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Upon Further Review- Louisville

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One thing I didn't see mentioned on that long Cam Harris run, and half-expected it to be mentioned here:

Cam press.webp


There are multiple pieces to why this big play happened. One of the big reasons was Cam's ability to press the line. It's understated and, for whatever reason, I haven't noticed it mentioned on the board yet. It shows great patience and feel from Cam - attributes he's been bashed for in the past. On this particular play, when Cam pressed the line, it acted as a freakin' vacuum to two defenders.
 
LuCane said:
One thing I didn't see mentioned on that long Cam Harris run, and half-expected it to be mentioned here:

View attachment 131431

There are multiple pieces to why this big play happened. One of the big reasons was Cam's ability to press the line. It's understated and, for whatever reason, I haven't noticed it mentioned on the board yet. It shows great patience and feel from Cam - attributes he's been bashed for in the past. On this particular play, when Cam pressed the line, it acted as a freakin' vacuum to two defenders.
Click to expand...
Vision and patience were both legitimate knocks on him last season, but Cam has turned it into a strength thus far. Nice to see progression as a player. We aren’t used to that here lately
 
Lance Roffers said:
Unbalanced Formation:

Quickly want to touch on unbalanced formations, what they are, and what they hope to accomplish since Miami hit for two big plays in this game with them.

What is an unbalanced formation?

Quite simply it is a formation where one side of the formation does not have a receiver split out wide.

Why do coaches use an unbalanced formation?

  • Coaches will use an unbalanced formation to get an extra blocker on the perimeter. Imagine a fly sweep when a single receiver to one side goes in motion and all the receivers are split out wide to the other side. There is another blocker on the perimeter to execute this play. Toss sweep, stretch plays, outside zone runs, and even something like a speed option can use the extra blocker to that side.
  • An unbalanced formation creates an extra gap for the defense to defend. If you think of the traditional, A-gap, B-gap, C-gap responsibilities, the unbalanced formation creates an extra gap outside of that for the defense to contain. Additionally, when using motion to get into an unbalanced formation, the defender who is responsible for the outside gap to the side of the formation without a receiver is now removed and the defense must replace him. This is unusual for a defense to replace an outside gap defender and can lead to miscommunication or mistakes. This is what happened twice to Louisville where they didn’t replace the gap defender.
  • Defenses do not practice against unbalanced formations very often and can get lost in their responsibility to the other side. We saw this with Brevin getting a favorable matchup when the defense didn’t account for all receivers to that side correctly.
  • This formation hurts the defense regardless of front. As an odd front defense, the NT can’t line up over center any more because the gap responsibilities have changed due to an extra gap inserted and the NT has to play over the strong guard (guard towards the strength of the formation). If you run an even front, the 3-technique now lines up over your center or over your tackle (due to gap changes). It changes the alignment for the entire defense and makes them uncomfortable.
  • Motion creates instant alignment problems that the defense has to account for on their own through communication and preparation. Boise State uses a ton of motion to get into unbalanced formations and then run into the formation. Additionally, you can run power out of this alignment and pull a guard around to unbalanced side and have an additional edge blocker, allowing your RT to downblock on the edge and create a wedge. We saw this on a big Cam Harris play when the receiver ran a clear out route across the field (essentially creating an unbalanced formation after the snap by running the defender out of that side of the field).
By the numbers:

Miami was an explosive offense in this game and that shows itself in the success rates and explosiveness data. One of the limitations of success rates is that it is binary. A run of six yards on 1st & 10 is a 100% success rate the same way that a 75-yard TD run on 1st & 10 is a 100% success rate. Both are 1-for-1, but obviously have far different impacts on the game.

  • Louisville won the success rate battle by a wide margin of 47.1% to 32.2%
  • Miami held a .152 EPA/Play margin (huge difference)
  • Miami was far more explosive in this game than Louisville and was the reason they won the game
You will read a lot of advanced analytics sites this week speak to a fluky game for Miami and while it is absolutely true that Miami capitalized on big plays to score TD’s, it is also true that there are a few additional factors to consider:

  • Miami runs a high-tempo offense, which in my view will tend to have a higher level of variance than a traditional pace would. This is due to coverage busts and miscommunication in the defense, balanced out some by additional false start penalties and busted run plays that get one or two yards.
  • Let’s say that Knighton drops the pass on his big play, or Harris trips over his feet on his. Miami doesn’t just give the ball back to Louisville on the drive. They’d still be expected to have a certain number of points on those drives and still have chances to score touchdowns. Removing these plays from your analysis and then acting as though Louisville just gets the ball otherwise is faulty analysis.
  • I see several analytics sites removing the Miami big plays and then telling you the game was closer than you think, they are also failing to adjust for personnel usage. If those plays do not happen, and Miami has to punt the football etc. then they would not be playing third stringers in the 4th quarter when they were up 40-20. They would not be calling basic shell defenses designed to keep Louisville in-bounds and the clock moving with safe defense.
  • I have built a simple model designed to show what the score “should” have been based on starting field positions and changes to field position from each subsequent play. Based on this model, Miami would have been expected to win the game from any standpoint you want to produce.
  • Football Outsiders- in particular- put out a hit piece against Miami in this game by stating, “contributing to the overinflated perception of Miami’s performance is the fact that Louisville inexplicably missed a wide-open touchdown, coming away with field goals on two drives where they had first downs inside the Hurricanes’ 25-yard line. Did they miss the part where Miami dropped their own wide-open touchdown by Harley? Or the multiple other drops by Miami receivers? “If Miami can figure out how to move the ball without relying on fluke plays.”
Overall, it is true that Miami cannot simply rely on explosive plays to win games and will need to find ways to improve their efficiency and overall drive sustainability. I just think there is some one-sidedness being employed with some of these arguments.

Standouts:

D’Eriq King- He played exactly the way you would hope to see him play in this game by making smart throws, avoiding turnover-worthy plays, and being a leader on the field.

Cam’Ron Harris- His night was cut short when he landed awkwardly in the end zone, but before that he showed off speed I didn’t know he had by hitting 22.0 mph on his long run. That was the top speed registered by a RB this season thus far and will undoubtedly make him some money with the folks in NFL scouting circles who saw him more as a bruiser at the RB position.

Jaelen Phillips- This young man displayed incredible athleticism and toughness in this game. Held all night long, chopped into his knees all night long, he continued to pursue the edge and cause trouble for the Louisville QB.

Lashlee- From a pure statistical perspective, untouched 75-yard plays are outliers, but there was an element of scheme that went into those plays and the feel he showed in calling this game was excellent.

Coach Diaz- Road games against ranked opponents haven’t exactly been Miami’s forte over the years and he had the team ready to go. Additionally, he had a practice for the team to get their attention regarding all the penalties rather than just letting them enjoy all the praise after a win. Might mean nothing, but it might be exactly what the team needs, as well.

Bubba Bolden- He gave up some plays to a WR who will go in the top-50 picks of the NFL draft, but he also showed tackling skills, communication ability, and a resiliency in a tough matchup. Liked the way he plays the game.

Hoping for more:

Blake Baker- I’d like to see a better adjustment to what Louisville was doing with their receiver alignments and move to a pattern match coverage that allows the CB to come off and switch with the Atwell when he comes into his coverage zone. Mixing and matching of personnel continues as Miami searches for answers in their LB group.

Run Fits- I just continue to see woeful understanding of gaps and how to do your job on defense by the LB’s.

Quincy Roche- Not a terrible night, but you hope for more from this talented transfer. Lost contain on a 3rd down run that he was standing right there that went for a long touchdown (and I have seen nary a mention of how that is an outlier play for Louisville). Lost his gaps on several run fits outside. He made a great play on a screen that got Louisville off the field in the 1st quarter.

Ford- Continues to disappoint inside at the NT position and had little impact on a game against a team that wants to run the ball. Outside zone and stretch runs will not be his forte to defend, but we need to see more production from Ford to be a great team.

Penalties- Whether it be a false start, or late hits, or holding penalties, Miami had far too many of them.

Officials- I got tired of showing screenshots of holding by the Louisville OL, but add to it the dirty blocks they were making at the knees of Miami defenders, I feel the officials let far too much go along the OL for Louisville and it contributed to a dirty game that saw Louisville chirping at the end. Louisville wanted to talk on their field after the game and that is traditionally a “to the victors go the celebration” area. If Louisville wants to meet and have a discussion, go inside to your locker room.

