Domination! Revenge was Sweet...

33-17 Final score! Defense was the name of the game. Important stat line; 39 carries, 95 yards, 2.4 ypc. That's what the Canes held Georgia Tech's triple option "attack" to. An amazing turn-around from last years 472 yards on the ground given up. Oh, and sprinkle in a 20-25 comp for 270 yards and 3 TD's from one Jacory Harris... Just about as efficient as can be. Jacory picked apart the GT defense with precision passing, whether it was a deep route or a short dink pass to convert a third down. Maybe a bit premature, but the "H" word is starting to creep up in the minds of some. My lips are sealed, but the kid is amazing.

My hats off to the dominating play in the trenches on both sides of the ball. GT Derrick Morgan could not even sniff Jacory all night as Fox and Pipho did a great job of containing him. Not only was the pass coverage great, but Miami also had a balanced running game. Graig Cooper had 17 car for 93yds and JJ had 14 car for 72yds and a score. Our defense was able to shut down reigning ACC POY Jonathan Dwyer to 5 car for 7yds before he exited with an apparent injury. At times it seemed like even before GT broke the huddle we were already in the backfield. Big step up from the Labor Day performance against FSU. Wow, it was good to see Vaughn Telemaque and Eric Moncur out there. Their return seemed to give Miami a much needed boost to the lineup.

An overall exceptional performance by the Miami Hurricanes. We must continue to build momentum as it will not get easier just yet. Next up, Virginia Tech. There has to be some confidence in the locker room, but coach Shannon and the rest of the staff has done a great job of keeping these kids grounding and focused. As the cliche goes, one game at a time.

We will have a complete breakdown along with notable stats from last nights game later on in the day. Thanks for tuning in!

GO CANES!!!
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Georgia Tech at Miami Breakdown

Big game tomorrow. Sole spotlight on ESPN. Thursday night. Revenge game. Possible letdown. Home opener. It has all of that, and more. There are so many factors that affect this game that listing the things that WON'T affect them would probably be easier, but we'll try our best to do so.

Last year there were a few things that killed us, 3 in our opinion. 1) Missed assignments 2) Poor Tackling 3) Poor offense. Seems pretty easy, but as we looked at last year's game it was a little more in depth and we'll break it down like that for you.


Missed Assignments
Last year Coach Shannon said plenty of our players were ignoring/forgetting their assigments in an effort to make a big play. We have to stick to our assignments. We have to concentrate on stopping the fullback dive first and foremost. If we don't do that, then the game is going to be a repeat of last year's (at least offensively). If our players can stick to their assignments then we should be fine in containing the triple option. Reports out of camp the past week have said that we have been practicing with 3 balls. I hope that was enough, no excuses from our players this year.


Within this category we've also included the play of the defensive line. The tackles and ends MUST get off their blocks and penetrate the backfield. By doing this, they force the QB Nesbitt to not only take a step back, but for his pitchman to take a step back as well, while the fullback can be tackled in the backfield (if he's given the ball on the dive). It's imperative that our defensive tackles, especially Bailey and Marcus Forston (who dissappointed with his play versus FSU) beat their men off the blocks and wreack havoc in the backfield.
Poor Tackling

Obviously can never have it, but against this team especially. Their offense, although it's mostly a running game, is a big play offense. It's very important to try and limit the big plays and make them settle for field goals. It frustrates them, makes them force plays and pitches, and allows our team to capitalize on these errors.

Last year we had Anthony Reddick bouncing of players, which would be great, if he was on offense. He was outdone by Romeo Davis' handwarmer grabbing, which kind of slowed down the Georgia Tech back on his way to a touchdown.

This year, we have different players. Sam Shields will most likely get the startin nod over DVD (questionable with a concussion) and he's a good tackler, baving played as a gunner on special teams as well. Vaugh Telemaque should also be making his appearance as a starter, along with having Colin Mccarthy and Eric Moncur back, we should improve with our tackling.


Poor Offense

To show you just how bad our offense was last year, this is a drive by drive breakdown of it in the Georgia Tech game:

1st Quarter: 2 drives (1 punt, One 3 and out)

2nd Quarter: 5 drives (2 ints, Two 3 and out, 1 fg) And we all know that first pick by Marve on 3rd and 3, which wouldn't have been completed anyways so you can chalk up another 3 and out if you want).

3rd Quarter: 3 drives (1td, One 3 and out, 1 punt)

4th Quarter: 3 drives (2tds, One 4 and out)

We can't have 3 and outs and turnovers. We have to put points on the board early and quickly and get this team to have to play from behind. If we can go up big early it forces them to pass and as we all saw their passing game might be the worst in D-1A ball.

We'll have an update during the tailgate if we can get around to it, and hopefully during the game as well (attendance #s, atmosphere, weather, injuries, etc.) along with a breakdown of the game on Friday.


As always, thanks for reading and Go Canes!

Tailgating Info.

Quick update, we'll be tailgating at lot W-22 and plan on being there by 4:45. If anyone owuld like to meet up and tailgate with us, talk Canes football, and have a few beers (assuming you are of age), please post on this blog entries comment section who you are, how big your group is, and any other possible information you'd like to leave so you can celebrate our home opener, and hopefully a win, with us.

