forums

Spring Scrimmage #2

Liberty City El said:
If you only get 2nd & 3rd team reps in practice & scrimmages then there’s no way for you to take anybody’s spot.
And if you’re a firm believer in you either make plays or not, then Pope & Wiggs should be the last 2 guys you’d want to see out there lol.

It’s a dog chasing it’s tail, you guys see with your own eyes how bad our WR’s can & have been in actual games, multiple games at that, but then your solution to that problem is to keep playing them lol, but then when someone dares suggest we play someone else you guys will come up with every reason under the sun to stick with the same guys who drop a sh*t ton of passes, miss routes & come up small in every big game we play.

All I’m saying is, we’ve seen enough bad play from at least 2 WR’s that they shouldn’t be guaranteed the high volume reps they get in every practice, I’m not saying hand it over to a younger WR just for the sake of doing it, I’m saying doing the same thing over & over again expecting a different result is insanity.

My argument is play the best players regardless of their or experience, yalls argument is play the upperclassmen because the young guys are never ready even if the upperclassmen have shown they’re not that good. Yall basically are just saying, “just give the older guys a shot to see if they eventually get good” & I’m basically saying, “just give the young guys a shot to see if they eventually get good” lol.
Click to expand...
But some buy a power ball ticket twice a week knowing the odds against a win
 
Advertisement
Haven't heard Pope mentioned at all. Wiggins only mentioned in the past two days.

Manny controls what info is put out. There was a bit more in the write up done by Christy Chirinos on the Athletic website. It's hard to know what really went on or make judgements from the tidbits thrown out.
 
Can't seem to find it but I saw a picture with the starting OL from last night and it had Clark at center, not Gaynor.

Maybe it was just reps for a particular series or maybe Gaynor was "nicked" up. But, that's where Clark belongs. Let Rivers play LG next to Zion. Together, they will from a formidable left side to compliment Donaldson and Scaife/Williams on the right.
 
ajone228 said:
Recap from UM site:

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – For four weeks, they’ve labored and learned on Greentree.
On Friday night, it was time to turn the pressure up a bit and see how the Hurricanes responded when playing on a much bigger stage – their home field at Hard Rock Stadium.
Turns out, more than a few of Miami’s players – including some of the newest Hurricanes – delivered the kind of performances Miami head coach Manny Diaz was hoping to see.
“We needed it. I thought they reacted very well, Friday night, under the lights. It’s just a different atmosphere than what you see on the Greentree Practice Field or any of the places we get to travel and scrimmage,” Diaz said after the Hurricanes wrapped up their second scrimmage of spring practice. “You especially see it in the younger guys. The game moves a little bit faster out there. It’s a little tough on them, but I think everybody, as the night wore on, got comfortable in the environment and it ended up being a pretty good tug-of-war.”
The Hurricanes will return to Hard Rock once more this month, for next week’s final practice of the spring. Diaz hopes it will help set the tone for an offseason of preparation with an opener against defending national champion Alabama looming in September.

Before all of that, Miami has two more practices scheduled on Greentree and Diaz said he’d like to see his players continue building on all they’ve accomplished over the course of the last month.
“We’re obviously looking forward to coming back here on Saturday with the game that’s on ACC Network for all of our fans to see. We wish we could have our fans here in the stadium, it’s just, hopefully, the last reality of the pandemic,” Diaz said. “But we will be here. We’ve got to get healthy. We’ve got a couple guys nicked up. Get our team healthy and maybe look at a couple different schematic things this last week that will help us out in the fall and then come out here for a great spring game on Saturday.”
Here, some takeaways from Miami’s second scrimmage
1. The Young QBs Continue Developing
With redshirt senior D’Eriq King continuing to work back from his knee injury, Miami’s two young quarterbacks – freshmen Tyler Van Dyke and Jake Garcia – once again, got extensive opportunities Friday to show coaches how they are progressing.
And both made some big plays.
Van Dyke, who appeared in two games last fall, completed 13 of 17 passes for 190 yards with three touchdowns. And Garcia, who has been on campus all of three months and was limited early in the spring because of a minor foot injury, was 18 of 27 for 164 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Van Dyke delivered one of the most explosive plays of the night, connecting with Charleston Rambo on a 58-yard touchdown. On the very next possession, Garcia led the offense on a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended when he connected with Dee Wiggins on a 9-yard score.
2. Rambo Makes His Presence Felt
After playing four seasons at Oklahoma, Rambo arrived at Miami in January hoping for a fresh start and a chance to work into the Hurricanes rotation.
On Friday, the veteran made a strong case for himself.
Rambo led Miami’s receiving corps with seven catches for 107 yards and earned praise from Diaz who said the receiver “looked explosive all night.”
Fellow receiver Dee Wiggins finished with five catches for 63 yards and two touchdowns, while veteran Mike Harley – in limited action – had three catches for 34 yards and was deemed “super consistent all spring” by Diaz.
“I thought those guy really stood out,” Diaz said of Rambo, Wiggins and Harley.
3. Defense Delivers
While the offense managed a handful of explosive plays, the defense was able to notch a pair of turnovers, make tackles behind the line of scrimmage and some of Miami’s youngest defenders were plenty active.
Safety Bubba Bolden, who led the Hurricanes with 74 tackles last year and had a team-high four forced fumbles, had an interception Friday night, while cornerback DJ Ivey defended two passes.

