HurricaneVision
Staff Writer
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2012
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You know the drill, this post will be long. It will contain lots of stills of the game, rather than gifs. If that isn’t for you, no worries. I use stills to show nuance and details that get lost when you see gifs. That doesn’t mean you can’t follow along with the game and see what I’m looking at. These reviews are time consuming, so if you enjoy my work I would appreciate a follow on Twitter [MENTION=5374]HurricaneVision[/MENTION]
On the kickoff Amari Carter splits two blockers and makes a great tackle.
On first down, McIntosh beats a block at the snap, jumps into the backfield and makes a tackle for loss. Joe Jackson also held the edge well and gets an assist. Not pictured.
If you want an example of why Jaquan Johnson has emerged as a legit stud safety, here is one. Jaquan sees this play right here. He knows he has the jet sweep. Redwine also does his job as he immediately sees the jet sweep man go in motion and he is now going to change to a single-high look and be responsible deep. Jackson has to also understand he no longer has a deep safety to his side. For Jaquan he makes this tackle after a gain of one. This is another example of why I say those who indicate slow corners can just be safeties. I believe straight-line speed is even more important at S than CB and here is why. A step slower and he’s sealed inside and this is a good run. Second photo shows the excellent ope-field skills he has. He actually goes to the outside spot for the RB and forces him back inside rather than running to where the RB is that second. That means he has to make the tackle or the RB gets the edge. This way, even if he misses the tackle he has LB’s to help get him down. Excellent, excellent play.
One issue that we have on third down is showing our blitzes too early because teams are using tempo to make it where we don’t know when they’re going to snap it. We show the FS blitz very early here and show that we are moving to a single-high S look, rather than a two-deep. You can see Jaquan is backpedaling to get to single-high while Redwine is moving to the LOS to blitz. At the :29 second mark on the play clock the QB steps back and looks at the coaches who change the play when they see Redwine is blitzing and the defensive look has changed. I’d like to see us play more coverage on third down and not try these long blitz packages that are getting seen easily because of the offense’s tempo. As an aside, this is another reason team’s use tempo- it’s not just to wear out an opponent or prevent them from subbing, it’s also to get them to show the defense early and then give the offense time to audible based on what the defense is doing. We sent Redwine anyway, even though they didn’t snap it until :09 on the play clock and only a bad pass prevented a pickup from a wide-open middle of the field. This was bad defensive playcalling by the coaches.
Berrios with a nice punt return to get it out to midfield. Not pictured.
First down, the play is blown up by poor blocking. Richards is just destroyed on the edge by the CB. St. Louis does not get to his reach block on the pull, Mahoney is pushed back from his RG spot and forces the RB wider. This play had no chance and one of the key reasons is how much Richards was pushed back into the backfield, which shut down the edge. The CB makes the tackle for a loss of three.
Second down, Mahoney loses to the DT, who you can’t really see but is already diving to bring down Homer, which makes it where he has to stop his feet. If Mahoney holds his block this is a nice gain.
Third down, I have no idea what Rosier is looking at here. The LB is standing right there and had perfect depth in his drop. He gets right to the sticks, where he should be and reads the QB’s eyes. He’s trying to go to Berrios on the square-in, but this is just not open. He’s lucky this isn’t picked. You can see the ball on the 42-yard line and the LB has his arms the wrong way to catch it or it’s a pick. This is a pattern-match combination that Michigan State made famous on defense and Florida State used to confuse Rosier earlier this year as well. Thus far, the UNC coaches have far outschemed our coaches, but our OL was the culprit on 1st & 2nd down.
On first down, we have made an adjustment on defense from the previous game against Syracuse. When they send the jet sweep man in motion we are mirroring our safeties. Remember back to the play above where Jaquan came downhill and made the play, that’s what I’m talking about when they send that man in motion we are just replacing the safety on the opposite side and sending the other into a single-high look. That means Jaquan is running all the way to the LOS from his safety position running to defend that WR. UNC runs the ball on a counter back into the jet sweep (an adjustment to our adjustment, of course). We have the play defended. We just miss the tackle. Joe Jackson and Richard McIntosh miss the tackle in the hole, McCloud overruns the play (he needs to have his outside shoulder outside of the RB so he can get to that gap, but has to be able to retrace down and make this tackle). McCloud is the biggest offender here, but Jackson needs to make the tackle.
From there, Redwine is coming downhill here and misses the tackle by taking a terrible angle and not breaking down in space. Michael Jackson gets blocked on the edge and then misses the tackle (a no-no). I want to highlight two things here at the end of this huge run. Jaquan Johnson turned from the 16-yard line on the complete opposite end of the field and gets all the way to the other side of the field at the other 40-yard line and gets in the way of the RB enough to get him down. Second, look at how athletic McIntosh is and the effort he displays on this run. He never stops running and is actually the man who brings down the RB because Jaquan didn’t quite get him down. These are winning plays.
Next running play I have another issue with McCloud. Here, he is taking on the block with one shoulder and making it easy for the blocker to seal him inside away from the RB. If he goes right at the blocker and extends and locks out his arms, he can control this FB and push him back into the backfield towards the RB. That would force the RB to widen out his arc and make this a tackle for loss. Instead the RB cuts off the outside hip of the FB and gets into that hole for a gain of a couple. Gotta be physical and maul that FB with arms extended on this play.
Next play they run QB power and Pinckney comes to the RB on his heels and this RB rocks him. He knocks Pinckney on his back on this play and the QB has a wide-open lane. Pinckney has to attack the blocker with arms extended, control the blocker, come off and make the tackle. He’s right in position but UNC is being far more physical with our LB’s right now. You don’t ever want your LB’s getting pancaked by RB’s.
Next play, this just can’t happen. Demetrius takes far too shallow of an angle and gives up the edge. We have this play decimated. It’s dead in the backfield. Simply make the tackle. Instead, we overplayed the dive and he runs around the edge for a first down. If Jackson stays upfield like his responsibility, he makes this tackle for a two-yard loss. Yuck. A positive is look at Michael Jackson get rocked by a pulling G. He actually takes this contact, recovers, and makes the tackle a half-yard past the sticks.
Next play we blitz six and Redwine is in coverage deep. Malek is tasked with defending two players (short zone first, then sink to get deep). The plan is for the rush to get there before a route like this can take place but we didn’t even pressure the QB who had a wide-open lane. If the WR doesn’t tackle himself it’s a TD. Not pictured.
They run a dive from the one and Pinckney is a free rusher and hits the RB a yard in the backfield. RB falls forward, but they review it and he’s down before getting into the end zone. Not pictured.
