The Miami Hurricanes fell to the Boston College Eagles on Friday, 27-14, and now find themselves on a losing streak. Here were my impressions and grades from the game.
The honeymoon for this staff is past over. Even with the UVA loss, Miami still had a chance to win out, win the Coastal, get to the ACC Championship, and call the season a success with some momentum for next season. Now there’s little chance that’s happening, which is inexcusable with the state of the rest of the division and the talent on this team. There will be more questions than answers heading into the off-season.
Coming off a bye week… Miami still looked completely unprepared, and not just on offense this time. The defense gave up three straight scoring drives of over 75+ yards to Boston College to open the game, and the Eagles’ offense looked plenty creative in getting those 17 points, with motions, misdirections, and trick plays. Miami’s offense, on the other hand, was the exact opposite and pretty much the same as it has been lately. It was stale and predictable and there were no real changes despite two weeks to prep. A few wildcat plays to DeeJay Dallas isn’t going to move the needle for me. Miami ran WR slants shamelessly all day until BC finally jumped the route and picked one off. The offense actually recorded less yards than last game at UVA (305 to 339). Ouch.
It’s not just this season either. Miami’s offense was inefficient in 2017 as well, and to me, the offense in 2018 is pretty much the exact same as last season. The main difference? The lack of big plays. In 2017, those explosive plays led to winning games and covered up for the fact that UM’s offense was plagued by slow starts, inefficiency, and stagnant play throughout much of the season. For whatever reason, the Canes aren’t hitting on the explosive plays like they were last season and now you’re seeing the offense on the whole for what it has been for at least two years.
Which is why, in part, it won’t matter much who the QB is. While Miami has the opportunity to now play a younger talent at gunslinger with the season lost and develop them for next season, and that’s what should be done, a new QB is not going to solve UM’s offensive issues. The system itself is broken, the defense knows what’s coming, the protection is average at best and beyond terrible at worst, and guys are not schemed open. You rarely see a receiver running free in the passing game. A new QB won’t change those simple truths, and will just be set up to fail.
Miami’s defense bounced back after a slow start. After those 17 points allowed on their first three drives through early in the second quarter, the Canes' D and Manny Diaz made the proper adjustments and started clamping down on BC. 7 of Boston College’s final 8 drives only went for 64 total yards, and BC’s final 10 points came off turnovers that had them starting inside UM’s 15 yardline. Credit should go to seniors like Sheldrick Redwine (14 tackles, PBU) and Jaquan Johnson (10 tackles, 0.5 TFL) for stepping up, keeping Miami in the game, and saving some touchdowns. Unfortunately, with the offense in shambles, Miami’s defense can’t afford to have down stretches of games and still have a chance to win, and that’s exactly what happened here.
However, the LB’s played poorly in this one. When your starting safeties have 24 combined tackles, that’s an indication that the linebackers are either missing reads or running themselves out of position too frequently. For all of the misdirection BC’s offense threw at Miami, one play that has been their bread and butter this season has been angle outside runs and they continued to run it all night against UM. Miami’s linebackers looked like they had never seen it before and AJ Dillon gashed the Canes on those runs.
Jordan continues to look like a playmaker. Despite the turmoil on the offensive side of the ball, there is at least one lone flower emerging from all the rubble. True freshman Brevin Jordan extended his team lead in receptions by snagging eight against BC and looks like the next Miami great at TE. He is just able to threaten a defense in so many different ways and is only going to get better with more experience. It will be a pleasure watching 9 progress these next few seasons.
What happens now? Unless UM loses out the rest of the season and misses a bowl, the people calling for Mark Richt’s head can pretty much forget about that. Administration is not going to make that move, but it’s clear Richt’s seat will be warmer heading into 2019. For a recent college football comparison, look no further than last season and what Michigan and Jim Harbaugh went through. After a solid first two seasons of 10 wins, Harbaugh’s third season saw a dip down to 8-5 mainly due to a pathetic offense.
There was never any real threat to Harbaugh’s job, but Michigan’s offensive coordinator and long-time Harbaugh collaborator Tim Drevno was pushed out and three new position coaches were hired on that side of the ball. Sometimes the right changes can make all the difference, and Michigan is now on the doorstep of a CFP berth this season. Similarly, UM’s administration likes the CEO role that Richt provides as head coach, but I think they learned their lesson after sitting idly by while Al Golden’s defenses spiraled out of control last time around. I expect them to push Richt for change on the offensive side of the ball, including new hires.
Grades
Offense: F
The offense recorded even less total yards than they did in the UVA loss and the only consistent way UM moved the ball was with Malik Rosier’s legs. This was against a BC defense that was ranked 73rd in the country in total defense coming in. With the game within reach down 3 at half, UM was instead shutout after halftime and turned the ball over twice. Going 8 of 17 (47%) on third downs was a bright spot, but this unit is costing Miami games right now and can’t get a grade above an F.
Defense: C-
Miami’s defense gave up a terrible 461 total yards to BC’s offense, but over half of that came on BC’s first three drives of the game. Miami adjusted pretty well from midway in the second quarter on, and the defense kept the team in the game.
Coaching: F
I can’t believe what Miami went into this game with as a gameplan, on both sides of the ball. The team looked unprepared to start the game on both offense and defense despite a two week sabbatical, and there were little to no new wrinkles thrown in on offense to try and exploit BC’s below average defense. A pathetic display from the staff yet again in a game where UM had a decided talent advantage.
