Yeah, I know this is super late( I went to the game and didn't come home till late Sunday night and was busy tying up loose ends all of today) so I apologize for the tardiness and for what most likely will be a lot of me repeating what has probably been said ad nauseam since late Saturday.
And in the words of the great Ed Reed:"I'm hurt dawg."
There's no other way to say it. This one stings. It's funny, but in recent years I've gone to many more Canes losses( some of the absolute blowouts) than victories as I seem to enjoy big UM road games than the stale atmosphere of Pro Player Sun Life Landshark Stadium. And because of that I've seen the Canes get drilled by Oklahoma, lose at the Horseshoe of the Ohio State and run over in Lincoln by the Huskers. But this game was different. This was that rare UM home game that was going to have a real collegiate atmosphere to it and I thought a great chance for Miami to make a statement on a national stage.
In boxing's parlance, they had a punchers chance. And early on they staggered the defending champions, had them on the ropes, but alas, could never deliver the knockout blow and faded during the championship rounds.
I can't lie, in recent years I've been desensitized to Miami losses as they become much more frequent than they once were. They are no longer gut-wrenching, leave you in a trance and sick to your stomach as they once did when losses were so rare and unexpected. Well, this was a loss that did all three at once. As I went down the circular walkway from high atop the upper reaches of Pro Player Stadium, I was bitterly stunned and disappointed by what had just unfolded and to hear Nole fans chant whatever it is they chant and taunt Miami fans left me ill. This was a game that was there to be won, had to be won( Al Golden desperately needed this one - and no, I'm not saying his job was on the line) and the fan-base demanded. Miami alums and fans from South Florida and far beyond showed up believing this was the time that a defining moment or turning point would take place.
For a majority of the game, Miami was in control, but ultimately, they couldn't get it done.
Yeah, I'm hurt dawg. There's no other way to say it.
- OK, instead of rehashing all the points( again, it's probably been stated many times over) I just wanted to focus in on this one play: Standish Dobard's fumble in the third. To me, this was the most pivotal of mistakes. It was a nice throw in a tight window by Brad Kaaya and beyond that, had gotten UM into FSU territory and at the very least close to field goal range. IIRC, the score was 23-17 and it was key that Miami make that a two score game, again - which they never did. When FSU recovered, many of us had that sinking feeling of impending doom.
- Kaaya played a very strong game( especially in the first half) but what was really frustrating is that in the second half it seemed that literally every pass that was deflected by FSU, it looked from my end zone seat that we had guys open( Yearby out in the flat or Dobard down the seam for what could've been a touchdown). Meanwhile, Jamies Winston gets a pass deflected and Karlos Williams goes all Franco Harris with it. FSU in many ways leads a charmed life.
- There's a great debate on whether our staff from an offensive standpoint got conservative. Honestly, Im not sure. I thought UM did a pretty good job running the ball consistently( Duke had 27 carries for 130 and a TD) and as 5XNC pointed out, if James Coley starts chucking it all over to no success in the second half, then the cry would be that he ignored his strength. Again, to my prior point, I saw pass deflections on Kaaya where our guys were running free.
But when you play the Noles, you have to keep scoring throughout. Miami scored just 3 points in the last two quarters - that's simply not good enough. FSU comes at you in waves and Dalvin Cook is a Mariano Rivera-like closer against defenses with tired legs and as a unit they believe that they are never beaten and just keeps plugging away. As Kaaya becomes the dominant factor in this offense next season, I'd like to see Miami play a more up-tempo type of game for all four quarters, make the goal to score at least 40 points in each game. Golden, in my opinion, has to do a better job of going to the whip and not just be content to milk the clock with second half leads.
- Again, I don't want to belabor what has probably been said before, so I'll go with this: the most enduring memory I'll have of this game actually after it was done. I was near the team buses waiting for a few people and I happen to see Denzel Perryman go towards his mother( I assume) and another female, he was greeted by them and you could clearly see he had tears running down his face. He literally collapsed in their arms and honestly, it seemed like they were carrying him forward as they headed towards their car on the way home. Perryman was spent and he had nothing left but his emotion. You couldn't help but feel for this guy. This was his last crack against the arch-rival and they came up excruciatingly close.