Overall:
It was fun to watch Miami perform on a big stage against an opponent I think will win eight games, on a night stage, with them having Gameday in town. Despite what Football Outsiders will tell you, Miami was clearly the better team in this game and had a better game plan than Louisville did. Their coaching staff tried it both ways, they tried playing soft rush and coverage behind it and got eaten up. In the second half, they tried to play a lot of zero coverage (no safeties deep) and attacking defense, which ended in coverage busts and people wanting to remove those plays from their future projections. To me, Miami showed they could beat you either way you wanted them to on offense in this game.

Defensively, Miami was content to sit back, force Louisville to drive the length of the field on offense and remove their explosive plays. It worked in the first half. In the second half, Louisville moved Atwell into the slot and ran switch routes to get the coverage matchup they wanted on a safety. Louisville put the backside CB and Sin a bind with corner/out combos and we played it poorly each time. Coach Baker did not adjust on this change from Louisville and it cost them some points.
Click to expand...
Looking at the screenshots one of my immediate reactions other than "HOLY S**T" was thank god that wasn't Greg. I'm glad Rousseau opted out because that would've been him and not Phillips getting chopped. He likely saved himself from a season ending injury and potentially damaging his draft stock. Phillips got really lucky he didn't get seriously hurt. We better hang 70 on Louisville next year for all the crap they were pulling in that game. Excellent breakdown as usual.
 
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IslandCane23 said:
Looking at the screenshots one of my immediate reactions other than "HOLY S**T" was thank god that wasn't Greg. I'm glad Rousseau opted out because that would've been him and not Phillips getting chopped. He likely saved himself from a season ending injury and potentially damaging his draft stock. Phillips got really lucky he didn't get seriously hurt. We better hang 70 on Louisville next year for all the crap they were pulling in that game. Excellent breakdown as usual.
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We play them next year ?
 
305407cane said:
We play them next year ?
Click to expand...
Now that you mention it we probably don't and I think they alternate with Wake but I'm not sure. My point is Louisville has some bad karma coming its way for all the dirty plays they had. Chop blocks, EGREGIOUS holding, etc.
 
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Lance Roffers said:
Always open to discussion if the things I'm writing are disagreed with.

I wish I had influence over the flock around here!
Click to expand...
You are a CIS treasure!!

I will throw hands upon any man who speaks ill of you.

With that said, I will run away like a giddy school girl if one of @Paranos women come looking my way for trouble.

I'm not going mano y mano with that kinda beef.
 
Lance, any comment on our CB play? You have all those different angle shots that we didn't get to see on TV. One of the other posters who went to the game said they gave up too much cushion and often left guys wide open.
 
@Lance Roffers this is great.

The chop blocks and holds were very annoying. Glad we came out unscathed. All of us have issues with the defensive alignments and over all awareness (knowing when you have backside help in run fits, setting the edge, forcing players back towards your help side)

These are some simple fixes that can drastically change the defense. This defensive line is impressing me. Roche had a few bad plays in the run game but he also did some nice things as well. I don’t think his overall game was as bad as canes fans want to make it.

My only lil nitpick is about the Louisville RT..... former Miami commit Renato Brown is a RS FR. He won’t be leaving for the league this year. He doesn’t have many starts under his belt.
 
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I think its a bit harsh to criticize some national outlets that are critiquing Miami harshly. They've got nearly 20 years of data that make you want to second guess what you're seeing, especially after a win over Louisville. A solid team, but a 6-7 Miami team won their last game of the season in 2019 against Louisville and broke an offensive record doing it, so the win - while impressive - wasn't anything we haven't seen before.

I'm excited for this team - it just feels different, especially from the QB position - but I'm a fan trying to enjoy this team, not trying be unbiased and evaluate the team.

With that said, I agree with your hypothesis...Miami would have won this game in any metric.
 
Lance Roffers said:
Unbalanced Formation:

Quickly want to touch on unbalanced formations, what they are, and what they hope to accomplish since Miami hit for two big plays in this game with them.

What is an unbalanced formation?

Quite simply it is a formation where one side of the formation does not have a receiver split out wide.

Why do coaches use an unbalanced formation?

