No other way to put it, the interior line did not play well against Wake Forest.

Mario said it himself on the Joe Rose Show, center was fine, tackles were fine, guards were "hit or miss." When a coach uses a phrase like that, it means more down than up.

Rewatching the tape and talking to people inside the building, here's the read: this isn't a "these are our five" situation. It's fluid. Nobody's job is safe except maybe McCoy and Samson, who've earned it. Everybody else is auditioning.

Ahmmon watched the tape multiple times and here were his biggest gripes.

Darian Mensah getting drilled on free runs - A safety got a free release from eight yards out and hit Mensah full speed, untouched, right in the ribs. Ahmmon's blunt about it: that cannot happen. Mensah is one of the best quarterbacks in college football, and you can't let him play scared or uncomfortable in the pocket because the interior can't communicate. That's on the guards, not on him.

He wants to see the guards fight back, literally - He doesn't see any "nasty streak" from the interior. Guys get put on the ground and just stay there instead of getting up and looking for the next rep to make right. He compared it to watching a street fight where one guy won't swing back. He's not saying these guys lack toughness as people, he's saying it's not showing up on gameday yet.

The screen-heavy second half wasn't Dawson being scared; it was self-preservation - Ahmmon defended the play-calling shift. If your interior can't create push and your quarterback keeps getting popped, you check the ball down and get it out fast. Wake Forest sensed the O-line couldn't handle stunts and mug looks in the interior and they just kept living there. Every team left on the schedule saw that tape too, and they're going to do the same thing until Miami proves it can block it.

The tackles have been the opposite of the preseason question mark - Coming out of camp, the concern was whether Samson could hold up and how McCoy would handle tackle. Instead, the tackles have been "lights out" and it's the interior that's been the problem. Mark Fletcher will hit a 15-20 yard run on a good rep and then the next snap is a two-yard loss. That inconsistency, Ahmmon says, is the O-line's Achilles heel right now, and it has to get fixed by finding a way to string together at least a couple of consistent quarters before we ask for more.

Cantwell's spring hype was real, and so is the adjustment - Ahmmon owns some of the offseason praise. Cantwell was performing at left tackle in the spring, blocking one-on-ones cleanly. But practice reps against the same D-linemen every day aren't the same as a live game against a new opponent who's scouted your weaknesses and is going to attack them for four quarters. Guard is also a new position for him, and there's a mental adjustment that comes with that on top of a completely different level of competition.

He wants Cantwell on the field even knowing the risk - Ahmmon's honest that this could go either way. If Cantwell has three great series and then gets exposed once, the fanbase reaction could get ugly fast for a true freshman, especially with the money attached to his recruitment. But his take is you don't develop a player by keeping him on the bench. Put him in, let him take his lumps, and he'll learn by doing.

Putting it plainly: patience is not the same thing as satisfaction. We're not there yet up front, and everybody in that building knows it.

Check out the full breakdown on YouTube:

 

Devoured this whole post in 90 seconds.

Thats how unnerving the IOL play is to date.

Nasty streak, looking for work -- thats what is absolutely missing so far.

 

Center being fine is certainly a take.

 

Quite frankly, its not all on the players, the coaching on both sides of the ball has been drek.

Was anyone surprised by our guard play at Wake? And if their play has been so poor, why not already make changes? And dont get me started on our play calling.

On defense, we are missing 3 of our best corners, and you start the game with your two slowest LB's?

 

There was absolutely no reason for Cantwell to not get snaps at Guard when the score was 31-13, and I'm the first guy who acknowledges that you need cohesion on your line. But those guys had played 45+ snaps already at that point, there is no one on Earth who looks at SJ and sees anything but an average guard, and that's if he improves significantly. So it's imperative you find someone who *might* be able to get to above-average. I'm fine with the staff putting the line out there that they did to this point, it's obviously who they felt was best, and I trust them to know what they're looking at. But, for whatever reason, when the lights are on, the interior is not very good.

If that reason is that those 3 are genuinely the best you have right now, and it's by such a margin that they play 71 snaps and all the other kids play 0, then we have some real problems and Mensah/Dawson better be more on point than they've been in their entire lives if we're going to field the offense we all thought we were capable of before the season.

The skill talent has been more than as advertised. But if what we're seeing in Game 3 is what we get in Game 14, someone's gonna end us. Other kids simply have to get more reps. Especially in SJ's spot, I'm sorry, there is zero ceiling there at his size, and the floor looks to be in the basement as well. Start whoever you feel is your 3rd best guard against Central Michigan and see what happens. I cannot imagine the tape will be worse than what's been put out thus far.