On second down, McIntosh wins with an arm over move right at the snap, flows into the gap, fills it up and tackles him for a loss. Chad Thomas got up and gave the U sign, and the announcers credited him, but it was McIntosh. Not pictured.
On third down they run a play-action rollout and they’ve got a backside TE coming wide-open on a crosser. Demetrius Jackson reads the rollout, then gets his hand up to tip the ball when the QB tries to throw. This play saved a TD right here.
On fourth down, Shaq reads it perfectly, shows off nice athleticism to run down the QB and make a huge tackle for loss. This was a very big goal line stand, where each play had an individual win their responsibility. This drive saw Jaquan show unbelievable effort, McIntosh run a guy down 53 yards from the LOS, a replay review overturns a TD, McIntosh whips a blocker, Demetrius tips a pass, and Shaq be a missile. There are bad plays from our defense, but this drive shows the individual talent we have as well if we can get it to perform on a consistent basis each play. Not pictured.
First down, UNC puts their LB on the LOS and runs a blitz. They stunt their DE around the LB and Gauthier doesn’t recognize it and double teams the LB and leaves the DE with a free shot on Rosier. Luckily, the official picks the defender for our checkdown Homer and we get a huge play on a nice catch and Rosier does a nice job of taking the hit and still throwing the pass. The OL has really played poorly today. UNC came into this game with an outstanding game plan, honestly. They planned to attack the C and RG spots on our OL, as well as the edges. They double teamed Richards and Berrios a ton and forced others to beat them. Honestly, that really bothered Rosier, who is still a one-read, one-half the field type QB who faced quick pressure when the OL lost quickly or got confused by their stunts.
Homer gets it just past midfield and this is where Miami played poorly all game. There was very little situational awareness to move into the scoring zone from the opponents territory in this game. Rosier steps up nicely and runs to the 41-yard line to bring up second and three. UNC jumps offsides to give us a first down. Not pictured.
Next play we throw deep to Thomas (no idea how the announcers have mixed up Berrios and Thomas on their call), who was blanketed. Herndon was open on an inside-out combo route that would’ve gotten five or six, but I understand taking the shot as well. Not pictured.
Second down just shows you how little things have been bothering us all year. We have a screen called and it’s there. I mean, it is there. Rosier has to throw it just a second earlier than he wants to, and Homer can’t make this catch. Look at the blockers out in front of this play on second and ten and you can see this was a big miss that took points off the board.
Rosier is flushed from the pocket on third down and Mahoney gives up a play he just can’t give up. You can see we have the DT double-teamed and all Mahoney has to do is hold this block on the edge and we might actually pick this up. It’s disappointing to have a double team on a DT and allow him to get to your QB so easily here. Look at how straight up-and-down Mahoney is, that takes away all leverage and power and allows the DT to shed him. Pay no attention to the facemask here, the officials sure did. Note: The first picture wouldn't upload, but it shows Mahoney straight up-and-down with bad form.
On first down, the RB starts moving forward before the snap. No call. Pinckney makes a nice tackle on the QB after he runs power again.
Note: The picture doesn't upload, but the RB is moving forward before the snap and not called.
Next play, McCloud is right there. He just slips, or loses his balance or something, because he is standing right there. The RB runs exactly where he is right this second for 10 yards. He’s on the other side of #33 here. Shaq does what he’s supposed to here and seals the edge, McCloud just doesn’t make the play for some reason. You can see Pinckney here, he is responsible for tackling any cutback into that lane, but he tries to go around the OL trying to get out to him here and actually gets in Jaquan’s way who is coming downhill to fill the run lane. Bad run fits. Bad angles. Losing containment. Not being physical with blockers.
This is called for roughing the passer. It’s a really bad call. I don’t know if we needed this defender to come up since Shaq was running him down and there was an open receiver behind it because he came up, but that ball has just left the QB’s hands and it is one yard away. What’s he supposed to do? ACC officials are putting in their normal excellent work thus far.
They run a double reverse pass on the first play after the QB goes out and I’d say it works. You have to really give the UNC coaches credit in this game. They really gameplanned well. They called a beautiful game. In this case Miami was all geared up for the run after a QB goes out and they bit hard. This is actually the backup QB catching this.
They roll the QB out on first down and he doesn’t have the arm to hit the comeback route. Good pursuit by the LB’s. Second down, Chad Thomas slants down the line and pushes a RB wide. McCloud cleans it up for a loss on the play. Not pictured.
On third down, Redwine is roasted on the slant when we rush our LB’s and the QB just misses the throw. FG. Not pictured.
Shirreffs is in at QB on the next drive after a touchback. We run the bubble to Berrios, which UNC had much better alignment than past teams. Mullins loses his block badly and it gains nothing. The block on the bubble is the most important part of the entire play. Not pictured.
Next play, the DE gets too far of a push on St. Louis and bats this pass into the air. Thank goodness he did. Look at the back end of this pass where he is targeting Ahmonn Richards. This is going to get picked. This is probably a pick-6 honestly. #6 throws his hands up afterwards and shakes his head like oh my goodness, I had that one.
Third down and you see the issue with Deejay Dallas. He doesn’t know who to block here. Look at the free rusher that comes clean and Dallas is turned the wrong way blocking no one.
Shirreffs spins away and gets out of the pocket. He doesn’t realize that Dallas ran him down and made the block so he doesn’t set his feet to throw and misses a wide-open Herndon. I’m sure he was nervous, but that was a disastrous possession.
I say it every week, but Travis Homer is an elite gunner on special teams. He beats the ball to the returner and forces a fair catch. Not pictured.
First down we X-stunt our DT’s and they try to run into that gap. Darrion Owens picks the right gap and though he misses the tackle, he slowed him down enough for the DL to swallow it up for a gain of one. Not pictured.
Second down, they run the jet sweep motion and we again flip our safeties. It’s clear that’s how we are defending it this week. They give on the outside zone read option and we overrun it slightly, but Mike Smith cleans up the tackle after a gain of five. I sure wish Demetrius would just make this tackle though. He did everything but finish the play and it would’ve made this third and 12. We have a bunch of backups in on this drive.
They run a rub route on third down where they cross the slot and outside receivers. We are in man all the way and Malek Young plays it poorly. It’s wide, wide open and goes for a gain of 15. You see how the plays before third down contribute so much to the issues we have in getting off the field? Again, the UNC coaches put their players in a great place to succeed as they knew we were in man based on the pre-snap look. They looked to the sideline and then audibled to that manbeater route and picked it up. Coaching matters so much in college.
