OFFICIAL Miami Hurricanes Thread

Thoughts on the game:

Quarterback Play - Marve is a really good talent for us and he continues to show that. He has poise and is very comfortable in the pocket. Marve made some smart plays in the game (i.e. fumbled snap, picked it up and looked downfield to hit the TE) but had a bad play as well (the interception). Led a good drive at the end of the game that ended up in an interception due to Farquahson fighting with the ball. The offense works well under Marve though, while it struggles with Harris in the game. Harris was basically the 'buzzkill' in this game. The offense came on strong in the first quarter, scoring 14 points I believe. Harris came in and then it all went downhill. He led the team to a FG but still had a negative impact on the game. As much talent as Harris possesses, we can't continue to split snaps.

Cooper- Cooper once again had a big game for us. He continues to lead the offense into the endzone with his highlight runs. He has quick feet and is great at changing directions. The only problem I have is that the staff continues to have him sit for a period in the second quarter to keep him fresh for later in the game. Wouldn't it be better to keep him in there and build a lead instead of hoping to keep the lead later in the game in a close situation?

Receivers/Tight Ends- I thought Aldarius Johnson played well. He had a couple catches, including a touchdown. I thought that what was also important was his first quarter catch where he ran his route straight to the first down line and then brought in the pass. He used his body well on the touchdown and has a bright future. Epps, the TE, made a few catches and was difficult to bring down. He was always there when Marve was scrambling out of the pocket due to pressure from the UNC defense. Benjamin made a couple nice run backs and is explosive. Had only one screen pass and didn't do much with it. Had nice returns though.

Defensive Line - The defensive line pressured Sexton and Paulis but did not plug the holes in rush defense. Little and the other UNC tailback had some nice holes including one that led to a touchdown. I didn't hear the highly talented Ojomo at all today. Sounds like he was blanketed. Moncur had a sack on a rollout and that's it.

Defensive Backs- I thought they were the weakness on our team and they still seem to be. They gave up 100+ yards to Nicks and a deep slant route to the explosive Tate. DeMarcus Van Dyke had a nice bat down early in the game but was beat on the game winning touchdown and Brandon Harris got beat once but had a sack later in the game. Definitely a work in progress. Look for another two or three defensive backs to be added in next years recruiting class. Kent and McGee round out next years CB class. Kent is a high profile CB that has good size (6'2, 200 I believe).

Special Teams - I thought the ST's played well today outside of a deep return by Tate early in the game. They had a good punt that ended up at the one yard line. Benjamin made some nice returns and their was good blocking by others including Chavez Grant.

Draft Prospects - Nicks, Tate, Foster, Moncur are all draft prospects for 2009. Moncur is likely a mid round pick at best due to struggles with injuries. I've read him in the 5th round. If he stays healthy and impresses at the combine, he could be a mid rounder.Tate is explosive as they get. He didn't have a huge impact statistically today but he drew attention from our DB's to free up Nicks on a deep touchdown. Teams respect him because he can take it to the house at any time. Foster is a late round pick due to inconsistency and a lack of production. It also doesn't help that he has two receivers ahead of him but he's talented. More of a project when he comes out. It'll take him a couple years to learn. He needs to improve his route running. However is a very good blocker, explosive and has nice size to go with speed. I like him a lot.

wow that was close to being a nice catch

Disappointed as hell in this loss but it was part of the freshmen's growing pain. Bill Young is an exceptional DC especially at blitzing but he can't continue to run zone. That clearly doesn't work for us. He needs to stick with blitzing. Nix, the OC, is very inconsistent. One game he'll make great calls and then the next he will make as crappy calls as you can get. He'll be a goner at the end of the season imo.

Damn, tough loss to Butch, but what a great game otherwise. We've still got a ways to go. It's still all about the :theu::up:

2 years in a row we loss to UNC. Last year in Chapel Hill(?) I believe. I'll tell you what though, they got some nice talent in the secondary, defensive line and WR spots.

"alen1 wrote:

2 years in a row we loss to UNC. Last year in Chapel Hill I believe. I'll tell you what though, they got some nice talent in the secondary, defensive line and WR spots.

Yeah, Butch can put together some good teams thats for sure.:knucks:

****ing canes cost me two hundo.

"alen1 wrote:

Nix, the OC, is very inconsistent. One game he'll make great calls and then the next he will make as crappy calls as you can get. He'll be a goner at the end of the season imo.

Alen, I have just been saying the same thing on the Canesport.com board. Nix will be gone, just as Walton was gone after last season. He'd better be, or Randy will be gone after season 3.

"PMZQ wrote:

Alen, I have just been saying the same thing on the Canesport.com board. Nix will be gone, just as Walton was gone after last season. He'd better be, or Randy will be gone after season 3.

Eh, can't see Randy being gone unless we don't make any progress whatsoever which honestly I find unlikely.