The honeymoon for this staff is past over. Even with the UVA loss, Miami still had a chance to win out, win the Coastal, get to the ACC Championship, and call the season a success with some momentum for next season. Now there’s little chance that’s happening, which is inexcusable with the state of the rest of the division and the talent on this team. There will be more questions than answers heading into the off-season.
Coming off a bye week… Miami still looked completely unprepared, and not just on offense this time. The defense gave up three straight scoring drives of over 75+ yards to Boston College to open the game, and the Eagles’ offense looked plenty creative in getting those 17 points, with motions, misdirections, and trick plays. Miami’s offense, on the other hand, was the exact opposite and pretty much the same as it has been lately. It was stale and predictable and there were no real changes despite two weeks to prep. A few wildcat plays to DeeJay Dallas isn’t going to move the needle for me. Miami ran WR slants shamelessly all day until BC finally jumped the route and picked one off. The offense actually recorded less yards than last game at UVA (305 to 339). Ouch.
It’s not just this season either. Miami’s offense was inefficient in 2017 as well, and to me, the offense in 2018 is pretty much the exact same as last season. The main difference? The lack of big plays. In 2017, those explosive plays led to winning games and covered up for the fact that UM’s offense was plagued by slow starts, inefficiency, and stagnant play throughout much of the season. For whatever reason, the Canes aren’t hitting on the explosive plays like they were last season and now you’re seeing the offense on the whole for what it has been for at least two years.
Which is why, in part, it won’t matter much who the QB is. While Miami has the opportunity to now play a younger talent at gunslinger with the season lost and develop them for next season, and that’s what should be done, a new QB is not going to solve UM’s offensive issues. The system itself is broken, the defense knows what’s coming, the protection is average at best and beyond terrible at worst, and guys are not schemed open. You rarely see a receiver running free in the passing game. A new QB won’t change those simple truths, and will just be set up to fail.
Miami’s defense bounced back after a slow start. After those 17 points allowed on their first three drives through early in the second quarter, the Canes' D and Manny Diaz made the proper adjustments and started clamping down on BC. 7 of Boston College’s final 8 drives only went for 64 total yards, and BC’s final 10 points came off turnovers that had them starting inside UM’s 15 yardline. Credit should go to seniors like Sheldrick Redwine (14 tackles, PBU) and Jaquan Johnson (10 tackles, 0.5 TFL) for stepping up, keeping Miami in the game, and saving some touchdowns. Unfortunately, with the offense in shambles, Miami’s defense can’t afford to have down stretches of games and still have a chance to win, and that’s exactly what happened here.
However, the LB’s played poorly in this one. When your starting safeties have 24 combined tackles, that’s an indication that the linebackers are either missing reads or running themselves out of position too frequently. For all of the misdirection BC’s offense threw at Miami, one play that has been their bread and butter this season has been angle outside runs and they continued to run it all night against UM. Miami’s linebackers looked like they had never seen it before and AJ Dillon gashed the Canes on those runs.
Jordan continues to look like a playmaker. Despite the turmoil on the offensive side of the ball, there is at least one lone flower emerging from all the rubble. True freshman Brevin Jordan extended his team lead in receptions by snagging eight against BC and looks like the next Miami great at TE. He is just able to threaten a defense in so many different ways and is only going to get better with more experience. It will be a pleasure watching 9 progress these next few seasons.
What happens now? Unless UM loses out the rest of the season and misses a bowl, the people calling for Mark Richt’s head can pretty much forget about that. Administration is not going to make that move, but it’s clear Richt’s seat will be warmer heading into 2019. For a recent college football comparison, look no further than last season and what Michigan and Jim Harbaugh went through. After a solid first two seasons of 10 wins, Harbaugh’s third season saw a dip down to 8-5 mainly due to a pathetic offense.
There was never any real threat to Harbaugh’s job, but Michigan’s offensive coordinator and long-time Harbaugh collaborator Tim Drevno was pushed out and three new position coaches were hired on that side of the ball. Sometimes the right changes can make all the difference, and Michigan is now on the doorstep of a CFP berth this season. Similarly, UM’s administration likes the CEO role that Richt provides as head coach, but I think they learned their lesson after sitting idly by while Al Golden’s defenses spiraled out of control last time around. I expect them to push Richt for change on the offensive side of the ball, including new hires.
Grades
Offense: F
The offense recorded even less total yards than they did in the UVA loss and the only consistent way UM moved the ball was with Malik Rosier’s legs. This was against a BC defense that was ranked 73rd in the country in total defense coming in. With the game within reach down 3 at half, UM was instead shutout after halftime and turned the ball over twice. Going 8 of 17 (47%) on third downs was a bright spot, but this unit is costing Miami games right now and can’t get a grade above an F.
Defense: C-
Miami’s defense gave up a terrible 461 total yards to BC’s offense, but over half of that came on BC’s first three drives of the game. Miami adjusted pretty well from midway in the second quarter on, and the defense kept the team in the game.
Coaching: F
I can’t believe what Miami went into this game with as a gameplan, on both sides of the ball. The team looked unprepared to start the game on both offense and defense despite a two week sabbatical, and there were little to no new wrinkles thrown in on offense to try and exploit BC’s below average defense. A pathetic display from the staff yet again in a game where UM had a decided talent advantage.
