Miami traveled out of the state of Florida for the first time this season as they took on SMU, led by old pal Rhett Lashlee. How did it look on film? Find out only at Upon Further Review.
If you’re reading this column, you already know how the game turned out (and are probably in the same pain-filled boat I am in), so I won’t go into every play like I typically do. We will see where Miami can improve together and then hope for brighter days ahead.
Miami opens with Toney motioned into the backfield and Fletcher out into the slot (more of any sort of creativity, please). He runs a little stop route and is open for a first down. Baumann is wide-open if he Beck wanted to anticipate that throw as he comes into that window. Fletcher draws the LB coverage and creates a window.
This is just a tough ask to throw this ball seven yards behind the LOS into a leveraged defense on 2nd & 10. Easy to sit here and second-guess when something doesn’t work, but I would expect a scripted drive could come out a touch more impactful. Loss of four on the play really started with poor design into that look.
Neat little wrinkle that SMU runs on their screen play. They bunch their trio, but then switch the release on who would typically be the receiver to get the ball and the result is a pseudo trap on the CB with a blocker coming towards the defender and then a free blocker for a defender coming from 11 yards away on a 3rd and 3. The OC beat the DC on this one.
SMU runs a fake QB draw, which gets Toure to step up and then the wheel is already by him at this point. There was a clear emphasis on getting Toure into coverage and exploiting the matchup whenever they could.
On the script SMU repeatedly got Miami outleveraged. Motion here as Lucas is bailing makes this an easy read for the QB who is going to hit the motion as soon as the boundary goes vertical to vacate the CB and make Thomas come tackle in space.
You really wish Beck would’ve thrown this to Lofton as he escaped the pocket rather than trying to run.
There are people telling me Miami coaches their receivers to cradle these throws where they can to protect their bodies, but it really opens you up for drops or tip drills (as we saw later). But here it goes for a TD and Trader finally gets involved this season. I like to see my receivers attack the football with strong hands (but again, I do not know how they are coached to do it, so I could be wrong!).
33 (Booker Pickett) gets moved out of his lane pretty easily here and then you have a jogger on the KO return (Bryce Fitzgerald) that popped for a big gain.
Nice awareness by Damari, who brackets 2 first, then clicks and closes on the dump off.
The gravity of 10. SMU has him bracketed deep and #33 is turning and running looking for him. Completely vacates his zone for the RB to catch a dumpoff.
Trader with a great catch along the sideline on a nice ball from Beck. Miami just dominated this game early on. It’s truly unbelievable that they lost.
They don’t score on a drive that gets a 1st down at the 25 due to their egregious penalties and inability to just play a disciplined game. (Not pictured)
A slant-and-go off of triple slants by Brinson burns Thomas. A better throw is a TD, but Miami makes the tackle as the receiver had to stop to catch it.
Look familiar? Just catch the ball here and this game goes differently. In fact, he has a chance to make this a huge play with just extending strong hands (maybe they really are teaching them to do this to protect themselves?).
Someone blew the coverage on this play. No one gets hands on #8, nobody is carrying #8. I think Jakobee is supposed to be in Cover-2 and is playing Quarters. Toure probably wants to gets hands on him, but I think Thomas busted here. You basically have four Miami defenders to cover that side of the field and no one covers #8.
Jennings gets sacked here. Canes got lucky because that receiver is wide-open. Blount really does a nice job of staying in his lane and pushing this pocket so the QB can’t step up and Mesidor/Blount both get home.
I highlighted this on Twitter, but this is a walk-in TD if you just do your job. #28 is chasing the guy way over there instead of just blocking his guy #26. 28 tried to do too much (no way he can get there to that defender) and 26 tackles Toney at the 8 and Miami has to kick a FG. So many mistakes.
3rd down and Lofton drops the ball in the end zone. So. Many. Mistakes. (Not pictured)
First play of the 2nd half and Miami forces a clear fumble and recovers it. The reply officials somehow (and I mean somehow) ruled his arm was going forward despite the fact it was only going forward because he got rocked and that’s how momentum works. SMU scores a TD and I’m already dreading this. (Not pictured)
Ensuing drive and the ground game got going with Fletcher. You really might need to just let him be a bit more of a workhorse moving forward because he has clearly been the best RB to this point and his physicality really fits this offense. Cooper pulls and you run power. Left side of the OL just washes everything inside and it’s a big hole. He nearly scores.