Also impressing were redshirt freshman defensive end Cameron Williams, who had four tackles and broke up a pass; linebacker Avery Huff, who had six tackles, and safety Kamren Kinchens had five tackles.
“It was fun to see some of the young guys…I thought overall, we were able to play a lot of people and I didn’t see a big drop-off, especially once the young secondary kind of got their sea legs after the first couple drives,” Diaz said.
4. Explosive Plays Make an Appearance
Heading into Friday night’s scrimmage, Diaz said he was eager to see how his team responded not merely to playing at Hard Rock Stadium, but how the Hurricanes handled the installation of more of the team’s scheme.
The offense, for its part, turned in several offensive plays.
Running back Jaylan Knighton had a 31-yard run. Receiver Xavier Restrepo had a 30-yard catch. Rambo’s 58-yard touchdown led to the first score of the night. And Cam Harris delivered both a 30-yard run and a 12-yard touchdown run, during which he hurdled a defender.
“Knighton, good to see, 12 [carries] for 66 [yards], he was our leading rusher. Cam, he did it early in the spring, he had a great red-zone run where he kind of somersaulted in the end zone at Greentree and tonight, he kind of leaped over a defender on his way to the end zone, which is impressive. He had eight [carries] for 39 [yards],” Diaz said. “I thought the offense responded. I thought the defense, in the first half, really dominated the line of scrimmage, similar to the first scrimmage. But I felt the offensive line did a nice job as the day went on, opening up some holes for the backs in the second half.”
5. Borregales Booting It – Again
Freshman kicker Andres Borregales made a big impression in the Hurricanes’ first scrimmage of the spring, nailing a 42-yard field goal to end the session.
Friday, he connected on all three of his field goal attempts, hitting from 44, 52, and 43 yards. The 52-yarder came as time expired in the first half and set off a wild celebration on both sidelines.

That it came a day after Borregales missed in practice, Diaz said, only made his performance more impressive.
“We started practice [Thursday] and kind of put him on the spot, a field goal, you’ve got to make it and he missed. There was going to be an incentive, the whole team was going to benefit if he made it and he missed. It was kind of a downer,” Diaz said. “I asked [special teams coordinator Jonathan] Patke and [special teams quality control analyst Danny] Kalter and the special teams players how he was afterwards and they said he was amazing. He knew exactly what went wrong and he went right into fixing it.
“We put him in a situation [Friday], he’d already made a field goal and then to come out here, at the end of a one-minute situation to make a 50-plus yarder and I’m telling you…he nailed it. It gives the entire team confidence. It certainly gives him confidence. And he came back and made another one later. Great to see.”
Click to expand...
It's such a blessing to not have to worry about the kicking game for 5 years straight after what happened after Bagley left. We need to set up a gofundme for the Borregales family lol
 
Gables Cane said:
Can't seem to find it but I saw a picture with the starting OL from last night and it had Clark at center, not Gaynor.

Maybe it was just reps for a particular series or maybe Gaynor was "nicked" up. But, that's where Clark belongs. Let Rivers play LG next to Zion. Together, they will from a formidable left side to compliment Donaldson and Scaife/Williams on the right.
Click to expand...
Probably just giving him reps. The assumption is he takes that spot next year - I think Justice talked about that the last time he was in an interview
 
Advertisement
dhead23 said:
I don’t know what fans expect but outside of LT, JW and Chase I don’t see any freshman being day one contributors on defense. I do doubt Amari plays a lot this year and Mccloud plays in situational moments.
Click to expand...
Serious question - do we expect LT to be a day one contributor? I know that he is really good and we expect (hope) that he will be a monster at some point, but DT is also one of the positions that is hardest for a freshman to come in and perform well. What do we think are realistic expectations for him as a freshman?
 
dhead23 said:
That’s not my argument. Lol. I believe in playing the best but clearly none of the younger guys are making plays except for X. WE ARE NOT recruiting elite players at WR. That’s the issue. I’m highlighting Wiggins balled in this scrimmage but no stats from K Smith or Redding. That’s the issue. We are assuming these guys are better bc of potential.