Next play McIntosh destroys the G and stops it for a loss of one. Not pictured.
Second down and this little play gives defenses fits. McIntosh plays it perfectly. He takes the outside zone rusher and has it stopped. The QB keeps on this play though. The responsibility is on Darrion Owens here and you can see his eyes squarely on the RB, and not on the QB, which is his responsibility. The QB slips into that gap and picks up a nice gain. Again, we have this defended, but the LB doesn’t make the right play. Mike Smith does a nice job smashing the QB from the backside and being where he’s supposed to be.
Chad Thomas stunts inside and gets a free rush at the QB. He has to lower his pads and hit this RB to not allow himself to be pushed away from the QB so easily. When you stunt, it tends to get pressure, but it also tends to open up wide lanes for the QB to run through or to step up. He steps up and Joe Jackson and McIntosh miss the tackle. Jaquan Johnson gets him down a yard before the first down with a phenomenal tackle. But, if we make the tackle earlier they don’t even think about going for it on 4th down.
They pick up the 4th and short on a read option QB power run. Little things matter. Details add up to your opponent scoring points and driving the ball on you. Not pictured.
Next play they run QB power off the edge and get four. Second down run the dive and Norton plugs it up for a gain of one. Not pictured.
Third down it’s stealing. Three receivers, only one defender within first down marker. QB just waits on the receivers to clear the zone and choose which one the defender doesn’t go with. Keep in mind this defense couldn’t defend a bubble screen either. I am not often overly critical of our scheme, but this defense isn’t working against this alignment. If they cross their receivers here we can’t cover it either. If they run the middle receiver into the seam deep and run double outs we can’t defend it. Basically, we can only defend the deep pass out of this alignment. We didn’t put our defense in a position to win here. The QB power scared us into keeping our LB’s inside and that makes the slant stealing money.
First down Pinckney comes clean on a twist and hits the QB as he tries to go deep. You can see the QB favoring his side after that hit. They run a bubble on second down and get three. Nicely defended. Not pictured.
Third down we have the perfect call on defense. We send the slot corner blitz (Redwine), we just play it terribly. Perry takes the inside of the OT here, as he should. Redwine needs to take the outside here to contain the edge. Going inside here not only leaves the edge open, but it also frees up #75 to block anyone coming from the backside as the QB escapes. The QB gets to the edge and runs for the first down here. That never would’ve been possible if Redwine stays outside and goes around the OT, rather than inside.
Next play, McIntosh beats his man cleanly and blows up the inside zone run. McIntosh is our best overall player. Not pictured.
They tried to block Joe Jackson with a RB and it goes exactly like it should go. We blitzed Redwine from his FS position and it finally produces a pressure. Sack. Good thing, as the WR by the Miami portion of the score is going to cut behind the corner here and be open in that area between himself and the LB.
I am taking the time to show this still only because it shows something I talk about all the time. Do your job. Don’t do the job of everyone, but just do your own. If everyone on the defense does that, we will be really good. Bandy here is not running to the RB on the screen. He is running to the outside shoulder of the OL here. Why? Because it is his job to seal the edge on this play. He actually gets past the outside shoulder of the OL and hits the RB, which slows him down and Norton cleans it up, but that’s doing your job.
They went for a fake FG and I have no idea why. Shaq was excellent on the play and makes the tackle well before the first down marker. Thank you, North Carolina. They went for it on 4th down at the goal line earlier and didn’t get it. Now they fake a 4th and 19 and don’t come close. Not pictured.
First down we throw a simple slant to Berrios, who gets a first down. Low throw from Rosier, but he’s back in the game. Second down we run a dive play and Herndon seals the edge long enough for Homer to get a nice gain. Not pictured.
Second down Thomas has his man beat on a slant and Rosier makes a bad throw. Brings up 3rd and 7. Not pictured.
Third day and Berrios is mugged on a deep route. They called a hold on Gauthier. The call on Gauthier is bad. He’s falling down as the DT comes through and that’s what made the DT fall, not Gauthier. Not pictured. Let’s speed this up some.
We pick up the third down on a slant, but look at the yards that Berrios has if Rosier makes a decent throw. Put this on the money and it might be a house call. What a catch by Berrios to grab this with all his momentum going the other direction.
First down, Rosier is high and late to Ahmonn on a square-in. Second down we run a bubble route and their nickel corner has done a great job on that all day. He stops it for a gain of three, but if Berrios gets by him it’s a big gain. Not pictured.
Third down we run an out route and the pass is a touch high, but Thomas makes a nice catch and it’s 4th and 1. We line up in the eye and sneak it for a first. We should run the sneak on any third or fourth down under a yard in my opinion. It is legal for the FB to come up and push the QB now, so we should be consistently doing that. Not pictured.
First down and Rosier comes off his reads way too early. Look at the middle of the field and you’ll see we run the shallow and deep crossers, as I’m sure you’ve all heard are a big part of Richt’s offense. Both are open. The shallow to Berrios, but also the deeper crosser to Richards are open. Next, Rosier has a lane to run if he wants to take off. Homer drops it, and that’s a good thing because he’d have lost yards. McDermott is actually holding on this play though.
Next play and Donaldson misses his assignment. He’s not supposed to block the DT here, he’s only supposed to chip him with his shoulder as he gets skinny to get by the DT and get to the white LB here. The DT knows this and gets away with a little bit of a defensive hold, but not one that’s ever called. It was just a miss by Donaldson. The LB drills Homer after a gain of two.
On third down, Gauthier loses and his DT gets by him and tips a pass right in Rosier’s face. It looked to be a back-shoulder throw to Herndon, who was not open. Gauthier and whomever has been at RG have had poor gams thus far. Not pictured.
Punt goes into end zone for a touchback. Not pictured.
They run the fly sweep on first down and Jaquan destroys it again. We have run that mirrored safety look every single time they’ve run the jet sweep motion and it’s been effective. Second down they throw a slant and get 8. Not pictured.
Third down and Knowles gets roasted on the corner route. He was going to be wide open so Knowles grabs him and gets the holding called. Not pictured.
Next play is a heck of a catch by the TE. Jackson had perfect position but the TE got his hands on Jackson and knocked him off just enough for the TE to be able to go up and get it. Good play by them.
Next play and Moten plays this wonderfully. It’s a QB draw and the playcall is perfect. We have bailed out in man-to-man and the middle of the field is wide open. Moten holds the blocker to this side and the QB reads it and goes to the other side and Moten shucks the blocker and tackles him on the other side for no gain. This is simply called making a play by Moten to save us from a bad position.