If you’re going to be as condensed as you have been, to me, this has to be a staple play for low red zone. Baumann as a sniffer runs leak and then Fletcher is fast to flat. If 23 takes 87, it’s a dump to 4. But you need to run it on 1st down like this to get defenders to bite.
On the pod I’ve mentioned before that a lot of the inside runs are simply zone runs that go where defenders dictate with their movements. Edge crashes into B-gap here and Bell washes him down. Lyle does a nice job of seeing the cutback lane and getting to that off-tackle C-gap and an easy 1st down.
Lyle has a full head of steam here and only that safety. For some reason instead of pounding him and getting the 1st down or very close, he tries to bounce it outside and only gets six. Canes only get two on 3rd and then don’t get the 4th down dive. Four straight runs of essentially the same play. Turnover on downs. It just absolutely blows my mind that Miami found a way to lose this game. They are so much better than SMU, but there were self-inflicted wounds that caused a loss. If this play had an RPO element you would’ve liked to see Beck throw this one on that Glance route.
Lyle gets two yards here. Yikes. He had the one nice run, but overall this isn’t playable right now when you have Fletcher and Brown available. Conservative, predictable, easy to see coming playcalling notwithstanding.
All 11 SMU players right here within five yards of the LOS. Have to punish teams for this and Miami just runs a dive play right into it.
Would like more awareness here. You have nobody threatening your area and a QB scrambling right, but you just stay rooted in your spot covering no one. Lightfoot then overruns it and the receiver actually gets a 1st down when your defense had it covered up completely. This is definitely the problem with asking your edge rushers to spot drop in zone; they tend to drop to that spot and cover grass.
Baumann gets a lot of heat, but he picks up this edge who shoots the gap and saves the drive here. He actually pancakes this defender.
Do we think that SMU was expecting anything but another dive play here? You simply have to get more creative on offense. This is the play that Dawson and Mario got into it about and Dawson is correct that the RB has to just hit this play with power and squeeze wherever he can to make it where you have a chance of 4th down. He stops his feet and tries to dance. Few things though, stop with the 83 as a FB stuff. He’s bad at it (honestly a worse adjective than that). SMU again has everyone at the LOS and isn’t the least bit concerned about any sort of creative play call that isn’t a dive. There are 10 defenders in this screenshot. You do wish your RB had seen the gap between Mauigoa and Baumann instead of running into the mass of people and stopping his feet, but alas.
Same play SMU ran earlier and gets the Mike to bite again (Aguirre this time) and it’s another big play. QB steps forward like he’s running and the LB freezes while a receiver runs by him.
I would’ve liked to see Toney that inside defender here rather than leaving the closer defender free to tackle the screen in the backfield. If Toney takes the inside defender, this is a 1st down and maybe pops. I am virtually certain it was a mistake by Toney, but I’m not in the room for the play call and maybe he is supposed to take that second guy. A 1st down here and the game is nearly over.
3rd down they pick up a clear and obvious PI call against SMU and continue their absolute thievery against Miami in this game, but that’s the reason you don’t make 25 mistakes in a game where you allow officials to steal games from you late. (Not pictured)
We know what happens from here and I don’t want to relive it.
Overall
Miami has an identity problem. They want their identity to be physical and they want to do that identity no matter what. The problem with that is that teams get film on you and see your tendencies. When you’re running the same play calls in week eight as week one, you are easier to prepare for and beat.
Great coaches are actively anticipating the adaptations of their offense before the defense has a jump on everything. You don’t have to be a film guy to see that SMU knew what you were going to do in certain spots because you have such tendencies. You are a poker player who plays good hands exactly the same way every time. You are a comedian who tells the same jokes at every show. You are a relic who has to change or become Encyclopedia Brittanica.
On the fateful interception that essentially ended the game in OT, you had Malachi Toney running a choice route underneath. He chose to run a Whip route against bracket coverage. SMU knew you were going to run something underneath to Toney and had a defender sink into the end zone to protect that direction, which left your second defender to live inside. As soon as Toney went outside to the Whip route he just sunk inside and waited for him to come back (he did) and he jumped the route. How many times have we seen Toney run a Whip route in big spots this season? How many times have you read me say how well he runs that route? SMU knew all of this and ended the game because Miami won’t change tendencies in the biggest spots.
Mario has proven he will shell up and retreat to conservatism as soon as things get close. There will not be creativity in these situations, which invites real variance into the games. This was a game Miami wins 90 or 95 times out of a 100 based on the simple talent differential and successful plays in this game. They lost because Mario’s conservatism and consistent tendencies in big moments allowed SMU to overcome all of their talent deficiencies with simply better coaching.