You think a guy that can’t make plays in a meaningless scrimmage game is ready for Bama or UNC????? Who’s going to ball against elite competition on the roster??? I don’t care for potential or what could be. Show me the ballers on the roster. I’m not saying Pope or Wiggins are either but clearly the younger guys aren’t much better. Again WE ARE NOT recruiting elite players at WR.
Click to expand...
I’m not assuming they’re better because of potential, I’m saying we’ll never know if they’re better if they never get a chance to play in a game.

I have no idea if they’re ready for Bama or UNC because they’re never allowed to play, but i do know who isn’t ready for Bama & UNC... Dee Wiggz & Mark Pope, how do I know? Because I seen them play UNC & they were both terrible, now obviously neither has played against Bama but it’s not a stretch of the imagination to say they wouldn't play much better vs them either.

And how Elite does a WR have to be in order to be productive in college? Jonathan Adams Jr caught 79rec for 1,111yds & 12TD’s at Ark St, Jaelon Darden caught 74rec for 1,190yds & 19TD’s at North Texas, Jaivon Heiligh caught 65rec for 998yds & 10TD’s at Coast Carolina, Xavier Hutchinson caught 64rec for 771yds & 4TD’s at Iowa St, Romeo Doubs caught 58rec for 1,002yds & 9TD’s at Nevada, how “Elite” are they?
Now the automatic response would be, “but they were all upperclassmen”, well Jordan Addison caught 60rec for 666yds & 4TD’s as a TF at Pitt last year, more than our entire WR group, Jaylon Robinson caught 55rec 979yds & 6TD’s as a True Sophomore at UCF, Zay Flowers caught 56rec for 892yds & 9TD’s as a True Sophomore at Boston College, Jo’Quavious Marks caught 70rec for 312yds & 3TD’s as a True Freshman at Miss St, David Bell at Purdue caught 53rec for 625yds & 8TD’s as a True Sophomore & in 2019 his TF season caught 86rec for 1,035yds & 7TD’s, Marvin Mims caught 37red for 610yds & 9TD’s, Kayshon Boutte caught 45rec for 735yds & 5TD’s as a TF, I could go on.

Point being, instead of always just sticking with the same guys, why not see if other guys can produce? How long do we have to wait to see if Pope or Wiggz aren’t the solution to our problems at WR even though it’s pretty obvious they’re not lol.
 
Last edited:
ajone228 said:
5. Borregales Booting It – Again
Freshman kicker Andres Borregales made a big impression in the Hurricanes’ first scrimmage of the spring, nailing a 42-yard field goal to end the session.
Friday, he connected on all three of his field goal attempts, hitting from 44, 52, and 43 yards. The 52-yarder came as time expired in the first half and set off a wild celebration on both sidelines.

That it came a day after Borregales missed in practice, Diaz said, only made his performance more impressive.
“We started practice [Thursday] and kind of put him on the spot, a field goal, you’ve got to make it and he missed. There was going to be an incentive, the whole team was going to benefit if he made it and he missed. It was kind of a downer,” Diaz said. “I asked [special teams coordinator Jonathan] Patke and [special teams quality control analyst Danny] Kalter and the special teams players how he was afterwards and they said he was amazing. He knew exactly what went wrong and he went right into fixing it.
“We put him in a situation [Friday], he’d already made a field goal and then to come out here, at the end of a one-minute situation to make a 50-plus yarder and I’m telling you…he nailed it. It gives the entire team confidence. It certainly gives him confidence. And he came back and made another one later. Great to see.
Click to expand...
What's the Borregales's family tree look like after Andres? I want a Borregales kicking at UM in perpetuity.
 
perhaps the most important addition to the offense this year. No, not Garcia. Donaldson.

1618069041343.png
 
Advertisement
Liberty City El said:
I would start Williams at RT, but I’m not so sure if the staff will, they seem to like Scaife quite a bit, so we’ll see.

I would start Rivers, but Clark has more experience & has actual game starts, so my guess they’ll lean on Clark in the beginning of the season & see how he holds up before putting Rivers in.

Again, I thought I said that’s what I think the staff will roll with, not my personal starting 5 lol.
Click to expand...

Clark may get the nod. But he won't even last the Bama game. He's not athletic enough. So Rivers will get his licks without any doubt in my mind. It's up to him to stay on the field after that. Campbell will be in early, too, most likley.

Feel the same about Scaife. Williams is better against the pass rush, and Bama will be crashing hard. Those two will be rotating all season, IMHO, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Liberty City El said:
My argument is play the best players regardless of their or experience, yalls argument is play the upperclassmen because the young guys are never ready even if the upperclassmen have shown they’re not that good. Yall basically are just saying, “just give the older guys a shot to see if they eventually get good” & I’m basically saying, “just give the young guys a shot to see if they eventually get good” lol.
Click to expand...

