

[Calinative]

our Run D and Offense was dominant this game.

 

[Atlantus954]

Amazing what a difference a year makes. Cam is definitely the main factor, but so many contributors this year. I have to think that Cams attitude has helped everyone. I’m not sure who is responsible I’m going with everyone in the program. The team seems better in almost every aspect coaching, playing, finding ways to win instead of losing. I’ve got to believe that the young guys this year are gaining valuable lessons on how they’re supposed to do it. So many years of disconnects throughout the program. This years seems incredibly different . Congratulations to the whole program and keep working hard. GO CANES !!!!!!!

 

[motorcitycane]

The Joe Burrow LSU defense didn’t light the world on fire…..

At this point just out score everybody