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Initially I wanted to do one of these for Week 1, but people were so quick to jump on their keyboards and fire away that I didnt want to also make one where I repeat everything I see. So, week 2 is my debut (bad rhyme).
Things that I did not like:
1. First half.
I dont even need to explain how pathetic a 10-7 score against Southern Miss from the outside looks like. The defense, outside of a few chunk plays here and there, did its job. The run was nonexistent and Miami stopped it so early and so aggressively, Southern Miss pretty much let a freshman QB wing it and see what happens (quick spoiler: the kid doesnt have elite measureables, but he showed some good poise as a QB). Miami looked embarrassingly flat energy-wise. Everyone who has played against a far inferior team with the mindset "Yeah, we will beat them anyway" can relate to what this looked like on Saturday. The run blocking looked eerily similar like the past few years and Miami, once again, seemed to have trouble with nose tackles.
2. Tyler van Dyke
His press conference really said it all, he was quite disappointed in his performance and rightfully so. I am rewatching the game as I am typing this and TVD had tons of missed throws and missed reads. The big completion to Brashard Smith was a dangerous pass with perfect accuracy, but Keyshawn Smith is outta there down the right sideline. And thats a read I expect a 1st round QB to make. He really tried to get Will Mallory involved, but Mallory had a shocking game himself and they simply werent on the same page. It looked like a duo trying to make up for missed time and it was evident. Mallory will continue to play, to my disagreement, as I find Arroyo to be the better blocker and overall threat in the passing game.
3. John Campbell Jr.
He cant be a starter moving forward. He is not a G, his feet are too slow for playing inside and he does not play with a mean demeanor that someone like Cooper has. He can pass protect (at times), but its good that Nelson got his feet wet. Nelson is the LT and Rivers is the LG on this team, period. We also need to look at whether there actually is no one better than Oluwaseun at RG, because... his communication breakdowns and his lack of ability when it comes to handling stunts might end up in murder back there. Cant have 300 lbs guys coming straight at TVD with no one blocking.
4. The refs.
I could go on a three hour rant right now but I will just say this: The DPI call on couch and the PF on Clark are soft as **** baby-back bull**** calls. These two plays will not be consistenly called throughout the country and thats the biggest problem we have. Alabama bearhugged receivers at times and they got no flag their way whatso****ingever.
5. ACC Network.
I cant ******* wait to get out of the ACC. Holy ******* ****....
Things that I liked:
1. The run game.
Southern Miss sold out to stop the run. They couldnt do it on a consistent basis with eight man in the box. Thats a very, very encouraging sign for things moving forward. Everyone **** on the 3rd and 9 PA call in the first quarter, but look at the linebackers and how they went for the fake. Parrish looks like a really really solid running back and with how we have run the ball, dont be surprised if he gets a 1k season. His vision is there, he has good patience and contact balance and runs with low pads. All you want in a good running back.
2. The defense, in particular Flagg.
People **** on this guy on here for a full week straight (some of it justified, some of it... eh). I guess Flagg was reading the boards because he was the best player defensively on the field. Made tackles, read his keys, was in position to make plays in the middle and on the sideline and played with high energy. Also good: Lichtenstein (he needs more playing time, 100%), LT and Darrell Jackson, who pancaked a Southern Miss G right from the get go.
3. The response in the third quarter.
I, and I am sure a lot of you, expected Mario to open the canals and lit into his team at halftime. According to Lichtenstein, he didnt do it. In fact, no coach tore them up at halftime. I guess a lot of players expected him to do so, and when he didnt, thats when the players started to take a stance. We all have been there, we play a **** half in whatever sport, we take a break and we know we played like crap and the coach telling us we played like crap. No one likes getting chewed out and I guess the players almost wanted to apologize and thank the coaches for not screaming at them. Energy in the third quarter was far far far better from everyone on the team. Restrepo made a first down, it got him animated, it got the sideline going, it got the fans going and from there, the game was a wrap. We played one good quarter all game and won by 23 as a result. Need this to continue over larger stretches of the game.