Wiggins is already second team and Rambo is already the leading receiver. So it's not like Manny isn't willing to make changes. And while you're argument about second team was true in most past seasons, have Tae, Clarke, Ivey, Couch, Carter, Kinchens, Dunson back there behind the starters is more than adequate coverage, with Garcia at QB being a more than adequate passer.

The upperclassmen are getting reps because they're better right now.
 
Koke said:
Click to expand...


6 Tackles by Huff and 5 by Kinchens jumped off the page to me. Love seeing that. In Manny's defense, the LBs should have the most tackles by far, followed by the safeties.

The fact Jennings was our leading tackler at LB with 35 followed by Brooks at 33 is a disgrace. Even Gil at Striker had only 49. Shaq had 107, Pinck 64 and Finley 53 the prior season.
 
Advertisement
Shogungts said:
Serious question - do we expect LT to be a day one contributor? I know that he is really good and we expect (hope) that he will be a monster at some point, but DT is also one of the positions that is hardest for a freshman to come in and perform well. What do we think are realistic expectations for him as a freshman?
Click to expand...
He’s a 5 star talent and should be in the two-deep to begin the season. He plays a position we rotate a lot so it would be inexcusable to bench him. His talent should flash immediately but I’m not expecting him to be all conference.
 
Liberty City El said:
I’m not assuming they’re better because of potential, I’m saying we’ll never know if they’re better if they never get a chance to play in a game.

I have no idea if they’re ready for Bama or UNC because they’re never allowed to play, but i do know who isn’t ready for Bama & UNC... Dee Wiggz & Mark Pope, how do I know? Because I seen them play UNC & they were both terrible, now obviously neither has played against Bama but it’s not a stretch of the imagination to say they wouldn't play much better vs them either.

And how Elite does a WR have to be in order to be productive in college? Jonathan Adams Jr caught 79rec for 1,111yds & 12TD’s at Ark St, Jaelon Darden caught 74rec for 1,190yds & 19TD’s at North Texas, Jaivon Heiligh caught 65rec for 998yds & 10TD’s at Coast Carolina, Xavier Hutchinson caught 64rec for 771yds & 4TD’s at Iowa St, Romeo Doubs caught 58rec for 1,002yds & 9TD’s at Nevada, how “Elite” are they?
Now the automatic response would be, “but they were all upperclassmen”, well Jordan Addison caught 60rec for 666yds & 4TD’s as a TF at Pitt last year, more than our entire WR group, Jaylon Robinson caught 55rec 979yds & 6TD’s as a True Sophomore at UCF, Zay Flowers caught 56rec for 892yds & 9TD’s as a True Sophomore at Boston College, Jo’Quavious Marks caught 70rec for 312yds & 3TD’s as a True Freshman at Miss St, David Bell at Purdue caught 53rec for 625yds & 8TD’s as a True Sophomore & in 2019 his TF season caught 86rec for 1,035yds & 7TD’s, Marvin Miss caught 37red for 610yds & 9TD’s, Kayshon Boutte caught 45rec for 735yds & 5TD’s as a TF, I could go on.

Point being, instead of always just sticking with the same guys, why not see if other guys can produce? How long do we have to wait to see if Pope or Wiggz aren’t the solution to our problems at WR even though it’s pretty obvious they’re not lol.
Click to expand...
Would you project anyone on our roster to put up the stats you listed above? Outside of Harley and Rambo. I agree Pope and Wiggins will not be able to dominate ACC competition. Putting someone without them beating out competition is pointless. The only person I see with potential to become all conference is probably Brinson but we need to wait until he arrives before we can evaluate. KSmith will get a shot this year so we will see how he performs. Payton never seized his opportunities last year.
 
Advertisement
chipcane said:
Scaife over Williams? The ONE clip I saw was Scaife being beaten off the edge by McCloud. I guess the staff is pushing Williams for more in the run game, but Scaife is far from physical. And Clark holds off Rivers? As you said, maybe for the first few weeks. Justice already hedged that Rivers would at least be in the mix (rotation?)
Glad Donaldson's back, but would hate to see if he hadn't been 'on a diet'.
Click to expand...
I would love to see Donaldson play under 340, I mean really under 340 not just list him at that when we clearly see he’s around 400. That being said, even if he’s around 400, he’s still a much better option at OG than Scaife or Clark so dude needs to be a starter regardless.
 
TRick72 said:
I would love to see Donaldson play under 340, I mean really under 340 not just list him at that when we clearly see he’s around 400. That being said, even if he’s around 400, he’s still a much better option at OG than Scaife or Clark so dude needs to be a starter regardless.
Click to expand...
I don't think he's honestly been under 340 since his TF summer. If he could maintain a legit 335 lbs., he could be an All-ACC type. But even walking in at around 360 lbs., he's still one of our 2 best guards when healthy.
 
Advertisement
Back
Top