The problem is we have a lot of young guys that don't have physical buildup to compete with others (like the defensive line today) and then we mix it up with bad coaching. Bill Young really laid an egg today imo. I didn't see our talented defensive ends make any plays today. Moncur made one but that's it. I can understand Allen Bailey not making plays just yet, he's coming off a pectoral injury and started practicing about three weeks ago. Ojomo was absent today, I don't even know if he took part in the game. He's really talented. We missed the other starting DT, Marcus Forston whose a true freshmen. We're not the same defensive line without Forston. Our CB's are still weak as I mentioned several times.

We just have a lot of young players who haven't developed yet because they're so young. Give it another year and this team could win ten games. This year, its similar to the Dolphins expectations.

"MelbournePhin wrote:

****ing canes cost me two hundo.

Advice for ya bro, don't ever bet on Fresh & Soph stacked teams.

"alen1 wrote:

Eh, can't see Randy being gone unless we don't make any progress whatsoever which honestly I find unlikely.

The problem is we have a lot of young guys that don't have physical buildup to compete with others (like the defensive line today) and then we mix it up with bad coaching. Bill Young really laid an egg today imo. I didn't see our talented defensive ends make any plays today. Moncur made one but that's it. I can understand Allen Bailey not making plays just yet, he's coming off a pectoral injury and started practicing about three weeks ago. Ojomo was absent today, I don't even know if he took part in the game. He's really talented. We missed the other starting DT, Marcus Forston whose a true freshmen. We're not the same defensive line without Forston. Our CB's are still weak as I mentioned several times.

We just have a lot of young players who haven't developed yet because they're so young. Give it another year and this team could win ten games. This year, its similar to the Dolphins expectations.

I know, but its frustrating with winning within sight, just like all those losses last year with the Dolphins. So frustrating.

I hope we haven't overestimated the talent on this team, as we look bad against Florida, and then they get beat by what many would think is a vastly undermanned (compared to Fla) Ole Miss team.

"PMZQ wrote:

Advice for ya bro, don't ever bet on Fresh & Soph stacked teams.

they were riding a wave of MO and yates was out. hell, i was covering until you guys let up that 70 yarder and opened the floodgates.

"PMZQ wrote:

I know, but its frustrating with winning within sight, just like all those losses last year with the Dolphins. So frustrating.

I hope we haven't overestimated the talent on this team, as we look bad against Florida, and then they get beat by what many would think is a vastly undermanned (compared to Fla) Ole Miss team.

I can understand your frustration but they're in the same boat as the Dolphins. Just be patient. As for overestimating talent, I don't think so. The team is very talented, they just need time to develop. Ole Miss has played UF tough before.

UNC will be a perennial ACC power if butch stays long term

"alen1 wrote:

I can understand your frustration but they're in the same boat as the Dolphins. Just be patient. As for overestimating talent, I don't think so. The team is very talented, they just need time to develop. Ole Miss has played UF tough before.

Losing to FSU is not an option next week. If they lose to the Semi-Wholes, Shannon could lose the team, and they could really spiral out of control.

"MelbournePhin wrote:

UNC will be a perennial ACC power if butch stays long term

Trust me on this one, HE WON'T BE THERE FOR LONG.

a) he will always be the 2nd banana at that school to Roy Williams & the basketball program
b) He has designs on a national championship and he'll never win one at that school. He feels cheated that he wasn't here at Miami for the 2001 Championship. (But it was his fault)
c) The day Mack Brown retires at Texas, Butch Davis agent will be on the phone with the top Texas brass....that is a 100% fact.

I'm watching FSU against Colorado right now. Next weeks game between UM and FSU will be a good one and possibly an ugly one. I think we're ahead of them in the offense category but they have us in the defense category. If we pressure Ponder, we can win that game. Their defense is very good. They just got back four starters and look good out there. Definitely looking forward to the game. The X-factor is Antone Smith. We had trouble with UNC's running between the tackles and Smith can do that. He's having success against CU right now and that could spell trouble for us.

FSU having some coverage lapses. I think a couple of the three TD's have come from coverage lapses. Myron Rolle continues to show why he's overrated by many. He keeps getting pass interference penalties because he can't keep up with the speedy receivers of CU. I can't seem to get a good look at Kenny Ingram, the 6'6 OLB of FSU and Everette Brown whose also an OLB prospect. I like them for the draft but I can't get any looks. Looks like I'll have to watch film instead of live. Oh and btw, Antone Smith is putting on a clinic against CU. 3 TD's.

I'm still speechless.

^ Same. I am still stunned.

I didn't watched any college football today after that game.

First Saturday in a while that wasn't NCAA-filled.

This game reminded me of the old Wanny play not to lose strategy. How come the Canes didn't run any of those pass plays they ran late in the game earlier? You have to let Mavre and the O play. Part of the D collapsing in the 4th quarter was because of the conservative play calling by Nix. I can only remember one shot down field in the entire game. With the speed the U has at WR send those guys down the field and let Marve air it out occasionally. If the throw gets picked off it's like a punt. It would be a lot better then the QB draw he likes to run.