Next play Bandy is playing press on the TE who just made the big catch and he respects his speed too much. He opens his hips well before he really needs to and allows a stop route to be completed for a first down. If Bandy trusts his speed and just stays in his hip, he knocks it down at worst. Not pictured.
Next play Bandy on the edge again and they tried to same route again and McIntosh knocked it down at the LOS, but Bandy stayed on the receiver this time and had it defended well. Not pictured.
Third down they motioned the RB to the boundary and Joe Jackson ran with him. They threw a quick screen into the middle of the field right into our blitz and goes nowhere. FG. Not pictured.
After a touchback we run an inside power run and pull Darling around to kick out the LB. Mahoney loses to the DT and is on his knees here. Darling is late to getting to the LB, but Homer picks the wrong hole here. Look off of Darling’s hip there and you see a lane to getting several yards. Also, look at Herndon blocking the playside DE. My goodness that kid is an excellent blocker.
Next play, not sure what Rosier is looking at here, as Herndon is definitely not open. Look at the bottom of the screen and you will see Richards is open. Not sure why the primary is Herndon, but Rosier had to get rid of the ball after the RB missed the block.
On third down we pick it up to Thomas. Great throw by Rosier. Next play, we go deep to Richards, who was double covered. Not pictured.
Second down and Mahoney loses again to the DT. There’s a hole if Mahoney gets his block.
Then on third down Rosier flashes the skills that make you shake your head at times. How can a guy be so inaccurate and then make throws like this one? Herndon isn’t open, but Rosier has to throw it over the LB’s shoulder and in front of the other two defenders and with enough speed to get there, while still being accurate enough that Herndon can catch it and run. One of his top three throws of the year.
After a touchback they run QB power and get nothing. Then they throw an out route and get nothing. Brings up third and 10. The QB is flushed and throws into traffic down the sideline, incomplete. It’s time to punt. Not pictured.
Run a screen on first down for big yards. Second time we’ve run it and the second time it’s wide open. This time Rosier makes a better throw. Not pictured.
Next play we run a dive and Mahoney loses immediately. You can see he’s been pushed into the backfield and his man is in the hole to make the tackle.
Next play is the snap that Rosier isn’t ready for. Loss of five. We’ve been fortunate that al the tipped passes by the defensive line have fallen incomplete, as well as getting this snap back. Not pictured.
On third down, McDermott loses badly and Rosier gets hammered as he gets rid of the ball. Ouch. Not pictured. Punt.
North Carolina moves the ball before halftime, but a questionable unsportsmanlike conduct penalty effectively ends their drive. Another lucky break. Halftime.
First play of the second half is a big one. We run an RPO and Thomas gets deep. For a 78-yard TD. Excellent pass protection. Not pictured.
UNC runs a crosser on first down and it’s tipped away by Shaq. Excellent play. They run QB power on second down and McIntosh eats it up.
Third down, Demetrius Jackson does an excellent job of controlling the blocker to prevent the QB from leaving the pocket and then gets the sack. Wonderful play. Also, look at Bandy and how well he plays this zone coverage. He’s exactly where he should be to be able to cover that square-in and the flat zone to his left.
Berrios is signaling for a fair catch here in this picture. The football is coming down and is right at the middle of the curved line in the “C” of UNC emblem on your screen. My goodness, why?
First down we run an inside zone play and Darling loses right off the snap and gets pushed back. It was a bad loss that forced Homer wide and he gets nothing. Not pictured.
Second down, it’s a 6-man box. We have six blockers, and the point of the zone read is to be able to not use one of your blockers on the edge man because he’s supposed to block himself. You have to be able to run on this box to be successful. It’s a mistake for Rosier to keep here, but you can see McDermott is beat immediately and the free rusher runs right to the QB rather than crashing down. The play design was faulty because UNC overloaded the weakside of the line and you can see St. Louis doesn’t even have someone to block within 10 yards of the play. UNC has a free defender and then the boundary corner crashing on this play. An adjustment if they are going to play it this way is to pull it like Rosier does, take a step, then throw the fade to the WR who is uncovered here until the S can rotate over.
Third down and Richards runs a skinny post and it’s there. The throw is there. Richards just turns his hands the wrong way and doesn’t catch it. He tries to catch it with his palms up on a ball at his shoulders when he needs to turn his hands and have palms down and catch it with tight elbows. That allows you to have a much tighter grip on the ball and pull it into your body quickly. That’s a drop to me. I didn’t picture it because you can’t really see it clearly on the broadcast. Punt is another mediocre one.
First down they run an option and Demetrius Jackson owns this play. Plays it perfectly, gets himself down the line to take away the pitch and makes the tackle for a loss of five. Not pictured.
Second down they throw a stop route that the receiver turns inside and was supposed to turn outside. The throw was there and the receiver pats himself on the chest afterwards. Would’ve been a gain of eight, but goes incomplete. Third down pass is airmailed on the sideline. Not pictured.
Punt is blocked by Garvin. It’s a special athletic play as he splits the wedge, leaps high in the air and blocks the punt. Man’s game. Not pictured.
You wonder why we are having trouble in the red zone, here is part of the reason. The execution is just poor. We got exactly what we wanted here. We lined up in a bunch formation with Michael Irvin at the top of the formation. UNC has an 8-man box to stop the run. We run a pattern to the outside to pull away coverage to that side and hold the backside S. Richards runs an out route and we have it. This is a TD if the throw is good. Look at the corner in the end zone getting blocked by Mullins. If this pass is on target he scores a TD here. It’s wide, and Richards doesn’t catch it. He needs to go down and secure the catch, but a good throw needs to be made from a clean pocket here. Richards was visibly frustrated after the play.
Second down we just miss a block. Rosier pulls this one and a few things go wrong here. For one, I’d like to see Berrios sell this a little better and float down the line to pull his defender with him. Next, Herndon doesn’t block the edge man and instead chips him and tries to get to the nickel corner. The play is blown up there and gets only a couple.
Third down, we throw a swing pass to Homer and it’s a bad throw behind Homer, which takes away his forward momentum and he gets tackled a yard short of the first down. Rosier has really been off most of this game. FG. Not pictured.
UNC returns the kickoff to midfield after a few Canes slip and then a missed tackled. Not pictured.
First down they run a dive and get nothing. Second down gets a penalty. Replay the down. Not pictured.
They run a screen next, and Bandy does a great job of getting upfield and beating the block. Unfortunately, he misses the block and the runner gets away for a big run. Little things add up. Make this tackle and it’s 3rd and 16. They get a TD on this drive. Big difference. Still think we are blitzing too much and not making this QB read the field and beat us.