 

Francis was not perfect his TF season. He allowed 23 pressures and was penalized 9 times, by far the most on the team. But we all remember the block he had against Louisville in space, how he improved with each game and series.

Point is, even the 5-star OL will have growing pains. No one should care if Cantwell struggles here and there. But like Ahmmon said, he cannot take lumps or learn to adjust on the fly if he’s riding pine.

Start him.

 

Kick McCoy inside and put Cantwell @ RT. As so many have said, no way he underperforms what we've seen @ LG. Rotate Congdon and Buchanan @ RG (or anyone else besides standing pat).

And I'm sorry, but C is also an issue, imo. Wish we had a capable back-up here to take over. Heck, I think Rodriguez did better @ G than he has @ C. He could help shore up there.

 

No other way to put it, the interior line did not play well against Wake Forest.

Mario said it himself on the Joe Rose Show, center was fine, tackles were fine, guards were "hit or miss." When a coach uses a phrase like that, it means more down than up.

Rewatching the tape and talking to people inside the building, here's the read: this isn't a "these are our five" situation. It's fluid. Nobody's job is safe except maybe McCoy and Samson, who've earned it. Everybody else is auditioning.

Ahmmon watched the tape multiple times and here were his biggest gripes.

Darian Mensah getting drilled on free runs - A safety got a free release from eight yards out and hit Mensah full speed, untouched, right in the ribs. Ahmmon's blunt about it: that cannot happen. Mensah is one of the best quarterbacks in college football, and you can't let him play scared or uncomfortable in the pocket because the interior can't communicate. That's on the guards, not on him.

No defense to SJ or any other OL…Yes there's been some free runs and I agree it can't be because of a missed communication. But for the most part he's been protected very well.

The screen-heavy second half wasn't Dawson being scared; it was self-preservation - Ahmmon defended the play-calling shift. If your interior can't create push and your quarterback keeps getting popped, you check the ball down and get it out fast. Wake Forest sensed the O-line couldn't handle stunts and mug looks in the interior and they just kept living there. Every team left on the schedule saw that tape too, and they're going to do the same thing until Miami proves it can block it.

Meh… At the time we started the repeated screen nonsense, we were 150 yards on the ground on like 5.7 yards per carry. The repeated screens were stupidity.

 

Francis was not perfect his TF season. He allowed 23 pressures and was penalized 9 times, by far the most on the team. But we all remember the block he had against Louisville in space, how he improved with each game and series.

Point is, even the 5-star OL will have growing pains. No one should care if Cantwell struggles here and there. But like Ahmmon said, he cannot take lumps or learn to adjust on the fly if he’s riding pine.

Start him.

Might as well, we certainly are paying him like a starter.

 

SJ is too limited physically there isn’t even upside to him starting. If both SJ and Cantwell are going to make mistakes might as well go with the 6’8 monster who once he figures it out can dominate. If this was baseball would you rather the .200 hitter who hits singles or the .200 who hits home runs?

 

Nothing will change into the interior online causes an injury or cost a game

 

They better get better fast

 

Francis was not perfect his TF season. He allowed 23 pressures and was penalized 9 times, by far the most on the team. But we all remember the block he had against Louisville in space, how he improved with each game and series.

Point is, even the 5-star OL will have growing pains. No one should care if Cantwell struggles here and there. But like Ahmmon said, he cannot take lumps or learn to adjust on the fly if he’s riding pine.

Start him.

A very clear example of the difference between staying at Slappy HS in Missou while playing one single ranked DL all season (3*) and spending time at IMG with more ranked players in one practice rep on DL than JC saw in his entire season.

Add to that the S&C and adjustment to Florida and it's a no brainer to funnel a guy like that to IMG. Turn it into your Hargrave.

OL is the only position where I truly feel that it matters re going to IMG for a year. Mauigoa had struggles as a TF but he was drastically ahead of JC and Ben C

 

Just when I thought Mario was done being stubborn

 

I love AR and I love the show now. I listen to it every day. One thing I would respectfully disagree with is the idea that we have to be considerate of McCoy’s new position and the fact that he wants to play that position. At the end of the day, these guys are all highly paid athletes now. This is professional sports. It would be better for him to be at guard and for Cantwell to be at tackle. I just hope the coaches make that decision because, at the very least, it gives you two powerful players up front, and you have to assume Cantwell can be powerful in the run game. I don’t know, man. A bad interior offensive line can make every game close and can ruin a season. So my hope is that they figure something out here.

 

I said it week 1 in the gameday thread that I didn’t like the DL or IOL play. DL is finding its legs. IOL has not, and if it can’t, we will drop some games we have no business dropping. Things need to get fixed in a hurry.