Offense:
Tyler Van Dyke - 20/30 163yds 2INT’s
Ajay Allen - 11car 67yds & 1TD
Mark Fletcher - 11car 47yds & 1TD 2rec 9yds
Jacolby George - 5rec 28yds
Xavier Restrepo - 3rec 48yds
Colbie Young - 3rec 35yds
Brashard Smith - 3rec 10yds
Cam McCormick - 2rec 15yds
Offense gained only 276 total yards (163 passing & 113 rushing) off 56 plays at 4.9 yards per play, gaining 16 first downs, while going 5/13 on 3rd down with 25:24 in Time of possession.
What we witnessed today was the end of the TVD era at Miami...
Horrible INT on the throw to Restrepo, he had Arroyo open on a 7 route & Fletcher wide open in the flats. He actually had X open on his route as well, he just under threw him. Then Another really really bad pick by TVD, under threw Brashard Smith. Almost had another really bad 3rd pick which was luckily dropped.
It’s very clear he’s a shot fighter & needs to be benched for the rest of the season. This was the worst game he’s played in his career, not only is he still hurt, but he looks completely mentally checked out & lethargic. He’s not seeing the field in full scope & the best strength of his ability which was his Deep ball is now diminished because his hand/arm is weak. He’s a liability as a passer & is costing the Offense at a greater loss than his worth. He’s finished at Miami & simply doesn’t have the competitive edge needed to compete at a high enough level.
We put together one nice 7 play 64yd drive to finally score our first TD to start the 2nd half. Which featured a Cam McCormick catch for 11yds for a 1st & a finished with 26yd run by Ajay Allen for a TD. But otherwise, the run game has mostly been death by a thousand paper cuts. Since Parrish’s injury we really don’t seem to have a RB1 on the roster, it’s mostly just complementary guys who can give you a few yards in spurts. The good thing about it, is that in short field situations (such as Red Zone & Overtime) this is actually a plus for the Offense, because they don’t have to drive the length of the field. All they need is a Back who can go forward for 8 yards in 3 carries & that’s something that can be easily done. But we don’t have any Homerun hitters that can take one for 60.
Mark Fletcher had 3 nice runs to put the game away & showed very good balance not going down on contact & giving great 2nd effort to get in the end zone to end the game.
The Offense has reverted to being methodical & fiZZiCULL tough bro-ball that you all love, so that’s good. But we’ve completely lost the verticality of the Offense, it’s nothing but short/intermediated routes & run plays. We have no explosion & that’s going to be an issue against teams like FSU, NC ST & LVille.
Offense had a pathetic 99yds in the 1st half & finished with just 276 total yards, against bum *** Virginia of all teams...
The OL did a good job in Red Zone/Over time play once again, Jahvion Cohen had a nice seal block on the outside to help spring Mark Fletcher on his game winning TD.
Sucked to see Arroyo get hurt again, looks like he probably re-aggravated whatever leg injury he had before, but it was very obvious he was playing on a hobbled leg to begin with. Idk why he was brought back when he’s clearly not healthy.
TVD did everything in his power to help us lose this game & we won in spite of him. He’s now thrown 7INT’s in his last 3 games, it’s reaching Kyle Wright/Kirby Freeman levels of bad & he has to be pulled in order to keep the season afloat.
Mario better take all the alleged money we’re not over spending on HS recruits & absolutely invest every **** penny of Ruiz’s rainy day fund on a surefire Portal QB who can lead this Offense, because next year is gonna be a scary sight if some of the eligible players decide to declare.
Defense:
James Williams - 13tks
Corey Flagg - 10tks
Kamren Kinchens - 9tks 1PD, 1INT & 1TD
Jahfari Harvey - 9tks 0.5TFL’s
Rueben Bain - 7tks 2.5TFL’s 2 sacks & 1PD
Francisco Mauigoa - 6tks 2.5TFL’s & 1.5 sacks
Wesley Bissainthe - 5tks
Jaden Davis - 5tks
KJ Cloyd - 5tks
Te’Cory Couch - 3tks
Branson Deen - 3tks 2TFL’s & 2 sacks
Daryl Porter Jr - 3tks
Jayden Wayne - 3tks 0.5TFL’s & 0.5 sacks
Defense gave up 377 total yards (239 passing & 138 rushing), while racking up 10 TFL’s & 6 sacks.
UVA started early on their 2nd drive of the game putting together a 12 play 75 yard drive for a TD. Which included a 15yd 1st down on 3rd & 13 to Malachi Fields on yalls favorite CB... The DLine played another good game creating pressure upfront flushing the QB out of the pocket forcing incomplete passes & attacking the backfield.