If you’re reading this column, you already know how the game turned out (and are probably in the same pain-filled boat I am in), so I won’t go into every play like I typically do. We will see where Miami can improve together and then hope for brighter days ahead.
Miami opens with Toney motioned into the backfield and Fletcher out into the slot (more of any sort of creativity, please). He runs a little stop route and is open for a first down. Baumann is wide-open if he Beck wanted to anticipate that throw as he comes into that window. Fletcher draws the LB coverage and creates a window.
This is just a tough ask to throw this ball seven yards behind the LOS into a leveraged defense on 2nd & 10. Easy to sit here and second-guess when something doesn’t work, but I would expect a scripted drive could come out a touch more impactful. Loss of four on the play really started with poor design into that look.
Neat little wrinkle that SMU runs on their screen play. They bunch their trio, but then switch the release on who would typically be the receiver to get the ball and the result is a pseudo trap on the CB with a blocker coming towards the defender and then a free blocker for a defender coming from 11 yards away on a 3rd and 3. The OC beat the DC on this one.
SMU runs a fake QB draw, which gets Toure to step up and then the wheel is already by him at this point. There was a clear emphasis on getting Toure into coverage and exploiting the matchup whenever they could.
On the script SMU repeatedly got Miami outleveraged. Motion here as Lucas is bailing makes this an easy read for the QB who is going to hit the motion as soon as the boundary goes vertical to vacate the CB and make Thomas come tackle in space.
You really wish Beck would’ve thrown this to Lofton as he escaped the pocket rather than trying to run.
There are people telling me Miami coaches their receivers to cradle these throws where they can to protect their bodies, but it really opens you up for drops or tip drills (as we saw later). But here it goes for a TD and Trader finally gets involved this season. I like to see my receivers attack the football with strong hands (but again, I do not know how they are coached to do it, so I could be wrong!).
33 (Booker Pickett) gets moved out of his lane pretty easily here and then you have a jogger on the KO return (Bryce Fitzgerald) that popped for a big gain.
Nice awareness by Damari, who brackets 2 first, then clicks and closes on the dump off.
The gravity of 10. SMU has him bracketed deep and #33 is turning and running looking for him. Completely vacates his zone for the RB to catch a dumpoff.
Trader with a great catch along the sideline on a nice ball from Beck. Miami just dominated this game early on. It’s truly unbelievable that they lost.
They don’t score on a drive that gets a 1st down at the 25 due to their egregious penalties and inability to just play a disciplined game. (Not pictured)
A slant-and-go off of triple slants by Brinson burns Thomas. A better throw is a TD, but Miami makes the tackle as the receiver had to stop to catch it.
Look familiar? Just catch the ball here and this game goes differently. In fact, he has a chance to make this a huge play with just extending strong hands (maybe they really are teaching them to do this to protect themselves?).
Someone blew the coverage on this play. No one gets hands on #8, nobody is carrying #8. I think Jakobee is supposed to be in Cover-2 and is playing Quarters. Toure probably wants to gets hands on him, but I think Thomas busted here. You basically have four Miami defenders to cover that side of the field and no one covers #8.
Jennings gets sacked here. Canes got lucky because that receiver is wide-open. Blount really does a nice job of staying in his lane and pushing this pocket so the QB can’t step up and Mesidor/Blount both get home.
I highlighted this on Twitter, but this is a walk-in TD if you just do your job. #28 is chasing the guy way over there instead of just blocking his guy #26. 28 tried to do too much (no way he can get there to that defender) and 26 tackles Toney at the 8 and Miami has to kick a FG. So many mistakes.
3rd down and Lofton drops the ball in the end zone. So. Many. Mistakes. (Not pictured)
First play of the 2nd half and Miami forces a clear fumble and recovers it. The reply officials somehow (and I mean somehow) ruled his arm was going forward despite the fact it was only going forward because he got rocked and that’s how momentum works. SMU scores a TD and I’m already dreading this. (Not pictured)
Ensuing drive and the ground game got going with Fletcher. You really might need to just let him be a bit more of a workhorse moving forward because he has clearly been the best RB to this point and his physicality really fits this offense. Cooper pulls and you run power. Left side of the OL just washes everything inside and it’s a big hole. He nearly scores.
If you’re going to be as condensed as you have been, to me, this has to be a staple play for low red zone. Baumann as a sniffer runs leak and then Fletcher is fast to flat. If 23 takes 87, it’s a dump to 4. But you need to run it on 1st down like this to get defenders to bite.