  • Coaches will use an unbalanced formation to get an extra blocker on the perimeter. Imagine a fly sweep when a single receiver to one side goes in motion and all the receivers are split out wide to the other side. There is another blocker on the perimeter to execute this play. Toss sweep, stretch plays, outside zone runs, and even something like a speed option can use the extra blocker to that side.
  • An unbalanced formation creates an extra gap for the defense to defend. If you think of the traditional, A-gap, B-gap, C-gap responsibilities, the unbalanced formation creates an extra gap outside of that for the defense to contain. Additionally, when using motion to get into an unbalanced formation, the defender who is responsible for the outside gap to the side of the formation without a receiver is now removed and the defense must replace him. This is unusual for a defense to replace an outside gap defender and can lead to miscommunication or mistakes. This is what happened twice to Louisville where they didn’t replace the gap defender.
  • Defenses do not practice against unbalanced formations very often and can get lost in their responsibility to the other side. We saw this with Brevin getting a favorable matchup when the defense didn’t account for all receivers to that side correctly.
  • This formation hurts the defense regardless of front. As an odd front defense, the NT can’t line up over center any more because the gap responsibilities have changed due to an extra gap inserted and the NT has to play over the strong guard (guard towards the strength of the formation). If you run an even front, the 3-technique now lines up over your center or over your tackle (due to gap changes). It changes the alignment for the entire defense and makes them uncomfortable.
  • Motion creates instant alignment problems that the defense has to account for on their own through communication and preparation. Boise State uses a ton of motion to get into unbalanced formations and then run into the formation. Additionally, you can run power out of this alignment and pull a guard around to unbalanced side and have an additional edge blocker, allowing your RT to downblock on the edge and create a wedge. We saw this on a big Cam Harris play when the receiver ran a clear out route across the field (essentially creating an unbalanced formation after the snap by running the defender out of that side of the field).
By the numbers:

Miami was an explosive offense in this game and that shows itself in the success rates and explosiveness data. One of the limitations of success rates is that it is binary. A run of six yards on 1st & 10 is a 100% success rate the same way that a 75-yard TD run on 1st & 10 is a 100% success rate. Both are 1-for-1, but obviously have far different impacts on the game.

  • Louisville won the success rate battle by a wide margin of 47.1% to 32.2%
  • Miami held a .152 EPA/Play margin (huge difference)
  • Miami was far more explosive in this game than Louisville and was the reason they won the game
You will read a lot of advanced analytics sites this week speak to a fluky game for Miami and while it is absolutely true that Miami capitalized on big plays to score TD’s, it is also true that there are a few additional factors to consider:

  • Miami runs a high-tempo offense, which in my view will tend to have a higher level of variance than a traditional pace would. This is due to coverage busts and miscommunication in the defense, balanced out some by additional false start penalties and busted run plays that get one or two yards.
  • Let’s say that Knighton drops the pass on his big play, or Harris trips over his feet on his. Miami doesn’t just give the ball back to Louisville on the drive. They’d still be expected to have a certain number of points on those drives and still have chances to score touchdowns. Removing these plays from your analysis and then acting as though Louisville just gets the ball otherwise is faulty analysis.
  • I see several analytics sites removing the Miami big plays and then telling you the game was closer than you think, they are also failing to adjust for personnel usage. If those plays do not happen, and Miami has to punt the football etc. then they would not be playing third stringers in the 4th quarter when they were up 40-20. They would not be calling basic shell defenses designed to keep Louisville in-bounds and the clock moving with safe defense.
  • I have built a simple model designed to show what the score “should” have been based on starting field positions and changes to field position from each subsequent play. Based on this model, Miami would have been expected to win the game from any standpoint you want to produce.
  • Football Outsiders- in particular- put out a hit piece against Miami in this game by stating, “contributing to the overinflated perception of Miami’s performance is the fact that Louisville inexplicably missed a wide-open touchdown, coming away with field goals on two drives where they had first downs inside the Hurricanes’ 25-yard line. Did they miss the part where Miami dropped their own wide-open touchdown by Harley? Or the multiple other drops by Miami receivers? “If Miami can figure out how to move the ball without relying on fluke plays.”
Overall, it is true that Miami cannot simply rely on explosive plays to win games and will need to find ways to improve their efficiency and overall drive sustainability. I just think there is some one-sidedness being employed with some of these arguments.

Standouts:

D’Eriq King- He played exactly the way you would hope to see him play in this game by making smart throws, avoiding turnover-worthy plays, and being a leader on the field.

Cam’Ron Harris- His night was cut short when he landed awkwardly in the end zone, but before that he showed off speed I didn’t know he had by hitting 22.0 mph on his long run. That was the top speed registered by a RB this season thus far and will undoubtedly make him some money with the folks in NFL scouting circles who saw him more as a bruiser at the RB position.

