If anybody is looking for a Cliff's Notes version of the last five years, watch the game last night. This loss highlighted every weakness of the Golden era.
Poor special teams- We've had NFL special teams talent and FCS special teams performance throughout Golden's tenure. Last night, the kick out of bounds and the long kickoff return got Cincinnati in the game early. Against an inferior team, that's the last thing you want to do.
Baffling personnel decisions- Where was Deon Bush, our best defensive player, in the fourth quarter? Why does Dallas Crawford play so much? Why is Alex Gall playing over Kc McDermott? Why did it take so long to get Corn Elder on returns? Golden and D'Onofrio's favorite player of all-time is Jaiqwuan Jarrett, a journeyman from Temple. That tells me everything.
Lack of dynamic players- Many of us have criticized this staff for ignoring, or failing to land, dynamic players who can change the scoreboard on special teams and on offense. Aside from Duke and Dorsett, who the staff basically inherited, they have struggled to add Miami caliber playmakers. Stacey Coley has been injured or ineffective since 2013, and he's the only electric guy we have. This is almost unfathomable when you consider our location on the map. We looked lumbering.
Inability to run short yardage- We first saw this against an undersized Maryland front in 2011. It hasn't been fixed. Nick Linder is going to be a good player but he got eaten alive yesterday.
Slow, soft defense- Once again, a mid-major defense looked faster and more physical than a Miami defense. HS All-American defensive linemen were ineffective against no-star offensive linemen. There was no gang-tackling, as evidenced by the embarrassing touchdown run in the first quarter. The safeties looked slow, due in large part to the staff's decision to start a safety running a 5.0. A young quarterback looked completely comfortable facing our defense, which has become a tradition. Nothing has changed.
The biggest problem is that the defense is built for eleven D'Onofrio's. It is too complex and is not conducive to fast, physical, Miami football. I'm no coach, so this is an honest question for the football guys on the board: Have you ever seen a DC with three play sheets?
Inexplicable game management- I drank last night, so I pulled up the calculator on my phone to make sure my math was right. The failure to kick a field goal down 11 was unthinkable. The ironic thing is that Golden shows complete faith in the defense during the week, and rarely gets involved with their preparations. But then his in-game decisions show that he has no faith in them at all.
Third down struggles- This was a bad third-down team with Stephen Morris and it's the worst third down team with Brad Kaaya. These are talented quarterbacks who would start for many of the teams ranked ahead of us. The focus on money downs has not generated results.
No adjustments on offense- We saw this several times last year. James Coley's offenses come out on point only to go limp in the second half. They looked panicked, struggled with the play clock and failed to respond to any adversity.
Unprepared for tempo- The first half was the FAU game with better players on the other side. We had ten days to prepare, yet looked surprised by Cincinnati's tempo. Guys caught standing up mid-shift and looked confused. It goes to preparation.
Penalties- Twice in the Golden era, the team has finished in the 110s in penalty yards. We're ranked 101st this year. The team gave up only 50 yards last night, which is average, but the timing and the senselessness of the operational penalties killed momentum.
I wouldn't be surprised if this team plays much better against FSU. The Noles are mediocre this year, and that's college football. But this loss confirms that certain problems that have festered for years haven't been corrected. And that's sobering to anybody who had any hope left.