They get a toss option pitch for a first down. Then on the next play they run a backwards pass at the LOS. Malek Young bites hard, and his man has already run right by him. Throw is behind him for a TD. Worst part is we didn’t need him to bite like this as the play is defended without the pass. The UNC coaches have really been excellent today. Called everything they could against an aggressive defense to get a win. This is the TE’s first TD of his career and he throws the inverted U as a celebration. His coach told him about it afterwards, but the Miami players noticed.
Kickoff and Deejay has to take control here. Run into the end zone and tackle him if you have to, but get the signal up to take a knee here. Thomas tries to run this out and gets tackled at the seven-yard line. We have to get this figured out, as this is basically an 18-yard penalty.
First down we throw a stop route to Richards for a first down. Good throw and catch. Second down we run a dive and Gauthier has a chance to get the LB at the second level and open up a big run, but he ducks his head and loses sight of the LB who makes the tackle after a gain of six. Second down we throw deep to Mullins and it’s a bad throw and he isn’t open. Not pictured.
Third down and you have to make this throw. Thomas is wide open on the square-in and Rosier just sails the throw. Punt.
First down they run QB counter and McIntosh has the play stopped but just misses the tackle. That’s not the part that’s bad though. Darrion Owens has completely run himself out of this play. You can see him about to get blocked behind McIntosh, but he lined up on the other side of McIntosh originally but just ran way out of his gap. Bad, bad play. Do your job. Don’t try to do others. This goes for a first down.
Next play and Owens shoots a gap and makes a nice tackle for loss. Not pictured.
Second down and this is another player just not doing his responsibility. I’ve written multiple times that any time they run that jet sweep motion we mirror and replace our S to the other side. We do exactly that here. Jaquan rotates out, Redwine rotates down. You can see Redwine coming into your screen at the top to take the jet sweep motion player. Jaquan is backpedaling into single-high in the middle of your screen. McCloud is supposed to take the slot receiver. Obviously, he is lined up right over him. Instead, you can see he is driving forward to take the jet sweep receiver and no one is covering the slot man. The receiver just runs upfield and catches the ball and runs for a first down. It’s defended, the players just didn’t execute. Woof.
First down and Perry and Mike Smith make a nice play on outside zone and stop it for no gain. Not pictured.
Next play and Michael Jackson makes a great play on the ball in the air and gets an interception. The development of his ball skills and ability to make plays on the edge has been phenomenal.
We run a dive on first down and then we go deep on the next play. Berrios makes a sensational catch down the sideline. If Rosier makes a good throw this might be a TD. Instead it gets us out of our own end zone at least. Berrios toasts this defender.
First down we throw a fade to Langham, who was covered. Not pictured.
Next play Rosier gets a first down on a run down the sideline. The defender has his jersey three yards out-of-bounds and throws him down, but no call. This is an egregious no-call.
Next play and my goodness Mahoney is ragdolled. St. Louis loses on an inside stunt after Mahoney gave up that much space for the rusher to loop into. It’s St. Louis’s man that gets the sack, but Mahoney getting walked back five yards is what blew the play up. This is a drive killer right here. Plain and simple.
Next play and Mahoney is beaten badly again. The man to the left of Darling here is the rusher that blew past Mahoney. #49 running to the QB has already blown past Darling, who lost immediately. Both G’s ae going to want to burn this game film. Woof.
Throw it over the middle to Herndon on 3rd down and bring up a 4th and 13. Not pictured.
The 4th down play hurts. We have it. Richards has the square-in and is open at the top of your screen for the first down. We allow the ball to get tipped again by the DL. On this one they run the X-stunt that we love with their DT’s and we do not pass the DL off at all. Mahoney has to pass this DT off to Gauthier (who has to take him, which he isn’t here) #97 runs free to the QB and knocks the ball down. Our OL has just been taken apart in this game. No other way to say it.
On first down, UNC runs a slant and we blitz Jaquan. Charles Perry gets the interception and it’s a nice job by him to complete the play, but this play is made by Shaq. I show this frame frozen here to show you how Shaq has identified it and is jumping the slant. This causes the QB to throw it further inside than he wanted to and right to Perry. Shaq made this play and it was excellent.
Failed screen on first down. Second down try to run an in-breaking route and it’s not open so Rosier steps up and gets a couple of yards. Third down they send six against our empty look and Rosier throws it into the line again. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a game where this many passes were defended by the defense. Punt and we go to the 4th quarter.
First down and Owens fills the running lane nicely. Second down run gets eight yards as Joe Jackson loses the edge when he needs to stay outside. Jaquan takes a great angle and makes the tackle to stop the QB short of the first down. Jet sweep fake and QB power gets the first down though. Not pictured.
First down and McCloud is responsible for this edge. Look at how physical the TE is at the point of attack as opposed to McCloud, who is absorbing the contact here. This play goes for a first down and I’m disappointed at the physicality we are allowing UNC to display against us in this game. Mike Smith has to come all the way over and make the tackle as McCloud never did get off this block.
Next play we again give up the edge with a pass rush out of our lane. McIntosh gets washed inside a little bit, but the culprit is Demetrius Jackson here. He has to stay outside for containment in this play. The QB spins around to that side and gets wide and picks up the first down. Yuck.
Jet sweep picks up five and gets the first down. We had it defended, but Jaquan takes too shallow of an angle and Trent Harris gets blocked off his feet. Not pictured.
First down and they throw a horizontal swing pass that was close to backwards and falls incomplete. Not pictured.
UNC runs a double reverse and halfback pass to the QB again and it’s open again. They just threw a bad pass. Announcers wanted a flag for a late hit, but it was a legal football play. Third down and Joe Jackson bull rushes the LT and then dips inside. That gives up the edge and the QB rolls that way and just threw the ball a little short or they’ve picked this up. I know we want to get to the QB, but this guy runs a lot. We have to stay disciplined in our rush lanes and stop giving up the outside edge. Not pictured.
Throwaway pass on first down. Then we run a counter outside zone run that Homer gets the edge and then makes a few guys miss for a big run. Nice play, and good adjustment by the coaches and play call. Not pictured.
Bad pass on first down, incomplete. Second down they throw the deep ball to Thomas and it was a terrible pass. So bad, in fact, that the defender ran over the WR trying to come back to the ball and a flag is thrown. It negates the interception. Not pictured.
What a catch by Deejay Dallas here. The ball is thrown on him quick and a touch behind him because of the defender. He catches it in stride, breaks a tackle, and then accelerates. He truly shows off his athleticism on this play.