Rueben Bain has now had 18 tackles 5.5 TFL’s & 5 sacks in his last 3 games with an insane amount of QB pressures. He has emerged as the answer to our Edge rush questions since Mesidor went down. This kid has stepped up & played like a man on mission with his relentless motor, disruptive hands & bevy of inside-out rush techniques that make him a pure nightmare for Offensive Tackles. The kid is a no doubt Freshman All-American, Elite talent.
Branson Deen playing in just his 3rd game of the year & had another nice performance as he did against GTech. He & Gore have been a mixed bag with both having good & bad games throughout the season, but have provided good depth when needed.
The overall run Defense wasn’t as stout as it’s been for most of the season, UVA were picking up a lot of big runs in crunch moments. The Defense overall got stops in the Red Zone & kept them from scoring TD’s, but against more efficient Offenses will be something to monitor, because both the UNC & UVA game has shown on tape that you run right at this Defense when going tempo.
Francisco Mauigoa was all over the field once again, his biggest plus to this Defense has been as a pass rusher. He’s a Tasmanian Devil that just absolutely shoots the gap & torpedos into the pocket on his Blitzes. I think Guidry has really found the perfect fit for him as he’s really grooved into his role in this LB Corps as the hard charging Rhino of the group.
KJ Cloyd is more of the drop back coverage backer & Wes gets after it in the run game & Blitzing as well. Wes struggles in coverage sometimes & usually doesn’t do well when asked to hold contain on the edge while reading the QB mesh option because he almost always bites on the ball fake, but he’s a typical new era South FL LB, meaning he’s a converted pass rusher who just sharks to the ball & doesn’t really do too much diagnosing lol.
James Williams had 2 big time first down saving tackles, one on the QB run by Muskett in the 4th quarter & another on Malik Washington on 3rd down in the 4th quarter on the quick button hook route that he stopped from gaining any YAC. He played a very good game as a tackler, coming downhill & playing basically as a 4th LB.
Killa Kam had a TD saving pass breakup on the drive that lead to UVA kicking a Field Goal in the 1st quarter & then got a pick 6 to put us up 17-10. Great game for the much maligned All-American Safety.
Yall’s favorite CB gave up 3 first downs in the first half. (2 to Malachi Fields & 1 to Malik Washington). Gave up another 1st down to Malachi Fields on a 10yd catch in the 3rd quarter with 9:46 left & another 1st down to Malachi Fields for 18yds in the 4th quarter with 6:35 left. So that’s 5 first downs on ONE player... What does that tell you???
UVA had an 11 play 65yd drive with 5:30 left in the 3rd quarter, but Red zone Defense held up & kept them out of the End zone, which was the theme of the day for the Defense. That’s both good & bad; good because it’s forcing Offenses to trade 3’s for 7’s & keeping the team overall alive in the fight, but bad because teams are getting too many opportunities to test us in the Red Zone. I’d go as far as to say we’ve been lucky we’ve played a lot of teams with sh*tty Offenses in general who haven’t figured out how to maximize those opportunities, but as pointed before the UNC game, good Offenses will exploit that & capitalize off those chances more often that not. Can’t keep playing with fire in those instances, especially with some of the opponents we have coming down the line.
Game ball goes to Borregales again, this kid’s leg is automatic!
Overall, it was another gritty ugly team win. Today was our lowest Yards per play output of the season & that’s a losing formula against any team with a pulse. We better figure that sh*t out for Doak in 2 weeks or else we’re gonna be in for long night... But it has to be commended to the staff for not allowing for the team to fold & give games away (GTech notwithstanding), the team has showing that they have still have fight & are willing to play 4 (& sometimes 5 to 6) quarters of Football in full if that’s what it takes to win. They could’ve folded up against TAMU but didn’t, they could’ve folded up against UNC but didn’t, they could’ve folded up against Clemson but didn’t, they could’ve folded up against UVA today, but didn’t. One could even argue they didn’t even fold up against GTech, but that’s up for debate depending on what you pinpoint was the catalyst of the loss. But ultimately, what it means is that they believe in themselves above all else & are fighting FOR each other instead with/against each other, which is the mark of team that has turned the corner from the mishaps & incredulity of last season.
They deserve credit for it, even if I’m skeptic about the overall finish of the season, I give them their props for continuing to stay the course & do their best to block out the noise.
There’s a lot of positives for this team overall going forward, but it’s all based up on how aggressive we will be this Offseason. If we attack the Portal like Ole Miss, FSU & others did this year, we can maybe put ourselves in position to go on a legit run, but that’s many steps farther ahead than we can go right now.
We got another tough game coming up next week against a NC ST with a good Defense. We gotta figure out this QB situation & score some TD’s, because while it has worked the last 2 weeks, the Field Goal Over time game is not gonna work on the road in a hostile environment.
One game at a time & just keep trekking ahead
Go Canes.