Perryman has been a solid Hurricane since day one, and in what has been a forgettable era of UM football, guys like he and Duke have held things down heroically and will go on to have very good pro careers. It's unfortunate that they didn't have a better fate during their time at Coral Gables.
As I saw Perryman walk off, I thought to myself,"This f'n staff owes it to guys like Denzel to be better. They ought to see this."Now, I admit, looking back, that's a bit unfair. Admittedly, I was pretty upset myself and I know the staff understands that games like this will determine their livelyhoods. Again, I'm hurt, but not nearly as much as Denzel was. I saw a lot of players afterwords as they came out, none were as crestfallen as he was.
That's a true 'Cane right there.
- Looking ahead, UVA is a tricky game. They aren't horrible, have a blitzing D and it's prime time and let's face it, we all know that the possibility of a huge letdown exists coming off this emotionally exhausting loss. I can't lie, I'm worried about this game.( And yeah, I know, I know, but as DMoney once said, we only get 12/13 Miami games a year, outside of boxing - which is my job - Hurricane football is my biggest passion. So yeah, I still give a **** about this game. And I plan on watching every single game of the Kaaya era.) And to be honest, Miami-UVa will be a decent undercard before the Pacquiao-Algieri fight.
- This was pointed out to me by a fellow Canes fan( who hates Golden, by the way) that next year we go into the season without Phillip Dorsett, Clive Walford( who is no worse than the second best TE in college football, IMO) Jon Feliciano, Denzel, Thurston Armbrister Anthony Chickillo, and of course Duke Johnson. For all this talk of Miami being young, they actually lose a load of talent, too. And speaking of which, can you really say this should be a four loss team ten games into the season? But I digress, has Miami recruited well enough the last two seasons to replenish the two-deep? I really hope Pentagon Cane is prophetic in his forecast of our 2015 squad.
- Finally, there was a great scene at All-Canes on Sunday afternoon, Howard Schnellenberger was there to do a book signing( hey, I bought one, the guy built this program) and Kaaya got to meet him. Hopefully this is an omen. Later on Courtel Jenkins came in, as did Ryan Fines and his family( very nice people). For those who care, there is a rumor that UM may ditch Nike and go with Adidas, which makes me ill. Sorry, I hate what Adidas does with football uni's and I'm a big Swoosh guy.
- So there it is, excuse me while I go throw up( again). Regardless, lets go Canes....
And in the words of the great Ed Reed:"I'm hurt dawg."
There's no other way to say it. This one stings. It's funny, but in recent years I've gone to many more Canes losses( some of the absolute blowouts) than victories as I seem to enjoy big UM road games than the stale atmosphere of Pro Player Sun Life Landshark Stadium. And because of that I've seen the Canes get drilled by Oklahoma, lose at the Horseshoe of the Ohio State and run over in Lincoln by the Huskers. But this game was different. This was that rare UM home game that was going to have a real collegiate atmosphere to it and I thought a great chance for Miami to make a statement on a national stage.
In boxing's parlance, they had a punchers chance. And early on they staggered the defending champions, had them on the ropes, but alas, could never deliver the knockout blow and faded during the championship rounds.
I can't lie, in recent years I've been desensitized to Miami losses as they become much more frequent than they once were. They are no longer gut-wrenching, leave you in a trance and sick to your stomach as they once did when losses were so rare and unexpected. Well, this was a loss that did all three at once. As I went down the circular walkway from high atop the upper reaches of Pro Player Stadium, I was bitterly stunned and disappointed by what had just unfolded and to hear Nole fans chant whatever it is they chant and taunt Miami fans left me ill. This was a game that was there to be won, had to be won( Al Golden desperately needed this one - and no, I'm not saying his job was on the line) and the fan-base demanded. Miami alums and fans from South Florida and far beyond showed up believing this was the time that a defining moment or turning point would take place.
For a majority of the game, Miami was in control, but ultimately, they couldn't get it done.
Yeah, I'm hurt dawg. There's no other way to say it.
- OK, instead of rehashing all the points( again, it's probably been stated many times over) I just wanted to focus in on this one play: Standish Dobard's fumble in the third. To me, this was the most pivotal of mistakes. It was a nice throw in a tight window by Brad Kaaya and beyond that, had gotten UM into FSU territory and at the very least close to field goal range. IIRC, the score was 23-17 and it was key that Miami make that a two score game, again - which they never did. When FSU recovered, many of us had that sinking feeling of impending doom.