Jaelen Phillips- This young man displayed incredible athleticism and toughness in this game. Held all night long, chopped into his knees all night long, he continued to pursue the edge and cause trouble for the Louisville QB.

Lashlee- From a pure statistical perspective, untouched 75-yard plays are outliers, but there was an element of scheme that went into those plays and the feel he showed in calling this game was excellent.

Coach Diaz- Road games against ranked opponents haven’t exactly been Miami’s forte over the years and he had the team ready to go. Additionally, he had a practice for the team to get their attention regarding all the penalties rather than just letting them enjoy all the praise after a win. Might mean nothing, but it might be exactly what the team needs, as well.

Bubba Bolden- He gave up some plays to a WR who will go in the top-50 picks of the NFL draft, but he also showed tackling skills, communication ability, and a resiliency in a tough matchup. Liked the way he plays the game.

Hoping for more:

Blake Baker- I’d like to see a better adjustment to what Louisville was doing with their receiver alignments and move to a pattern match coverage that allows the CB to come off and switch with the Atwell when he comes into his coverage zone. Mixing and matching of personnel continues as Miami searches for answers in their LB group.

Run Fits- I just continue to see woeful understanding of gaps and how to do your job on defense by the LB’s.

Quincy Roche- Not a terrible night, but you hope for more from this talented transfer. Lost contain on a 3rd down run that he was standing right there that went for a long touchdown (and I have seen nary a mention of how that is an outlier play for Louisville). Lost his gaps on several run fits outside. He made a great play on a screen that got Louisville off the field in the 1st quarter.

Ford- Continues to disappoint inside at the NT position and had little impact on a game against a team that wants to run the ball. Outside zone and stretch runs will not be his forte to defend, but we need to see more production from Ford to be a great team.

Penalties- Whether it be a false start, or late hits, or holding penalties, Miami had far too many of them.

Officials- I got tired of showing screenshots of holding by the Louisville OL, but add to it the dirty blocks they were making at the knees of Miami defenders, I feel the officials let far too much go along the OL for Louisville and it contributed to a dirty game that saw Louisville chirping at the end. Louisville wanted to talk on their field after the game and that is traditionally a “to the victors go the celebration” area. If Louisville wants to meet and have a discussion, go inside to your locker room.

Overall:
It was fun to watch Miami perform on a big stage against an opponent I think will win eight games, on a night stage, with them having Gameday in town. Despite what Football Outsiders will tell you, Miami was clearly the better team in this game and had a better game plan than Louisville did. Their coaching staff tried it both ways, they tried playing soft rush and coverage behind it and got eaten up. In the second half, they tried to play a lot of zero coverage (no safeties deep) and attacking defense, which ended in coverage busts and people wanting to remove those plays from their future projections. To me, Miami showed they could beat you either way you wanted them to on offense in this game.

Defensively, Miami was content to sit back, force Louisville to drive the length of the field on offense and remove their explosive plays. It worked in the first half. In the second half, Louisville moved Atwell into the slot and ran switch routes to get the coverage matchup they wanted on a safety. Louisville put the backside CB and Sin a bind with corner/out combos and we played it poorly each time. Coach Baker did not adjust on this change from Louisville and it cost them some points.
Click to expand...
OUTSTANDING work Lance! Thank you for your very valuable input. I greatly appreciate it.
 
Empirical Cane said:
You are a CIS treasure!!

I will throw hands upon any man who speaks ill of you.

With that said, I will run away like a giddy school girl if one of @Paranos women come looking my way for trouble.

I'm not going mano y mano with that kinda beef.
Click to expand...

Big gal wrastlen is awesome brother. It's the best when you see that look of amazement on her face after you pick up a big a woman and just throw her down on the bed, an she looks at you with a total submissive omg expression of no one has done that to me.

Go Canes
 
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Lance Roffers said:
Unbalanced Formation:

Quickly want to touch on unbalanced formations, what they are, and what they hope to accomplish since Miami hit for two big plays in this game with them.

What is an unbalanced formation?

Quite simply it is a formation where one side of the formation does not have a receiver split out wide.

Why do coaches use an unbalanced formation?