On the pod I’ve mentioned before that a lot of the inside runs are simply zone runs that go where defenders dictate with their movements. Edge crashes into B-gap here and Bell washes him down. Lyle does a nice job of seeing the cutback lane and getting to that off-tackle C-gap and an easy 1st down.
Lyle has a full head of steam here and only that safety. For some reason instead of pounding him and getting the 1st down or very close, he tries to bounce it outside and only gets six. Canes only get two on 3rd and then don’t get the 4th down dive. Four straight runs of essentially the same play. Turnover on downs. It just absolutely blows my mind that Miami found a way to lose this game. They are so much better than SMU, but there were self-inflicted wounds that caused a loss. If this play had an RPO element you would’ve liked to see Beck throw this one on that Glance route.
Lyle gets two yards here. Yikes. He had the one nice run, but overall this isn’t playable right now when you have Fletcher and Brown available. Conservative, predictable, easy to see coming playcalling notwithstanding.
All 11 SMU players right here within five yards of the LOS. Have to punish teams for this and Miami just runs a dive play right into it.
Would like more awareness here. You have nobody threatening your area and a QB scrambling right, but you just stay rooted in your spot covering no one. Lightfoot then overruns it and the receiver actually gets a 1st down when your defense had it covered up completely. This is definitely the problem with asking your edge rushers to spot drop in zone; they tend to drop to that spot and cover grass.
Baumann gets a lot of heat, but he picks up this edge who shoots the gap and saves the drive here. He actually pancakes this defender.
Do we think that SMU was expecting anything but another dive play here? You simply have to get more creative on offense. This is the play that Dawson and Mario got into it about and Dawson is correct that the RB has to just hit this play with power and squeeze wherever he can to make it where you have a chance of 4th down. He stops his feet and tries to dance. Few things though, stop with the 83 as a FB stuff. He’s bad at it (honestly a worse adjective than that). SMU again has everyone at the LOS and isn’t the least bit concerned about any sort of creative play call that isn’t a dive. There are 10 defenders in this screenshot. You do wish your RB had seen the gap between Mauigoa and Baumann instead of running into the mass of people and stopping his feet, but alas.
Same play SMU ran earlier and gets the Mike to bite again (Aguirre this time) and it’s another big play. QB steps forward like he’s running and the LB freezes while a receiver runs by him.
I would’ve liked to see Toney that inside defender here rather than leaving the closer defender free to tackle the screen in the backfield. If Toney takes the inside defender, this is a 1st down and maybe pops. I am virtually certain it was a mistake by Toney, but I’m not in the room for the play call and maybe he is supposed to take that second guy. A 1st down here and the game is nearly over.
3rd down they pick up a clear and obvious PI call against SMU and continue their absolute thievery against Miami in this game, but that’s the reason you don’t make 25 mistakes in a game where you allow officials to steal games from you late. (Not pictured)
We know what happens from here and I don’t want to relive it.
Overall
Miami has an identity problem. They want their identity to be physical and they want to do that identity no matter what. The problem with that is that teams get film on you and see your tendencies. When you’re running the same play calls in week eight as week one, you are easier to prepare for and beat.
Great coaches are actively anticipating the adaptations of their offense before the defense has a jump on everything. You don’t have to be a film guy to see that SMU knew what you were going to do in certain spots because you have such tendencies. You are a poker player who plays good hands exactly the same way every time. You are a comedian who tells the same jokes at every show. You are a relic who has to change or become Encyclopedia Brittanica.
On the fateful interception that essentially ended the game in OT, you had Malachi Toney running a choice route underneath. He chose to run a Whip route against bracket coverage. SMU knew you were going to run something underneath to Toney and had a defender sink into the end zone to protect that direction, which left your second defender to live inside. As soon as Toney went outside to the Whip route he just sunk inside and waited for him to come back (he did) and he jumped the route. How many times have we seen Toney run a Whip route in big spots this season? How many times have you read me say how well he runs that route? SMU knew all of this and ended the game because Miami won’t change tendencies in the biggest spots.
Mario has proven he will shell up and retreat to conservatism as soon as things get close. There will not be creativity in these situations, which invites real variance into the games. This was a game Miami wins 90 or 95 times out of a 100 based on the simple talent differential and successful plays in this game. They lost because Mario’s conservatism and consistent tendencies in big moments allowed SMU to overcome all of their talent deficiencies with simply better coaching.
. He’s a deer in headlights. He called two crucially awful TOs in the game. 1st one was at the snap on O when we had a quick out to the slot that would have been a first down. 
