I'm a little surprised at so many people that seem surprised / upset about how the NC State game went down.
I'm neither surprised nor upset.
This is exactly the team I thought we had and that I posted about after the Virginia game - as I wrote then, it's an imperfect team that finds ways to win. And, once again, that's okay.
Did you guys really think Miami was coming into this season with a really good team off what we saw last year given the graduation losses and even with the great transfer additions of Manny Diaz? Did you think somehow the specter of past UM defenses - even the ones Diaz has run - would overcome some of the personnel depth / deficiency issues?
To me fans should be celebrating this morning.
This team, once again, found a way to win. So what if it was ugly? Last year the Canes lose this game. The year before the Canes lose this game. The last five game-after-bye-weeks the Canes lose this game.
We know what we have on offense. It's the D'Eriq King show. And the best news, as weird as this sounds, is he's not an NFL caliber QB. There's every chance he comes back next year with his pro options limited, go for a graduate degree, have more fun on the field. The guy is an off the charts good college QB at a place like Miami. Without him this team easily has two more losses this season in my opinion. I mean, I have to admit every time he lofts one of those straight up in the air long throws I cringe a bit. But you saw the last couple of games these are starting to hit against teams that are daring him to throw over the top in one on one coverage. That will eventually help the run game get going. And yes, the run game is bad. I can't explain that. Three plus running backs, a better O line than last year. But these backs just haven't turned in explosive plays since early in the season. Especially disheartening to see that after the bye. It seems they have a handful of runs they rely on and teams are picking up on that - I thought there would be some more innovation with either misdirection handoffs or more stretch runs. I think maybe a big factor that may help the run game get going is whenever Brevin Jordan returns, since that could help keep linebackers/safeties a bit more honest in crowding the line and expecting the run. Oh, and kudos to Rhett Lashlee. When he went run heavy after UM fell behind 10 I was surprised, but hey, it worked. And I really liked the rest of the way he attacked the D. Keep in mind that NC State's defense is flat awful, of course, one of the worst in the nation. But UM looked good when it had the ball.
On defense Miami needs to get back Corey Flagg, I want that guy starting from now on. Find another linebacker to go with him. It's pretty obvious by now that Zach McCloud and BJ Jennings just are not difference makers. I was happy to see Jon Ford finally benched, this is a coaching staff that needs to send that message at every position. Don't get the job done, you get replaced. Many will see the secondary play as flat awful, but I never thought this group was real good. Better passing QBs are going to expose it, especially when they have a good O line that gives time to find men down the field. In this case NC State has a really good offensive line and even with an average backup QB (IMO) you saw what happened. His worst throw of the night came at the worst time, and good for DJ Ivey being in the right place at the right time. He was bad in coverage, though, and Al Blades was uncharacteristically out of sorts.
Special teams was good other than the NC State KOR for a TD and the ridiculous penalties on Miami's own KOR. It seemed UM wanted to try and get the return game going but eventually it was just like `Man, take a knee in the end zone please.' And Gurvan Hall is not an answer at PR. Hopefully Restrepo gets back and works out there.
I'm neither surprised nor upset.
This is exactly the team I thought we had and that I posted about after the Virginia game - as I wrote then, it's an imperfect team that finds ways to win. And, once again, that's okay.
Did you guys really think Miami was coming into this season with a really good team off what we saw last year given the graduation losses and even with the great transfer additions of Manny Diaz? Did you think somehow the specter of past UM defenses - even the ones Diaz has run - would overcome some of the personnel depth / deficiency issues?
To me fans should be celebrating this morning.
This team, once again, found a way to win. So what if it was ugly? Last year the Canes lose this game. The year before the Canes lose this game. The last five game-after-bye-weeks the Canes lose this game.
We know what we have on offense. It's the D'Eriq King show. And the best news, as weird as this sounds, is he's not an NFL caliber QB. There's every chance he comes back next year with his pro options limited, go for a graduate degree, have more fun on the field. The guy is an off the charts good college QB at a place like Miami. Without him this team easily has two more losses this season in my opinion. I mean, I have to admit every time he lofts one of those straight up in the air long throws I cringe a bit. But you saw the last couple of games these are starting to hit against teams that are daring him to throw over the top in one on one coverage. That will eventually help the run game get going. And yes, the run game is bad. I can't explain that. Three plus running backs, a better O line than last year. But these backs just haven't turned in explosive plays since early in the season. Especially disheartening to see that after the bye. It seems they have a handful of runs they rely on and teams are picking up on that - I thought there would be some more innovation with either misdirection handoffs or more stretch runs. I think maybe a big factor that may help the run game get going is whenever Brevin Jordan returns, since that could help keep linebackers/safeties a bit more honest in crowding the line and expecting the run. Oh, and kudos to Rhett Lashlee. When he went run heavy after UM fell behind 10 I was surprised, but hey, it worked. And I really liked the rest of the way he attacked the D. Keep in mind that NC State's defense is flat awful, of course, one of the worst in the nation. But UM looked good when it had the ball.
On defense Miami needs to get back Corey Flagg, I want that guy starting from now on. Find another linebacker to go with him. It's pretty obvious by now that Zach McCloud and BJ Jennings just are not difference makers. I was happy to see Jon Ford finally benched, this is a coaching staff that needs to send that message at every position. Don't get the job done, you get replaced. Many will see the secondary play as flat awful, but I never thought this group was real good. Better passing QBs are going to expose it, especially when they have a good O line that gives time to find men down the field. In this case NC State has a really good offensive line and even with an average backup QB (IMO) you saw what happened. His worst throw of the night came at the worst time, and good for DJ Ivey being in the right place at the right time. He was bad in coverage, though, and Al Blades was uncharacteristically out of sorts.
Special teams was good other than the NC State KOR for a TD and the ridiculous penalties on Miami's own KOR. It seemed UM wanted to try and get the return game going but eventually it was just like `Man, take a knee in the end zone please.' And Gurvan Hall is not an answer at PR. Hopefully Restrepo gets back and works out there.
