Miami - GaTech Game and Beyond

By KeithM

I attended the GT vs. UM game last night and was treated to the most dominant performance from UM since the 2007 TX A&M vs. UM game (another Thursday night game). The result of last night's game made UM's Thursday night stats 14 -2 in Thursday Night games and 10 - 0 at UM on Thursday Nights.

A few points worth addressing:

*UM stopped the run…COLD – GT racked up 472 yds last year...UM’s defense held them to 95 yds on the ground last night. DOMINANT

*The issue of how good Jacory Harris and UM’s offense is, is difficult to address. I understand the argument that UM has not proven itself recently the way the Longhorns, Trojans, Sooners or Gators have and therefore there is inherent doubt & question as to whether or not they’re the real deal. However, Miami has played 2 teams that were ranked in the top 20 of the country at the time of the game. Miami has put up some pretty gaudy stats in these 2 games. Obviously, if the defense is blowing through the O-line & getting after the QB(for any team), he is not going to look real good, but that then becomes the fault of the O-line and not the QB. A QB that sits in the pocket, unmolested for 2 games picking apart the secondary with open receivers is not necessarily a questionable QB, but rather, 1 component of an effective offense (read: good team). I say that a QB dealing with constant pressure and unable to find open receivers is a QB playing for a bad team. Sure: plays will need to be made when Jacory inevitably ends up dealing with a top ranked Defense but we may not see this until the end of the season.

*As would be expected, GT picked on Sam Shields, who has (frustratingly) been misused and underutilized his whole college career. Sam Shields is a senior who is now playing his 1st season at Corner for the Canes. He’s actually a backup who’s been thrust into the starting role due to an injury to UM’s starting corner, Demarcus Van Dyke. Sam is still learning the position and this has been evident in UM’s first 2 games. This is & was Miami’s weak link over the first 2 games but should no longer be a discussion as DVD is expected back next week at Va. Tech.

*Matt Bosher/special teams: WOW…this needs major work. Just ask FSU how important it is to hit your field goals: especially chip shots like the ones Bosher missed last night. I have no idea what happened but I’m confident that this Lou Groza award candidate will pull it together and get his shit straight.

*I actually went with a buddy of mine to a pre-season Gator Club rally in Ft. Lauderdale last season (free food & beer) and Urban Meyer said something that has stuck in my head since that night and is now applicable to UM. He said, “…we’re not a good team yet, but we’re working on it and at the end of the year, I think we can be a real good team.” As we now know, that was incredibly prophetic as the Gators went on to win their 2nd NC that year. I see UM in a very similar boat this year: last year was another tough year, but you could see some good things happening and the pieces were becoming more in place. This year, we’ve still got a very young team (approx 53 of 90 kids are freshmen or sophomores) but things are starting to click and I also feel that at the end of last year and through the summer, UM was not a very good team but these first 2 games are showing me that we are and can likely be a very good team.

*I'm not saying Miami will go undefeated as this is still a very young team, but going into the season, I thought an 8-4 season was likely: I'm now thinking 10-2 is likely while an undefeated season isn't completely unrealistic. A huge factor in this will be whether or not Sam Bradford plays on 10/3 (I think he will).

*UM vs. VT: UM has nearly scored at will so I like our chances in any game from here on out. The Defense took a big step forward last night and showed a ton of maturity from last year. The kicking game still needs significant work. Significant mention needs to be made about UM’s offensive line. This is a unit that’s only 6 deep and is starting a senior in Matt Pipho who is now starting for the first time in his career aside from filling in for injuries last year against Va. Tech. UM beat Va Tech last year 16 – 14 and Va Tech had Darren Evans at that time: they won’t have him this year. Tyrod Taylor is mistake prone. UM has 10 days to prepare for VT and should really be clicking at that time. It’s always tough to play in Blacksburg, but I expect a solid game again and a final score of 38-21.

*Offensive Coordinator, Mark Whipple: He will be gone after this year, or next year (at best). It’s beautiful watching what an experienced, sharp mind can do with talent. It goes to show how much of a waste, Patrick Nix was. Granted, Patrick Nix didn’t have the players that Whipple is working with, but my feeling (and untold others) is that he doesn’t hold a candle to Mark Whipple. Look for Whipple to be the Head Coach of a major D1 team or OC for an NFL team within 2 years.

*Unforced errors are UM's biggest opponent

*UNC toughest game after OK and possibly the only real test the rest of the year.

*Jacory for Heisman - why not? 70% completion. Right now - should be considered...we’ll see if UM’s O-Line can keep up their great performance. If so, and if Jacory continues this trend, tell why not…

*I assure you, the game wasn't as close as the final score - UM mostly ran on 2 drives inside the 10 (working on developing the run - could have scored on passing) - shoulda, coulda, woulda doesn't count

*Although I'd have liked to have seen UM hang 50 on GT, it was good to see that UM ran the ball the last 2 times inside the 10 and took a knee to finish out the game when we were deep inside GT Territory with over a minute to play.

*There is a lot of talk about UM as the media hype machine LOVES talking Canes whether it’s when they’re down or up. I’ve heard some people seriously mentioning the possibility of a shot at the NC (against UF???)… These folks have drank the entire pitcher of kool aid and are starting on the person’s next to them. Yes, the if the Canes were to go 3-1 or 4-0 and win the ACC, the BCS would love their strength of schedule and stats. However, there’s still a lot of football to play but I like the way it’s started off…