Again, sorry for the tardiness but I had to watch the fights last night and during the late stages of Manny Pacquiao's bludgeoning of the overwhelmed Chris Algieri I thought to myself, 'who took a worse beating tonight, Algieri or the Hurricanes?" The only difference is that Algieri was supposed to be handily defeated by 'the Pac Man' as he was originally listed as a 15-1 underdog. Miami on the other hand was the betting favorite and was playing a team that was on a four-game skid.
And they got hammered 30-13.
Nothing more really needs to be said.
This was perhaps the worst loss of Al Golden's tenure but not really based on the margin of defeat( yeah, there have been much worse, such as Kansas St. in 2012) but in just how they played and essentially fell apart after taking a 7-0 lead. They were steadily body punched and then socked in the mouth. Any goodwill that might have come from the excruciatingly close loss to the Noles the week before has evaporated.
I have no clue if Golden is on the hot seat, but the seat should certainly be warmer after this past Saturday night. A team with this much talent shouldn't have anywhere near five losses.
Some other random thoughts on this debacle...
- If there was one player who played a decent game is Denzel Perryman, who I thought was his usual self. He pursued sideline-to-sideline and really brought the heat. He is as good a striker as there is in the country. It's too bad his intensity wasn't matched by many other of his teammates.
- The O-line which had really made great strides throughout the season really took a giant step backward versus UVa. They couldn't consistently open up running lanes for Duke and Brad Kaaya was hit more than at anytime this season. There were a few short yardage situations where Miami failed to convert which were key. True freshman, Trevor Darling really struggled outside in pass pro. Jon Feliciano, who has had a really nice senior year, lost his composure last night.
- Last I checked, the Cavs didn't have Herman Moore and Germane Crowell outside and it was frustrating to see the Miami defense really play this soft, bend-but-don't-break style and not press a bit more and bring pressures. Once again, it was a slow bleed and it was frustrating to see Miami just give up one first down after another and the offense just languishing on the sideline. I've noticed that Golden coached games are often like this: a really slow tempo where the clock just grinds away steadily and the offense doesn't get a ton of possessions.
- This Miami team is 6-5, that's simply inexcusable and the proof will show in May at the NFL Draft. Just watch, Miami will be very well represented with guys like Perryman, Dorsett, Walford, Duke, etc. Again, out of all the teams that defeated UM this season, which squad had more pure talent? This is an indictment on the coaching.
- A familiar theme of this season: another special teams bust. This time down 10-7 right before the half and Michael Badgely kick gets blocked and taken back inside the UM five where the Cavs eventually make it a 13-7 halftime lead. Correct me if Im wrong but it seemed like Sonny Odogwu didn't even come out of his stance and the guy in front of him blocked the kick. From opening night in Louisville, special teams have been problematic and haven't improved all that much. And yeah, it's Golden who coaches that unit, right?
Outside of that, I can't bring myself to write much more. This season comes to a merciful end on (black) Friday night.
-
And they got hammered 30-13.
Nothing more really needs to be said.
This was perhaps the worst loss of Al Golden's tenure but not really based on the margin of defeat( yeah, there have been much worse, such as Kansas St. in 2012) but in just how they played and essentially fell apart after taking a 7-0 lead. They were steadily body punched and then socked in the mouth. Any goodwill that might have come from the excruciatingly close loss to the Noles the week before has evaporated.
I have no clue if Golden is on the hot seat, but the seat should certainly be warmer after this past Saturday night. A team with this much talent shouldn't have anywhere near five losses.
Some other random thoughts on this debacle...
- If there was one player who played a decent game is Denzel Perryman, who I thought was his usual self. He pursued sideline-to-sideline and really brought the heat. He is as good a striker as there is in the country. It's too bad his intensity wasn't matched by many other of his teammates.
- The O-line which had really made great strides throughout the season really took a giant step backward versus UVa. They couldn't consistently open up running lanes for Duke and Brad Kaaya was hit more than at anytime this season. There were a few short yardage situations where Miami failed to convert which were key. True freshman, Trevor Darling really struggled outside in pass pro. Jon Feliciano, who has had a really nice senior year, lost his composure last night.
- Last I checked, the Cavs didn't have Herman Moore and Germane Crowell outside and it was frustrating to see the Miami defense really play this soft, bend-but-don't-break style and not press a bit more and bring pressures. Once again, it was a slow bleed and it was frustrating to see Miami just give up one first down after another and the offense just languishing on the sideline. I've noticed that Golden coached games are often like this: a really slow tempo where the clock just grinds away steadily and the offense doesn't get a ton of possessions.
- This Miami team is 6-5, that's simply inexcusable and the proof will show in May at the NFL Draft. Just watch, Miami will be very well represented with guys like Perryman, Dorsett, Walford, Duke, etc. Again, out of all the teams that defeated UM this season, which squad had more pure talent? This is an indictment on the coaching.
- A familiar theme of this season: another special teams bust. This time down 10-7 right before the half and Michael Badgely kick gets blocked and taken back inside the UM five where the Cavs eventually make it a 13-7 halftime lead. Correct me if Im wrong but it seemed like Sonny Odogwu didn't even come out of his stance and the guy in front of him blocked the kick. From opening night in Louisville, special teams have been problematic and haven't improved all that much. And yeah, it's Golden who coaches that unit, right?
Outside of that, I can't bring myself to write much more. This season comes to a merciful end on (black) Friday night.
-