This is a young Canes team so it's not the end of the world. My biggest concern is coaching. Let these young men win the game or lose it. Don't make them sit back and play not to lose. If you need an example check out what Butch Davis just did with a backup QB.

"Beelzebob wrote:

This game reminded me of the old Wanny play not to lose strategy. How come the Canes didn't run any of those pass plays they ran late in the game earlier? You have to let Mavre and the O play. Part of the D collapsing in the 4th quarter was because of the conservative play calling by Nix. I can only remember one shot down field in the entire game. With the speed the U has at WR send those guys down the field and let Marve air it out occasionally. If the throw gets picked off it's like a punt. It would be a lot better then the QB draw he likes to run.

This is a young Canes team so it's not the end of the world. My biggest concern is coaching. Let these young men win the game or lose it. Don't make them sit back and play not to lose. If you need an example check out what Butch Davis just did with a backup QB.

I concur. Nix can't continue to be conservative with the playcalling. If he does, we won't win many games. We're looking at six wins right now with the current team. If Nix can open up the playbook for Marve, we may get another win added to that. We have speedsters at the WR spot (Benjamin, Davon Johnson), we have possession receivers with speed (Streeter) and then we have big receivers (Aldarius Johnson). Johnson can go downfield and get up for the ball. He's arguably are most talented receiver we've had since Andre Johnson. You would think we would try to get him the ball more. We have six or seven guys that can make a play on this team, why aren't we using their talents??

My biggest concern with this team is not only Nix's playcalling but Bill Youngs and the Defensive Backs. The DB's on the team are talented, no doubt, but just aren't very good in the zone. Bill Young is running zone defenses and that isn't helping guys like DeMarcus Van Dyke who thrives off of man coverage. He hasn't been great in man coverage but he's been better off with it than zone. JoJo has let up some plays in the defensive backfield. I wonder if they put Ponder out there but that doesn't sound likely. We can't continue to have Bruce Johnson at the opposite CB spot. Chavez Grant isn't physical enough either. Personally, I think we should put DeMarcus Van Dyke at one CB spot, Ponder or JoJo at one Safety spot, Anthony Reddick and then Brandon Harris at the spot opposite of DvD. With those, blitz heavily and then see what you can make out of it. We were giving up 16 points per game with the heavy blitzing. We run zone and UNC puts up 28 on us.

Finally, two other complaints I have. Number one is the QB rotation. I know we promised Jacory Harris playing time when he was recruited but this isn't about promises or none of that pinky swearing stuff, this is football and you have to win games. If you continue to alternate QB's, you won't win many games. If you have two Quarterbacks, you have none. Number two complaint is the rest given to Cooper after the first quarter. After the first, Cooper sits for a period and we have Derron Thomas come in. Thomas shows nice vision but he's not Cooper. I understand you want to keep him fresh for later but why don't they build up a lead with Cooper in there and then put in Thomas whose a tougher runner. This is where Jarvarris James fit in perfectly prior to his injury but he's out two games so you have to rely on Cooper.

Btw, some recruiting news once again. We've added 6'3 Olivier Vernon to next years class. He's a explosive Defensive End that has a quick first step and has good speed overall. He can get in the backfield and stretch plays but needs to improve consistency with his hands and needs to add weight. He's 239 lbs at the moment.

"FreeStyle wrote:

Figured I'd post in here before the next game vs Florida St. I didn't post before the UNC game and we lost.

Go :theu::up:

:woot:

You should post in here with us more often. :wink2:

Jacory Harris possibly transferring?

Privately, Jacory's former position coach told me Harris' family is anxious about Jacory having to wait three years to become the starter on this team (something Jacory mentioned to us last week). According to his position coach, other schools have continued to tell Harris' family and friends he could come in and start if he transferred. Miami obviously can't afford that. There is no star quarterback coming in with UM's 2009 class. Although AJ Highsmith plays quarterback in high school, he is likely headed to another position when he gets to UM. Locally, Miami has a real good shot at getting the next great QB in South Florida in Miami Central's Jeffrey Godfrey in 2010 (UM's Corey Bell was his head coach at Edison and Godfrey has known Tim Harris since he was a kid playing optimist ball in Overtown). But that's two years away. Harris, meanwhile, continues to put his best foot forward and maintain a positive attitude. "I just have to be ready," Harris said when asked of what's it like waiting to see if and when he'll come in and play. "If I'm not, there'll be a lot of mess-ups."

Eye on the U | The QB debate, possible DB changes & more

Btw, Brandon Harris is now the starting CB opposite of Chavez Grant. :D

Brandon Harris is going to be a great one. I'd like to see him and DVD step it up big on Saturday.

I've seen FSU play a couple of times this season and I don't see anyway they beat the Canes unless Miami makes a bunch of mistakes. Miami has the better O and even though I think FSU has a slightly better D I don't see the FSU O being able to do much.