First down and Gaynor loses at the snap from LG and the run is blown up. Berrios catches a dime on the slant on the next play for a TD. Then he brings the U emblem back right-side-up after the UNC freshman TE making his second career catch disrespected it. Not pictured.
Redwine reads the rollout and drives on the football for an interception here.
First down and we run the zone read and the play is to give it to Homer, but they mess up the mesh point and fumble it for a loss of four. Darling loses at the snap and nothing was there. Not pictured.
Second down we run around the edge for a gain of five, but they throw a flag on Herndon for a block-in-the-back and it’s a bad call. That changes everything and makes it 2nd &29. Not pictured.
Rosier throws it into a deep zone and I have no idea what he’s looking at, as the defender is just standing in front of the post to Richards. They pretty much double covered him the whole game and this results in an interception. Rosier also wants to join the G’s at their bonfire of this game film.
A short run, then a sack bring up 3rd and 14. Nothing open and a quick three-and-out. Not pictured.
On the punt, Berrios has to catch this ball and save a bunch of yards off the roll. Plus, he has some room to run if he catches it and reverses field.
Incomplete on first down. Dive for two on second. Then a slip screen to Berrios gets seven, but it’s time to punt.
On first down we tip the pass. Not pictured.
On second down, here is Owens taking the wrong gap again. He has to stay in his lane, instead he goes with #2 , which is Shaq’s job. The QB just pulls this and runs right into that huge lane here. Demetrius rushes wide as well, which makes this an easy run. He gets 20 yards here.
QB run on first down gets three. On second down, look at Jackson play this ball in the air. This is picture perfect.
Third down they throw a screen and it’s incomplete. Not pictured.
Fourth down we send a blitz and with Jaquan right in his face the QB throws this ball complete. I just tip my cap this is a dime and a perfect throw.
Just like in the screenshot above where Owens went with the RB, Pinckney does it as well and the QB runs right through that gap for a big run again. Not pictured, because it’s just a mirror of the previous play this happened.
UNC throws this ball out to the TE who makes Perry miss and gets into the end zone, but Perry is flat footed here and the receiver behind him in the end zone is uncovered. This defense was busted.
They run an onsides kick and we recover. On first down, Homer gets the ball and he will learn from this. He needs to cover up in this situation, but gets the ball knocked out. Mahoney got destroyed into the backfield and that caused Homer to have to dodge a man before he expected and didn’t get his arms around the ball in time. Mahoney is bringing the lighter fluid and matches to the BBQ.
First down the ball is dropped by the TE. Not pictured.
Next play I just wonder what in the world McCloud is thinking. He unloads on this QB when all he has to do is usher him out-of-bounds. This is definitely the right call.
Jackson takes the QB first, re-traces down the line and knocks this ball out. Nice play by the defense on a day when the offense just didn’t do enough to play championship football.
We were fortunate to win this game. There really is no other way to say it. Rosier was really subpar in this game. Both G’s struggled big time and Gauthier was subpar as well. Richards was off, Homer missed a few holes, and the defense missed a bunch of tackles and took poor angles. Through it all, Miami found a way to win and had a few bounces go their way.
I’d rather learn this lesson in a win, than a loss. There are all kinds of things to clean up, things to learn from, and things for the coaches to scheme against more effectively, but all that goes away now.
It’s the game of the year for us. It’s the game to finally get to the ACCCG. It’s at nighttime. It’s against a hated rival. Let’s get ready to turn this page and get hyped for the game with Virginia Tech.
Everything else is just noise when you’re 7-0.
On the kickoff Amari Carter splits two blockers and makes a great tackle.
On first down, McIntosh beats a block at the snap, jumps into the backfield and makes a tackle for loss. Joe Jackson also held the edge well and gets an assist. Not pictured.
If you want an example of why Jaquan Johnson has emerged as a legit stud safety, here is one. Jaquan sees this play right here. He knows he has the jet sweep. Redwine also does his job as he immediately sees the jet sweep man go in motion and he is now going to change to a single-high look and be responsible deep. Jackson has to also understand he no longer has a deep safety to his side. For Jaquan he makes this tackle after a gain of one. This is another example of why I say those who indicate slow corners can just be safeties. I believe straight-line speed is even more important at S than CB and here is why. A step slower and he’s sealed inside and this is a good run. Second photo shows the excellent ope-field skills he has. He actually goes to the outside spot for the RB and forces him back inside rather than running to where the RB is that second. That means he has to make the tackle or the RB gets the edge. This way, even if he misses the tackle he has LB’s to help get him down. Excellent, excellent play.
One issue that we have on third down is showing our blitzes too early because teams are using tempo to make it where we don’t know when they’re going to snap it. We show the FS blitz very early here and show that we are moving to a single-high S look, rather than a two-deep. You can see Jaquan is backpedaling to get to single-high while Redwine is moving to the LOS to blitz. At the :29 second mark on the play clock the QB steps back and looks at the coaches who change the play when they see Redwine is blitzing and the defensive look has changed. I’d like to see us play more coverage on third down and not try these long blitz packages that are getting seen easily because of the offense’s tempo. As an aside, this is another reason team’s use tempo- it’s not just to wear out an opponent or prevent them from subbing, it’s also to get them to show the defense early and then give the offense time to audible based on what the defense is doing. We sent Redwine anyway, even though they didn’t snap it until :09 on the play clock and only a bad pass prevented a pickup from a wide-open middle of the field. This was bad defensive playcalling by the coaches.
Berrios with a nice punt return to get it out to midfield. Not pictured.
First down, the play is blown up by poor blocking. Richards is just destroyed on the edge by the CB. St. Louis does not get to his reach block on the pull, Mahoney is pushed back from his RG spot and forces the RB wider. This play had no chance and one of the key reasons is how much Richards was pushed back into the backfield, which shut down the edge. The CB makes the tackle for a loss of three.
Second down, Mahoney loses to the DT, who you can’t really see but is already diving to bring down Homer, which makes it where he has to stop his feet. If Mahoney holds his block this is a nice gain.
Third down, I have no idea what Rosier is looking at here. The LB is standing right there and had perfect depth in his drop. He gets right to the sticks, where he should be and reads the QB’s eyes. He’s trying to go to Berrios on the square-in, but this is just not open. He’s lucky this isn’t picked. You can see the ball on the 42-yard line and the LB has his arms the wrong way to catch it or it’s a pick. This is a pattern-match combination that Michigan State made famous on defense and Florida State used to confuse Rosier earlier this year as well. Thus far, the UNC coaches have far outschemed our coaches, but our OL was the culprit on 1st & 2nd down.
