- Joined
- Dec 8, 2025
- Messages
- 90
First off, happy new year Cane family! It was great watching meaningful Miami football this late in the year, it’s been a long time. As many of you said, this season is already a success post A&M, so this is just gravy on top. Here’s some of my reflections upon rewatch:
-After the first drive (offense and defense), I immediately felt like we could take these guys - we looked like the more physical team. I remember vividly the Bama season opener in 2021, multiple games against Clemson when they were good, when it was just clear after the first drive that we could not compete with them and it wasn’t going to be competitive. We no longer have that issue
-Watching this team in this game felt like watching a boxer repeatedly get blows to the body and just wear their opponent down. Jakobe Thomas laid a few big hits. Poyser delivered a big hit on Smith over the middle. On offense, Mark Fletcher runs over their all world LB Styles. These plays set the tone. And what happens then in the 4th? Carnell Tate alligator arms a critical 3rd down. Get in the head, the body will follow
-Carson Beck let his nuts hang. Worth the NIL we paid him just for this performance alone. You could tell he heard the national narrative around him being a weak link and took it to heart. He was decisive and took what the defense gave him. I loved that we incorporated more of his scrambling ability. Ultimately, Dawson pulled some great play calls on 3rd and 4th down, but Beck had to execute them with his arm and legs, plain and simple.
-To win this game, we knew we’d need contributions at critical times from our role players. Bain will be Bain, Mesidor will be Mesidor, Scott will be Scott. But the others needed to have elite moments / drives. There was a couple that exemplified that for me. Mo Toure took over a drive in the 2nd quarter when Ohio State was backed up against their goal line. Had an excellent run fit tackle against Bo Jackson to keep it to no gain. Then next play they tried to set up the TE screen and excellent play recognition to come back and disrupt it (and lay the boom). Another was the Wes Bissainthe sack. He just bulldozed Bo Jackson and got to the QB. That’s a real, “I’m a senior, you’re a freshman, I’m not letting you stop me” kind of moment.
-KEIONTE SCOTT. What else is there to say. The pick 6 was *chefs kiss*, seeing Smith and Inniss chase him hopelessly. And an underrated play is how he blew up the J Smith reverse with his tackle in the 3rd, that was amazing eye discipline. It would’ve been a pretty big gain otherwise
-Malachi Toney had his worst game as a Cane. They smothered him of course, but you can’t cough up the ball twice. That’s three fumbles now in 2 playoff games. You can bet our opponents will be looking to punch the ball out from him going forward. Still love the kid, but I wonder if he’s wearing down with the long season and extra attention defenses are giving him. To be expected of course, he’ll just need to get in the weight room in the offseason.
-Huge shout out to the fans. I couldn’t make it for this one but you could feel the Canes presence on TV. At the coin toss, there was a very audible “Let’s Go Canes” chant. It was awesome
-OJ looked like CB1, was doing the best against their WRS, had some nice coverage plays in phase. Lucas was getting deep fried. Really hope OJ can return for the rest of the playoffs, bodies are getting thin back there
-Refs were okay but we got shorted on quite a few calls that could’ve been very impactful. Our DL got held got a few times. That Carson Beck first down run being overturned was absolute bull****. If we lost we’d be talking about that a lot more. J Smith pushed off on OJ on his first down back shoulder fade. CJ Daniels should’ve drawn a PI on his deep ball.
-Marquise Lightfoot is going to be a DUDE. If he can just become a bit more of an every down edge player, this is the next guy I see becoming All-ACC, all American type potential. He has twitch, bend, speed but also gives max effort (like on his sack)
-Bobby Pruitt is a dawg on kick off coverage lol laying the boom. Shades of Carl Walker from the early 2000s
-Hats off to Carter Davis. It’s not easy going 1-4, then coming back and nailing a 50 yarder against the #1 team in the country. And the timing was critical, they just opened the second half with a TD.
-Marty Brown played like a man in the late 4th. Extremely ballsy move from the staff to sub him in a game of this magnitude that late but boy do they look like geniuses now that it worked. I was screaming, just don’t fumble lol, Ohio State was stripping at that ball something serious
All in all, last night felt like one of those games where Miami didn’t just show up, but announced itself as belonging on the field with anyone. It wasn’t perfect, and it didn’t need to be. The Canes played physical, confident football, responded when punched, and never looked intimidated by the logo across from them. This isn’t redemption from 2002, but it sure feels sweet. Let’s go 1-0 next week.