- Kaaya played a very strong game( especially in the first half) but what was really frustrating is that in the second half it seemed that literally every pass that was deflected by FSU, it looked from my end zone seat that we had guys open( Yearby out in the flat or Dobard down the seam for what could've been a touchdown). Meanwhile, Jamies Winston gets a pass deflected and Karlos Williams goes all Franco Harris with it. FSU in many ways leads a charmed life.
- There's a great debate on whether our staff from an offensive standpoint got conservative. Honestly, Im not sure. I thought UM did a pretty good job running the ball consistently( Duke had 27 carries for 130 and a TD) and as 5XNC pointed out, if James Coley starts chucking it all over to no success in the second half, then the cry would be that he ignored his strength. Again, to my prior point, I saw pass deflections on Kaaya where our guys were running free.
But when you play the Noles, you have to keep scoring throughout. Miami scored just 3 points in the last two quarters - that's simply not good enough. FSU comes at you in waves and Dalvin Cook is a Mariano Rivera-like closer against defenses with tired legs and as a unit they believe that they are never beaten and just keeps plugging away. As Kaaya becomes the dominant factor in this offense next season, I'd like to see Miami play a more up-tempo type of game for all four quarters, make the goal to score at least 40 points in each game. Golden, in my opinion, has to do a better job of going to the whip and not just be content to milk the clock with second half leads.
- Again, I don't want to belabor what has probably been said before, so I'll go with this: the most enduring memory I'll have of this game actually after it was done. I was near the team buses waiting for a few people and I happen to see Denzel Perryman go towards his mother( I assume) and another female, he was greeted by them and you could clearly see he had tears running down his face. He literally collapsed in their arms and honestly, it seemed like they were carrying him forward as they headed towards their car on the way home. Perryman was spent and he had nothing left but his emotion. You couldn't help but feel for this guy. This was his last crack against the arch-rival and they came up excruciatingly close.
Perryman has been a solid Hurricane since day one, and in what has been a forgettable era of UM football, guys like he and Duke have held things down heroically and will go on to have very good pro careers. It's unfortunate that they didn't have a better fate during their time at Coral Gables.
As I saw Perryman walk off, I thought to myself,"This f'n staff owes it to guys like Denzel to be better. They ought to see this."Now, I admit, looking back, that's a bit unfair. Admittedly, I was pretty upset myself and I know the staff understands that games like this will determine their livelyhoods. Again, I'm hurt, but not nearly as much as Denzel was. I saw a lot of players afterwords as they came out, none were as crestfallen as he was.
That's a true 'Cane right there.
- Looking ahead, UVA is a tricky game. They aren't horrible, have a blitzing D and it's prime time and let's face it, we all know that the possibility of a huge letdown exists coming off this emotionally exhausting loss. I can't lie, I'm worried about this game.( And yeah, I know, I know, but as DMoney once said, we only get 12/13 Miami games a year, outside of boxing - which is my job - Hurricane football is my biggest passion. So yeah, I still give a **** about this game. And I plan on watching every single game of the Kaaya era.) And to be honest, Miami-UVa will be a decent undercard before the Pacquiao-Algieri fight.
- This was pointed out to me by a fellow Canes fan( who hates Golden, by the way) that next year we go into the season without Phillip Dorsett, Clive Walford( who is no worse than the second best TE in college football, IMO) Jon Feliciano, Denzel, Thurston Armbrister Anthony Chickillo, and of course Duke Johnson. For all this talk of Miami being young, they actually lose a load of talent, too. And speaking of which, can you really say this should be a four loss team ten games into the season? But I digress, has Miami recruited well enough the last two seasons to replenish the two-deep? I really hope Pentagon Cane is prophetic in his forecast of our 2015 squad.
- Finally, there was a great scene at All-Canes on Sunday afternoon, Howard Schnellenberger was there to do a book signing( hey, I bought one, the guy built this program) and Kaaya got to meet him. Hopefully this is an omen. Later on Courtel Jenkins came in, as did Ryan Fines and his family( very nice people). For those who care, there is a rumor that UM may ditch Nike and go with Adidas, which makes me ill. Sorry, I hate what Adidas does with football uni's and I'm a big Swoosh guy.
- So there it is, excuse me while I go throw up( again). Regardless, lets go Canes....