On first down, we have made an adjustment on defense from the previous game against Syracuse. When they send the jet sweep man in motion we are mirroring our safeties. Remember back to the play above where Jaquan came downhill and made the play, that’s what I’m talking about when they send that man in motion we are just replacing the safety on the opposite side and sending the other into a single-high look. That means Jaquan is running all the way to the LOS from his safety position running to defend that WR. UNC runs the ball on a counter back into the jet sweep (an adjustment to our adjustment, of course). We have the play defended. We just miss the tackle. Joe Jackson and Richard McIntosh miss the tackle in the hole, McCloud overruns the play (he needs to have his outside shoulder outside of the RB so he can get to that gap, but has to be able to retrace down and make this tackle). McCloud is the biggest offender here, but Jackson needs to make the tackle.
From there, Redwine is coming downhill here and misses the tackle by taking a terrible angle and not breaking down in space. Michael Jackson gets blocked on the edge and then misses the tackle (a no-no). I want to highlight two things here at the end of this huge run. Jaquan Johnson turned from the 16-yard line on the complete opposite end of the field and gets all the way to the other side of the field at the other 40-yard line and gets in the way of the RB enough to get him down. Second, look at how athletic McIntosh is and the effort he displays on this run. He never stops running and is actually the man who brings down the RB because Jaquan didn’t quite get him down. These are winning plays.
Next running play I have another issue with McCloud. Here, he is taking on the block with one shoulder and making it easy for the blocker to seal him inside away from the RB. If he goes right at the blocker and extends and locks out his arms, he can control this FB and push him back into the backfield towards the RB. That would force the RB to widen out his arc and make this a tackle for loss. Instead the RB cuts off the outside hip of the FB and gets into that hole for a gain of a couple. Gotta be physical and maul that FB with arms extended on this play.
Next play they run QB power and Pinckney comes to the RB on his heels and this RB rocks him. He knocks Pinckney on his back on this play and the QB has a wide-open lane. Pinckney has to attack the blocker with arms extended, control the blocker, come off and make the tackle. He’s right in position but UNC is being far more physical with our LB’s right now. You don’t ever want your LB’s getting pancaked by RB’s.
Next play, this just can’t happen. Demetrius takes far too shallow of an angle and gives up the edge. We have this play decimated. It’s dead in the backfield. Simply make the tackle. Instead, we overplayed the dive and he runs around the edge for a first down. If Jackson stays upfield like his responsibility, he makes this tackle for a two-yard loss. Yuck. A positive is look at Michael Jackson get rocked by a pulling G. He actually takes this contact, recovers, and makes the tackle a half-yard past the sticks.
Next play we blitz six and Redwine is in coverage deep. Malek is tasked with defending two players (short zone first, then sink to get deep). The plan is for the rush to get there before a route like this can take place but we didn’t even pressure the QB who had a wide-open lane. If the WR doesn’t tackle himself it’s a TD. Not pictured.
They run a dive from the one and Pinckney is a free rusher and hits the RB a yard in the backfield. RB falls forward, but they review it and he’s down before getting into the end zone. Not pictured.
On second down, McIntosh wins with an arm over move right at the snap, flows into the gap, fills it up and tackles him for a loss. Chad Thomas got up and gave the U sign, and the announcers credited him, but it was McIntosh. Not pictured.
On third down they run a play-action rollout and they’ve got a backside TE coming wide-open on a crosser. Demetrius Jackson reads the rollout, then gets his hand up to tip the ball when the QB tries to throw. This play saved a TD right here.
On fourth down, Shaq reads it perfectly, shows off nice athleticism to run down the QB and make a huge tackle for loss. This was a very big goal line stand, where each play had an individual win their responsibility. This drive saw Jaquan show unbelievable effort, McIntosh run a guy down 53 yards from the LOS, a replay review overturns a TD, McIntosh whips a blocker, Demetrius tips a pass, and Shaq be a missile. There are bad plays from our defense, but this drive shows the individual talent we have as well if we can get it to perform on a consistent basis each play. Not pictured.
First down, UNC puts their LB on the LOS and runs a blitz. They stunt their DE around the LB and Gauthier doesn’t recognize it and double teams the LB and leaves the DE with a free shot on Rosier. Luckily, the official picks the defender for our checkdown Homer and we get a huge play on a nice catch and Rosier does a nice job of taking the hit and still throwing the pass. The OL has really played poorly today. UNC came into this game with an outstanding game plan, honestly. They planned to attack the C and RG spots on our OL, as well as the edges. They double teamed Richards and Berrios a ton and forced others to beat them. Honestly, that really bothered Rosier, who is still a one-read, one-half the field type QB who faced quick pressure when the OL lost quickly or got confused by their stunts.
Homer gets it just past midfield and this is where Miami played poorly all game. There was very little situational awareness to move into the scoring zone from the opponents territory in this game. Rosier steps up nicely and runs to the 41-yard line to bring up second and three. UNC jumps offsides to give us a first down. Not pictured.
Next play we throw deep to Thomas (no idea how the announcers have mixed up Berrios and Thomas on their call), who was blanketed. Herndon was open on an inside-out combo route that would’ve gotten five or six, but I understand taking the shot as well. Not pictured.
Second down just shows you how little things have been bothering us all year. We have a screen called and it’s there. I mean, it is there. Rosier has to throw it just a second earlier than he wants to, and Homer can’t make this catch. Look at the blockers out in front of this play on second and ten and you can see this was a big miss that took points off the board.
Rosier is flushed from the pocket on third down and Mahoney gives up a play he just can’t give up. You can see we have the DT double-teamed and all Mahoney has to do is hold this block on the edge and we might actually pick this up. It’s disappointing to have a double team on a DT and allow him to get to your QB so easily here. Look at how straight up-and-down Mahoney is, that takes away all leverage and power and allows the DT to shed him. Pay no attention to the facemask here, the officials sure did. Note: The first picture wouldn't upload, but it shows Mahoney straight up-and-down with bad form.
On first down, the RB starts moving forward before the snap. No call. Pinckney makes a nice tackle on the QB after he runs power again.
Note: The picture doesn't upload, but the RB is moving forward before the snap and not called.
Next play, McCloud is right there. He just slips, or loses his balance or something, because he is standing right there. The RB runs exactly where he is right this second for 10 yards. He’s on the other side of #33 here. Shaq does what he’s supposed to here and seals the edge, McCloud just doesn’t make the play for some reason. You can see Pinckney here, he is responsible for tackling any cutback into that lane, but he tries to go around the OL trying to get out to him here and actually gets in Jaquan’s way who is coming downhill to fill the run lane. Bad run fits. Bad angles. Losing containment. Not being physical with blockers.