4. Xavier Restrepo
Speaking of the devil, this kid needs even more touches and targets. I compared him to Julian Edelman in the offseason several times and said that he will be WR1 in this offense. His quickness and route running are good enough to win most matchups and after that, he wins by being a mad knucklehead sacrificing himself and enjoying contact against guys bigger than him. His play opens up the offense for everyone. If you have a shifty guy like that, who wins his matchups over the middle at a consistent rate, you have a better offense, especially in key downs when you absolutely need to make a play. Every 3rd and 4 or 3rd and 5, he needs to be the guy moving forward.
5. Pin-pull.
Its hard for me to say this, given what kind of running game we had in the past, but Miamis best runs are the ones where we pin and pull. Rivers is athletic enough to execute these blocks and the tackles do a good job shielding inside. It has created some really large gaps and given how immobile our O-Line looked in the past, credit to Mirabal for installing and the S&C staff through two weeks of enabling that play to work, because when we tried it in the past, we looked terrible doing. Screen passes with the RBs are also happening, so two key, fundamental plays that can expose a defense really well are starting to work.
The outlook.
Next week is the first big game of the Mario era and its also already a sign for things to come this season. The first two games were preseason games, the coaching staff held some things back, we saw what the team can and cant do and now its time to get ready. I said, in an earlier prediction, that I expect the Aggies to win because of the higher amount of talent. Now? Miami has to win this game. The Aggies have looked absolutely terrible throughout two weeks against Sam Houston and App State, with their O-Line getting dominated by far less talented guys. I didnt buy the notion that this is a must-win beforehand, now it is.
We can play well. We played one good quarter and won by three scores. Clemson looked terrible against Furman, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Houston all got upset, UNC barely swept by Georgia State. Miami is in a position where they can control their fate in this conference simply because everyone else is struggling big time. First big game is coming up, we havent won a truely big game like this in five years. Its time to show what we can do, so lets just get out there, play ball, and execute.
Things that I did not like:
1. First half.
I dont even need to explain how pathetic a 10-7 score against Southern Miss from the outside looks like. The defense, outside of a few chunk plays here and there, did its job. The run was nonexistent and Miami stopped it so early and so aggressively, Southern Miss pretty much let a freshman QB wing it and see what happens (quick spoiler: the kid doesnt have elite measureables, but he showed some good poise as a QB). Miami looked embarrassingly flat energy-wise. Everyone who has played against a far inferior team with the mindset "Yeah, we will beat them anyway" can relate to what this looked like on Saturday. The run blocking looked eerily similar like the past few years and Miami, once again, seemed to have trouble with nose tackles.
2. Tyler van Dyke
His press conference really said it all, he was quite disappointed in his performance and rightfully so. I am rewatching the game as I am typing this and TVD had tons of missed throws and missed reads. The big completion to Brashard Smith was a dangerous pass with perfect accuracy, but Keyshawn Smith is outta there down the right sideline. And thats a read I expect a 1st round QB to make. He really tried to get Will Mallory involved, but Mallory had a shocking game himself and they simply werent on the same page. It looked like a duo trying to make up for missed time and it was evident. Mallory will continue to play, to my disagreement, as I find Arroyo to be the better blocker and overall threat in the passing game.
3. John Campbell Jr.
He cant be a starter moving forward. He is not a G, his feet are too slow for playing inside and he does not play with a mean demeanor that someone like Cooper has. He can pass protect (at times), but its good that Nelson got his feet wet. Nelson is the LT and Rivers is the LG on this team, period. We also need to look at whether there actually is no one better than Oluwaseun at RG, because... his communication breakdowns and his lack of ability when it comes to handling stunts might end up in murder back there. Cant have 300 lbs guys coming straight at TVD with no one blocking.