Thanks for reading and Go Canes!

Mid Week Update, Recruiting and More

First we'll start with our recruiting news today. We have received a commitment (although it's been stated ot be at 80%, which is never good) out of a 3 star, 6ft, 5inches 260 lbs. Olineman Andrew Tallman. It was down to us and Virginia, and after the start of the season he has decided to commit to us, although he'll still visit Viginia and keep an open mind. He plays Tight End also, but look for him to be converted to an Offensive Tackle on the next level, ala Jason Fox. He has good hands and feet, but seems to overextend his arms a bit, which allows him to get beat. We'll keep an eye out for him.

Here's his video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_OJP2KwQGU


Also, tomorrow we'll have a breakdown of our keys to the game for Georgia Tech.

As we all know that, despite the loss, Clemson played them well last week. In short and not stealing tomorrow's blog's thunder, the key will be our d-tackles. They blow up the LOS, they push the QB and the option back while simultaneously killing the dive, which is the key component to stopping the triple option.

Injury Update

Vaughn Telemaque and Ryan Hill are expected to be back for Georgia Tech. Tight End Richard Gordon has his arm in a sling. Aldarius Johnson has a groin injury, but the severity of it hasn't been released.

More news as we get it. Thanks for reading and Go Canes!

Official Game Breakdown

It's our first official installment ever of our game breakdown. Believe it or not we have last year's, although it's not on the net, and we can always post it so you can compare and contrast the gameplan, growth, and play of both team's players. Today, although lengthy, will be our breakdown of Monday night's game and we'll have one every Monday/Tuesday after the game, and Saturday/Sunday after the Thursday night game. It's broken down into three fields: Offense, Defense, and Special Teams. Instead of giving out grades, we'll scale it on 1-10. Enjoy:

Offense:

1) O line - Great job blocking. On that first driave that we scored deep to Benjamin Jacory had all day to throw. Beautiful work all the way around. Pipho did have that one blunder, but as a whole the unit was great.

Score:8

2) Receivers - Leonard Hankers, welcome to the U. What a great game by Hankerson. I almost want to pass the credit to Randy here. People ripped him for recruiting so many receivers, but with 2 starting receivers injured and nursing injuries (AJ has a groin pull), we didn't miss a beat. Hankerson stepped up. Benjamin stepped up. Collier stepped up. Who didn't step up is a better question.

Score: 9

3) Qb - Excellent. Aside from one bad throw, the INT to Greg Reid, Jacory was as fluid as any QB UM has had. He took the hits. He felt the pressure. He saw all types of coverages. He didn't care. Ice..... that's what runs in his veins. He broke tackles and eluded the rusher. I could go on and on about him, but I'm sure this blog has a bandwidth limit.

Score: 9

4) RB - That's the Baby J we expected huh? Baby J and Cooper did what they were brought here to do. Chambers provided some quality minutes and carries, as did Mike James with going out for some passes (a big 3rd down conversion in the wst half).

Score: 7 and 1/2

5) TE - Good. Epps had some big catches and RAC. Gordon and Graham also allowed him a chance to come off the field and rest up and not be overworked.

Score: 7

6) Coaching - Average. It seemed obvious that missing our 2 starting DEs, DVD being out (concussion), and our starting safety in Vaughn being out, we chose to rush four and make sure our Dline contained FSU's QB. We need to see a lot more penetration next week though.

Score: 9 and 1/2

Defense:

1) DT - Very Good. Stopped the run, put some pressure, gave up very litle yardage on the ground.

Score: 8

2) LB - This defense is light years better without Cook and Davis and with the addition of Colin, who was back from an injury. Spence had a bad game, and that's okay, but he has to get it together for next week. The is the unit that HAS TO dominate next week.

Score: 7 and 1/2

3) DB - Brandon Harris, 1st day draft pick. Anyone notice how FSU couldn't pass when DVD was in there? Sam Shields was taken advantage of, but assuming it was his first day at CB in actual game time, and Ryan Hill was injured, he played just well enough and he was a good tackler. Our safeties played well, and aside from Jo-Jo Nicholas'd dumb PI in the endzone, they were almost error free.

Score: 7 and 1/2.

4) DE - Good penetration and containment on the run. Andrew Smith deserves a lot of praise and played very, very well.

Score: 7.

5) Coaching - Adequate. We knew we couldn't let Ponder beat us with his feet, but couldn't generate too much of a pass rush all the while we suffered some injuries to a starting, 3 year CB.

Score: 7 and 1/2.


Special Teams:

- Returns - Graig Cooper was a monster. Such a big impact in the game and setting us up with great field position.


Score: 9 and 1/2.


- Coverage - Bosher needs to do a better job of putting more hangtime on it if he's going to kick it short. All reports are that he just had a bad day, so we'll hope he corrects it and improves.

Score: 5 and 1/2.

As always thanks for reading and Go Canes.

Something To Chew On

We'll have a detailed breakdown of the game, both good and bad, coming by tomorrow after we rewatch the game, but we can sum up yesterday's game in one word "Wow".

For now, here's an HD link from Grassy's on Rusty98UM, detailing the final drive in full. Our complete breakdown will follow tomorrow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2j7OJkkmW8&hd=1