  • Coaches will use an unbalanced formation to get an extra blocker on the perimeter. Imagine a fly sweep when a single receiver to one side goes in motion and all the receivers are split out wide to the other side. There is another blocker on the perimeter to execute this play. Toss sweep, stretch plays, outside zone runs, and even something like a speed option can use the extra blocker to that side.
  • An unbalanced formation creates an extra gap for the defense to defend. If you think of the traditional, A-gap, B-gap, C-gap responsibilities, the unbalanced formation creates an extra gap outside of that for the defense to contain. Additionally, when using motion to get into an unbalanced formation, the defender who is responsible for the outside gap to the side of the formation without a receiver is now removed and the defense must replace him. This is unusual for a defense to replace an outside gap defender and can lead to miscommunication or mistakes. This is what happened twice to Louisville where they didn’t replace the gap defender.
  • Defenses do not practice against unbalanced formations very often and can get lost in their responsibility to the other side. We saw this with Brevin getting a favorable matchup when the defense didn’t account for all receivers to that side correctly.
  • This formation hurts the defense regardless of front. As an odd front defense, the NT can’t line up over center any more because the gap responsibilities have changed due to an extra gap inserted and the NT has to play over the strong guard (guard towards the strength of the formation). If you run an even front, the 3-technique now lines up over your center or over your tackle (due to gap changes). It changes the alignment for the entire defense and makes them uncomfortable.
  • Motion creates instant alignment problems that the defense has to account for on their own through communication and preparation. Boise State uses a ton of motion to get into unbalanced formations and then run into the formation. Additionally, you can run power out of this alignment and pull a guard around to unbalanced side and have an additional edge blocker, allowing your RT to downblock on the edge and create a wedge. We saw this on a big Cam Harris play when the receiver ran a clear out route across the field (essentially creating an unbalanced formation after the snap by running the defender out of that side of the field).
By the numbers:

Miami was an explosive offense in this game and that shows itself in the success rates and explosiveness data. One of the limitations of success rates is that it is binary. A run of six yards on 1st & 10 is a 100% success rate the same way that a 75-yard TD run on 1st & 10 is a 100% success rate. Both are 1-for-1, but obviously have far different impacts on the game.

  • Louisville won the success rate battle by a wide margin of 47.1% to 32.2%
  • Miami held a .152 EPA/Play margin (huge difference)
  • Miami was far more explosive in this game than Louisville and was the reason they won the game
You will read a lot of advanced analytics sites this week speak to a fluky game for Miami and while it is absolutely true that Miami capitalized on big plays to score TD’s, it is also true that there are a few additional factors to consider:

  • Miami runs a high-tempo offense, which in my view will tend to have a higher level of variance than a traditional pace would. This is due to coverage busts and miscommunication in the defense, balanced out some by additional false start penalties and busted run plays that get one or two yards.
  • Let’s say that Knighton drops the pass on his big play, or Harris trips over his feet on his. Miami doesn’t just give the ball back to Louisville on the drive. They’d still be expected to have a certain number of points on those drives and still have chances to score touchdowns. Removing these plays from your analysis and then acting as though Louisville just gets the ball otherwise is faulty analysis.
  • I see several analytics sites removing the Miami big plays and then telling you the game was closer than you think, they are also failing to adjust for personnel usage. If those plays do not happen, and Miami has to punt the football etc. then they would not be playing third stringers in the 4th quarter when they were up 40-20. They would not be calling basic shell defenses designed to keep Louisville in-bounds and the clock moving with safe defense.
  • I have built a simple model designed to show what the score “should” have been based on starting field positions and changes to field position from each subsequent play. Based on this model, Miami would have been expected to win the game from any standpoint you want to produce.
  • Football Outsiders- in particular- put out a hit piece against Miami in this game by stating, “contributing to the overinflated perception of Miami’s performance is the fact that Louisville inexplicably missed a wide-open touchdown, coming away with field goals on two drives where they had first downs inside the Hurricanes’ 25-yard line. Did they miss the part where Miami dropped their own wide-open touchdown by Harley? Or the multiple other drops by Miami receivers? “If Miami can figure out how to move the ball without relying on fluke plays.”
Overall, it is true that Miami cannot simply rely on explosive plays to win games and will need to find ways to improve their efficiency and overall drive sustainability. I just think there is some one-sidedness being employed with some of these arguments.

Standouts:

D’Eriq King- He played exactly the way you would hope to see him play in this game by making smart throws, avoiding turnover-worthy plays, and being a leader on the field.

