It wasn’t ‘01 Washington, but this was the first time all year Miami executed its game plan for four quarters. The smiles on the sidelines said it all. This team needed that performance.
- It would be foolish to judge Jacurri Brown after one start. His story has yet to be written. But there are certain physical things that we can see right away. The main thing is that he looks big and strong at the ACC level. He shrugged off defenders and always fell forward. When you have a physical runner at QB, it allows you to spread teams out and punish them between the tackles. It’s the Tebow/Jalen Hurts formula. Brown missed some easy throws, but he also creates a lot of easy throws with his running threat. The team ran for 217 yards, its highest total in two seasons. And that was with only two scholarship RBs. Jacurri did an excellent job of managing the game and keeping the ball out of harm’s way against a GT team that ranked Top 5 nationally in takeaways. He also made good decisions in scramble situations.
- One area where Jacurri can improve is his ball placement on horizontal throws. He was imprecise on a few, which forced the runner to lose momentum or miss the ball entirely. When Jacurri gets more consistent there, he can really stress the defense. The ball gets there fast. Overall, his passing growth will determine his ceiling. As we’ve seen with guys like Jordan Travis--- and in the pros with Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen--talented athletes with twitchy arms can develop as passers. Jacurri's first TD was schemed wide open, but it was still an impressive flick with a defender right in his face.
- Kam Kinchens is an All-Conference talent. He is our best tackling safety since Jaquan Johnson and has been an INT machine since high school. He got burned on some bad guesses this year, but older fans will remember that even Ed Reed made similar mistakes at the same age. Kinchens is a film junkie and will only get better if he stays healthy.
- As we discussed on the Podcast, this was a huge game for Jaylan Knighton and he delivered. His style fits in the gun next to a running QB like Jacurri.
- It was hard to miss all of the Class of ’22 guys making plays. We already discussed Jacurri. Anez Cooper was tossing defenders. Wesley Bissainthe is a knockback tackler and should never leave the starting lineup. Jaleel Skinner caught his first touchdown. The guys that Mario brought in last year generally seem longer and more athletic. One guy who had an uneven performance was Nyjalik Kelly. He just turned 18 last week, so some growing pains are normal.
- Tyrique Stevenson is the best draft-eligible NFL prospect on the team. Physical, instinctive, big and fast. He profiles best inside at the next level in the role he played at Georgia.
- Mitchell Agude is starting to come on the past few games. He was everywhere today. Antonio Moultrie was active and made up for the absence of Elijah Roberts, Jake Lichtenstein and Jared Harrison-Hunte.
- This offense is still boring but will give Miami a chance to get bowl-eligible by slowing down games and controlling the ball.
Bottom line, it feels good to watch a win. Next week will be interesting given the no-show against FSU. How do they respond against an even better team?
- It would be foolish to judge Jacurri Brown after one start. His story has yet to be written. But there are certain physical things that we can see right away. The main thing is that he looks big and strong at the ACC level. He shrugged off defenders and always fell forward. When you have a physical runner at QB, it allows you to spread teams out and punish them between the tackles. It’s the Tebow/Jalen Hurts formula. Brown missed some easy throws, but he also creates a lot of easy throws with his running threat. The team ran for 217 yards, its highest total in two seasons. And that was with only two scholarship RBs. Jacurri did an excellent job of managing the game and keeping the ball out of harm’s way against a GT team that ranked Top 5 nationally in takeaways. He also made good decisions in scramble situations.
- One area where Jacurri can improve is his ball placement on horizontal throws. He was imprecise on a few, which forced the runner to lose momentum or miss the ball entirely. When Jacurri gets more consistent there, he can really stress the defense. The ball gets there fast. Overall, his passing growth will determine his ceiling. As we’ve seen with guys like Jordan Travis--- and in the pros with Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen--talented athletes with twitchy arms can develop as passers. Jacurri's first TD was schemed wide open, but it was still an impressive flick with a defender right in his face.
- Kam Kinchens is an All-Conference talent. He is our best tackling safety since Jaquan Johnson and has been an INT machine since high school. He got burned on some bad guesses this year, but older fans will remember that even Ed Reed made similar mistakes at the same age. Kinchens is a film junkie and will only get better if he stays healthy.
- As we discussed on the Podcast, this was a huge game for Jaylan Knighton and he delivered. His style fits in the gun next to a running QB like Jacurri.
- It was hard to miss all of the Class of ’22 guys making plays. We already discussed Jacurri. Anez Cooper was tossing defenders. Wesley Bissainthe is a knockback tackler and should never leave the starting lineup. Jaleel Skinner caught his first touchdown. The guys that Mario brought in last year generally seem longer and more athletic. One guy who had an uneven performance was Nyjalik Kelly. He just turned 18 last week, so some growing pains are normal.
- Tyrique Stevenson is the best draft-eligible NFL prospect on the team. Physical, instinctive, big and fast. He profiles best inside at the next level in the role he played at Georgia.
- Mitchell Agude is starting to come on the past few games. He was everywhere today. Antonio Moultrie was active and made up for the absence of Elijah Roberts, Jake Lichtenstein and Jared Harrison-Hunte.
- This offense is still boring but will give Miami a chance to get bowl-eligible by slowing down games and controlling the ball.
Bottom line, it feels good to watch a win. Next week will be interesting given the no-show against FSU. How do they respond against an even better team?