4. The refs.
I could go on a three hour rant right now but I will just say this: The DPI call on couch and the PF on Clark are soft as **** baby-back bull**** calls. These two plays will not be consistenly called throughout the country and thats the biggest problem we have. Alabama bearhugged receivers at times and they got no flag their way whatso****ingever.
5. ACC Network.
I cant ******* wait to get out of the ACC. Holy ******* ****....
Things that I liked:
1. The run game.
Southern Miss sold out to stop the run. They couldnt do it on a consistent basis with eight man in the box. Thats a very, very encouraging sign for things moving forward. Everyone **** on the 3rd and 9 PA call in the first quarter, but look at the linebackers and how they went for the fake. Parrish looks like a really really solid running back and with how we have run the ball, dont be surprised if he gets a 1k season. His vision is there, he has good patience and contact balance and runs with low pads. All you want in a good running back.
2. The defense, in particular Flagg.
People **** on this guy on here for a full week straight (some of it justified, some of it... eh). I guess Flagg was reading the boards because he was the best player defensively on the field. Made tackles, read his keys, was in position to make plays in the middle and on the sideline and played with high energy. Also good: Lichtenstein (he needs more playing time, 100%), LT and Darrell Jackson, who pancaked a Southern Miss G right from the get go.
3. The response in the third quarter.
I, and I am sure a lot of you, expected Mario to open the canals and lit into his team at halftime. According to Lichtenstein, he didnt do it. In fact, no coach tore them up at halftime. I guess a lot of players expected him to do so, and when he didnt, thats when the players started to take a stance. We all have been there, we play a **** half in whatever sport, we take a break and we know we played like crap and the coach telling us we played like crap. No one likes getting chewed out and I guess the players almost wanted to apologize and thank the coaches for not screaming at them. Energy in the third quarter was far far far better from everyone on the team. Restrepo made a first down, it got him animated, it got the sideline going, it got the fans going and from there, the game was a wrap. We played one good quarter all game and won by 23 as a result. Need this to continue over larger stretches of the game.
4. Xavier Restrepo
Speaking of the devil, this kid needs even more touches and targets. I compared him to Julian Edelman in the offseason several times and said that he will be WR1 in this offense. His quickness and route running are good enough to win most matchups and after that, he wins by being a mad knucklehead sacrificing himself and enjoying contact against guys bigger than him. His play opens up the offense for everyone. If you have a shifty guy like that, who wins his matchups over the middle at a consistent rate, you have a better offense, especially in key downs when you absolutely need to make a play. Every 3rd and 4 or 3rd and 5, he needs to be the guy moving forward.
5. Pin-pull.
Its hard for me to say this, given what kind of running game we had in the past, but Miamis best runs are the ones where we pin and pull. Rivers is athletic enough to execute these blocks and the tackles do a good job shielding inside. It has created some really large gaps and given how immobile our O-Line looked in the past, credit to Mirabal for installing and the S&C staff through two weeks of enabling that play to work, because when we tried it in the past, we looked terrible doing. Screen passes with the RBs are also happening, so two key, fundamental plays that can expose a defense really well are starting to work.
The outlook.
Next week is the first big game of the Mario era and its also already a sign for things to come this season. The first two games were preseason games, the coaching staff held some things back, we saw what the team can and cant do and now its time to get ready. I said, in an earlier prediction, that I expect the Aggies to win because of the higher amount of talent. Now? Miami has to win this game. The Aggies have looked absolutely terrible throughout two weeks against Sam Houston and App State, with their O-Line getting dominated by far less talented guys. I didnt buy the notion that this is a must-win beforehand, now it is.
We can play well. We played one good quarter and won by three scores. Clemson looked terrible against Furman, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Houston all got upset, UNC barely swept by Georgia State. Miami is in a position where they can control their fate in this conference simply because everyone else is struggling big time. First big game is coming up, we havent won a truely big game like this in five years. Its time to show what we can do, so lets just get out there, play ball, and execute.