Punt return is where Pope catches it inside his 10, retreats to the two-yard line and then gets upfield. Don’t do that, Pope. Don’t do that. (Not pictured)
UAB played safe contain pass rush and were just trying to push the pocket and then spy him if he tries to run. King tries to get outside of the pocket and is sacked by the spy.
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3rd & 15 and Campbell is initially beat but does a good job of using his length to push him wide again. King has a checkdown for about 10 in the middle of the field but tries to get the 1st down on a throw to Brevin and is off. UAB dropped 8 into coverage and made it difficult to have any open throws. I like their defensive scheme and the way they are coached. (Not pictured)
Good thing Phillips tips the 1st down pass because they had an open receiver outside. Hall got caught peeking into the backfield and lost his man in coverage. (Not pictured)
Jon Ford beats his block and eats this run play up. Brooks does a nice job of knifing into the backfield but gets knocked off by the OL. He needs to gain a little mass to hold up against the run.
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Frierson does a perfect blitz and gets into the backfield for a TFL. (Not pictured)
This can’t happen on the next drive. Gaynor and Scaife have a miscommunication and allow the NT to split them immediately while looking the other way. King just dumps it off to Harris for a nice play. One of the receivers had to run the wrong route at top of screen as you wouldn’t want both that close out of trips to boundary.
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UAB fooled the OL on this one. They walked five up and dropped the white LB out, then did the delayed SS blitz that Miami likes to run. Gaynor slides right, which I’m sure was the line call based on the look UAB gave. That left Scaife and Williams to block three defenders and the RB is on the other side. Free rusher hits King and forces incompletion. King saved a sack that probably prevents points on this drive.
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More games by UAB gets a sack that King caused on himself. Only three rush but King feels the pressure and steps right into a sack when he had time to take a shot. I do believe Scaife set way too deep into his backfield when he had no immediate threat and the rusher came from the LB unit. I’m impressed with the UAB defense in how they are coached.
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I’m going to pickup the pace in the 2nd half, but there are so many things I want to highlight on each play. Campbell is telling Traore on this play to get the LB and Traore whiffs on this block. If he makes this block, this is maybe a TD. Instead the LB runs right in-between these two OL and tackles Harris.
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Miami OL is out of sorts right now. UAB rushes three from the same side and Traore goes outside and Campbell goes outside. Gaynor has to slide and take that rusher when three come from that side, but you’ll remember earlier Gaynor went that direction on a three rusher look and they backed out and got a sack. He guessed wrong again and there is a free rusher. I also believe Knighton released too early and needs to be in to block when they send an extra rusher. King spins out and gets the 1st down but this was bad.
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Traore has struggled mightily in the run game with the NT and loses again on the next play. (Not pictured)
Just nice inside zone blocking and running on this play. Traore keeps working down, Scaife gets a guy in the backfield. Harris shows patience and picks his way into the hole and takes this to the 10. Excellent run. Nice grit from the OL.
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They saved this play on a sprint right for the red zone. They had it perfectly. Immediately sprinted and the CB left his man immediately to come up for the QB. This is an easy throw to Payton. Can’t miss the layups.
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Unblocked. Shoots the gap on a nice play honestly, but then takes a bad angle and doesn’t lay a hand on the RB. Have to make this tackle, McCloud.
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Their big wheel route that Couch forced a fumble on should’ve been offensive pass interference. Ball was thrown past the LOS so you can’t block or shield like this. UAB executes their plays so well on both offense and defense. I think they are going to be a tough G5 team if their backup QB plays decently (starter got hurt in this game).
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Big props to McCloud for diagnosing this throwback TE screen when he was going the other direction due to the action of the OL. He almost intercepted it and how many times did this play hurt us against Virginia Tech last year?
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The 4th & 4 offsides on Roche was a really clever play by the TE, who sold it as though he was moving on the snap, but he is allowed to shift. This lay never happens if they don’t get gashed on a run of 11 yards on 3rd & 15. The three-man rush, dropping eight only works if your striker is willing to play run defense. (Not pictured)
From here, Miami just ground the game out and scored on their next two possessions to put the game away.
By the Numbers:
There are several measures of offensive/defensive efficiency that can tell a story about the game and most of them add value. Expected Points Added is probably the best one because it doesn’t fall victim to weighting big plays the same as a short yardage conversion, but it is more complicated to derive and understand, so I’m going to use the second-best metric in my opinion, which is Success Rate.
Success Rate is fairly simple in that it takes the yards to go on specific downs and the yards you gained and determines if the play is successful or not. Five yards on 1st & 10, 70% of 2nd down, or a conversion on 3rd or 4th down is a successful play. The team that has a higher Success Rate wins the game more than 80% of the time, making it a simple, yet highly descriptive metric.
- Miami finished with a rushing success rate of 38.0% and a passing success rate of 57.1%
- UAB finished with a rushing success rate of 28.0% and a passing success rate of 36.1%
This is a decent rushing rate and a very good passing rate for Miami’s offense. These are strong metrics for both on the defensive side.
- The OL allowed pressure on nine out of 36 pass snaps (25%)
- Last year, the OL allowed a pressure on 186 out of 557 pass snaps (33.4%)
Defensively, Miami did not rush the passer to the level of last season:
- 21 pressures on 72 pass snaps (29.2%)
- Last year, Miami got pressure on 36.2% of pass snaps
Positives:
Jarrid Williams- Very good in his first game with the Canes and was their best OL in this game
Cam Harris- Showed patience to press the hole, burst to make big plays, and had a few nice blocks
D’Eriq King- Not quite the dynamic performance we hoped for, but King made some marvelous plays in this game that Miami hasn’t seen at that position in quite some time
Nesta Silvera- Was very active, played with a motor, and made his presence felt
Borregales- Not because he did anything special, but just because you didn’t worry when he was out there
Negatives:
Osuman Traore- It was a tough game in his first career start. Miscommunication, inability to make blocks at the second level, and letting blocks slip off too easily all night long
DJ Ivey- CB’s have to make plays, not just almost make plays or be in a good position but still allow the catch
Run Fits- For the most part, no LB played especially well. In a game where you watched the Kristopher Moll for the opponent, it was painfully obvious the difference. Too often players were choosing the wrong gap, attacking the wrong shoulder, or just slow to diagnose the play. I said before the game that UAB had two players who would start for Miami and it is definitely three after the game, as Moll would definitely start for Miami.
Passing Game- Several miscommunications on passing routes, WR’s not getting separation, Brevin being absent from the game plan, open receivers missed by King. It was an ugly night for the passing offense against a solid secondary.
OL Communication- Especially in the first half, the OL struggled to communicate and pass off rushers from various places. UAB walked defenders to the LOS and then rushed some and backed out others and Miami struggled to adjust and communicate effectively.
Overall:
Miami scored 31 points, rushed for over 300 yards, and won convincingly against a well-coached team. Yet it still felt like a marginal performance from our Canes. King can, and will, be better. The passing offense will definitely need to step up to reach goals, and the pass rush we have all heard so much about needs to be unleashed in future weeks.
A C+ game in a victory is acceptable, but I’m looking forward to seeing what an A performance resembles for this group.