Cam’Ron Harris- His night was cut short when he landed awkwardly in the end zone, but before that he showed off speed I didn’t know he had by hitting 22.0 mph on his long run. That was the top speed registered by a RB this season thus far and will undoubtedly make him some money with the folks in NFL scouting circles who saw him more as a bruiser at the RB position.

Jaelen Phillips- This young man displayed incredible athleticism and toughness in this game. Held all night long, chopped into his knees all night long, he continued to pursue the edge and cause trouble for the Louisville QB.

Lashlee- From a pure statistical perspective, untouched 75-yard plays are outliers, but there was an element of scheme that went into those plays and the feel he showed in calling this game was excellent.

Coach Diaz- Road games against ranked opponents haven’t exactly been Miami’s forte over the years and he had the team ready to go. Additionally, he had a practice for the team to get their attention regarding all the penalties rather than just letting them enjoy all the praise after a win. Might mean nothing, but it might be exactly what the team needs, as well.

Bubba Bolden- He gave up some plays to a WR who will go in the top-50 picks of the NFL draft, but he also showed tackling skills, communication ability, and a resiliency in a tough matchup. Liked the way he plays the game.

Hoping for more:

Blake Baker- I’d like to see a better adjustment to what Louisville was doing with their receiver alignments and move to a pattern match coverage that allows the CB to come off and switch with the Atwell when he comes into his coverage zone. Mixing and matching of personnel continues as Miami searches for answers in their LB group.

Run Fits- I just continue to see woeful understanding of gaps and how to do your job on defense by the LB’s.

Quincy Roche- Not a terrible night, but you hope for more from this talented transfer. Lost contain on a 3rd down run that he was standing right there that went for a long touchdown (and I have seen nary a mention of how that is an outlier play for Louisville). Lost his gaps on several run fits outside. He made a great play on a screen that got Louisville off the field in the 1st quarter.

Ford- Continues to disappoint inside at the NT position and had little impact on a game against a team that wants to run the ball. Outside zone and stretch runs will not be his forte to defend, but we need to see more production from Ford to be a great team.

Penalties- Whether it be a false start, or late hits, or holding penalties, Miami had far too many of them.

Officials- I got tired of showing screenshots of holding by the Louisville OL, but add to it the dirty blocks they were making at the knees of Miami defenders, I feel the officials let far too much go along the OL for Louisville and it contributed to a dirty game that saw Louisville chirping at the end. Louisville wanted to talk on their field after the game and that is traditionally a “to the victors go the celebration” area. If Louisville wants to meet and have a discussion, go inside to your locker room.

Overall:
It was fun to watch Miami perform on a big stage against an opponent I think will win eight games, on a night stage, with them having Gameday in town. Despite what Football Outsiders will tell you, Miami was clearly the better team in this game and had a better game plan than Louisville did. Their coaching staff tried it both ways, they tried playing soft rush and coverage behind it and got eaten up. In the second half, they tried to play a lot of zero coverage (no safeties deep) and attacking defense, which ended in coverage busts and people wanting to remove those plays from their future projections. To me, Miami showed they could beat you either way you wanted them to on offense in this game.

Defensively, Miami was content to sit back, force Louisville to drive the length of the field on offense and remove their explosive plays. It worked in the first half. In the second half, Louisville moved Atwell into the slot and ran switch routes to get the coverage matchup they wanted on a safety. Louisville put the backside CB and Sin a bind with corner/out combos and we played it poorly each time. Coach Baker did not adjust on this change from Louisville and it cost them some points.
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Great write up. I'm glad somebody else harped on the fact that the ends were not setting the edge. You seem to have hit every key point in your analysis.
 
LuCane said:
One thing I didn't see mentioned on that long Cam Harris run, and half-expected it to be mentioned here:

View attachment 131431

There are multiple pieces to why this big play happened. One of the big reasons was Cam's ability to press the line. It's understated and, for whatever reason, I haven't noticed it mentioned on the board yet. It shows great patience and feel from Cam - attributes he's been bashed for in the past. On this particular play, when Cam pressed the line, it acted as a freakin' vacuum to two defenders.
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Yup. NOT Pressing the hole was something I harped on with Knighton last week and showed Cam doing it correctly last week.

I should’ve mentioned that and it was my bad.
 
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