This is called for roughing the passer. It’s a really bad call. I don’t know if we needed this defender to come up since Shaq was running him down and there was an open receiver behind it because he came up, but that ball has just left the QB’s hands and it is one yard away. What’s he supposed to do? ACC officials are putting in their normal excellent work thus far.
They run a double reverse pass on the first play after the QB goes out and I’d say it works. You have to really give the UNC coaches credit in this game. They really gameplanned well. They called a beautiful game. In this case Miami was all geared up for the run after a QB goes out and they bit hard. This is actually the backup QB catching this.
They roll the QB out on first down and he doesn’t have the arm to hit the comeback route. Good pursuit by the LB’s. Second down, Chad Thomas slants down the line and pushes a RB wide. McCloud cleans it up for a loss on the play. Not pictured.
On third down, Redwine is roasted on the slant when we rush our LB’s and the QB just misses the throw. FG. Not pictured.
Shirreffs is in at QB on the next drive after a touchback. We run the bubble to Berrios, which UNC had much better alignment than past teams. Mullins loses his block badly and it gains nothing. The block on the bubble is the most important part of the entire play. Not pictured.
Next play, the DE gets too far of a push on St. Louis and bats this pass into the air. Thank goodness he did. Look at the back end of this pass where he is targeting Ahmonn Richards. This is going to get picked. This is probably a pick-6 honestly. #6 throws his hands up afterwards and shakes his head like oh my goodness, I had that one.
Third down and you see the issue with Deejay Dallas. He doesn’t know who to block here. Look at the free rusher that comes clean and Dallas is turned the wrong way blocking no one.
Shirreffs spins away and gets out of the pocket. He doesn’t realize that Dallas ran him down and made the block so he doesn’t set his feet to throw and misses a wide-open Herndon. I’m sure he was nervous, but that was a disastrous possession.
I say it every week, but Travis Homer is an elite gunner on special teams. He beats the ball to the returner and forces a fair catch. Not pictured.
First down we X-stunt our DT’s and they try to run into that gap. Darrion Owens picks the right gap and though he misses the tackle, he slowed him down enough for the DL to swallow it up for a gain of one. Not pictured.
Second down, they run the jet sweep motion and we again flip our safeties. It’s clear that’s how we are defending it this week. They give on the outside zone read option and we overrun it slightly, but Mike Smith cleans up the tackle after a gain of five. I sure wish Demetrius would just make this tackle though. He did everything but finish the play and it would’ve made this third and 12. We have a bunch of backups in on this drive.
They run a rub route on third down where they cross the slot and outside receivers. We are in man all the way and Malek Young plays it poorly. It’s wide, wide open and goes for a gain of 15. You see how the plays before third down contribute so much to the issues we have in getting off the field? Again, the UNC coaches put their players in a great place to succeed as they knew we were in man based on the pre-snap look. They looked to the sideline and then audibled to that manbeater route and picked it up. Coaching matters so much in college.
Next play McIntosh destroys the G and stops it for a loss of one. Not pictured.
Second down and this little play gives defenses fits. McIntosh plays it perfectly. He takes the outside zone rusher and has it stopped. The QB keeps on this play though. The responsibility is on Darrion Owens here and you can see his eyes squarely on the RB, and not on the QB, which is his responsibility. The QB slips into that gap and picks up a nice gain. Again, we have this defended, but the LB doesn’t make the right play. Mike Smith does a nice job smashing the QB from the backside and being where he’s supposed to be.
Chad Thomas stunts inside and gets a free rush at the QB. He has to lower his pads and hit this RB to not allow himself to be pushed away from the QB so easily. When you stunt, it tends to get pressure, but it also tends to open up wide lanes for the QB to run through or to step up. He steps up and Joe Jackson and McIntosh miss the tackle. Jaquan Johnson gets him down a yard before the first down with a phenomenal tackle. But, if we make the tackle earlier they don’t even think about going for it on 4th down.
They pick up the 4th and short on a read option QB power run. Little things matter. Details add up to your opponent scoring points and driving the ball on you. Not pictured.
Next play they run QB power off the edge and get four. Second down run the dive and Norton plugs it up for a gain of one. Not pictured.
Third down it’s stealing. Three receivers, only one defender within first down marker. QB just waits on the receivers to clear the zone and choose which one the defender doesn’t go with. Keep in mind this defense couldn’t defend a bubble screen either. I am not often overly critical of our scheme, but this defense isn’t working against this alignment. If they cross their receivers here we can’t cover it either. If they run the middle receiver into the seam deep and run double outs we can’t defend it. Basically, we can only defend the deep pass out of this alignment. We didn’t put our defense in a position to win here. The QB power scared us into keeping our LB’s inside and that makes the slant stealing money.
First down Pinckney comes clean on a twist and hits the QB as he tries to go deep. You can see the QB favoring his side after that hit. They run a bubble on second down and get three. Nicely defended. Not pictured.
Third down we have the perfect call on defense. We send the slot corner blitz (Redwine), we just play it terribly. Perry takes the inside of the OT here, as he should. Redwine needs to take the outside here to contain the edge. Going inside here not only leaves the edge open, but it also frees up #75 to block anyone coming from the backside as the QB escapes. The QB gets to the edge and runs for the first down here. That never would’ve been possible if Redwine stays outside and goes around the OT, rather than inside.
Next play, McIntosh beats his man cleanly and blows up the inside zone run. McIntosh is our best overall player. Not pictured.
They tried to block Joe Jackson with a RB and it goes exactly like it should go. We blitzed Redwine from his FS position and it finally produces a pressure. Sack. Good thing, as the WR by the Miami portion of the score is going to cut behind the corner here and be open in that area between himself and the LB.
I am taking the time to show this still only because it shows something I talk about all the time. Do your job. Don’t do the job of everyone, but just do your own. If everyone on the defense does that, we will be really good. Bandy here is not running to the RB on the screen. He is running to the outside shoulder of the OL here. Why? Because it is his job to seal the edge on this play. He actually gets past the outside shoulder of the OL and hits the RB, which slows him down and Norton cleans it up, but that’s doing your job.
They went for a fake FG and I have no idea why. Shaq was excellent on the play and makes the tackle well before the first down marker. Thank you, North Carolina. They went for it on 4th down at the goal line earlier and didn’t get it. Now they fake a 4th and 19 and don’t come close. Not pictured.
First down we throw a simple slant to Berrios, who gets a first down. Low throw from Rosier, but he’s back in the game. Second down we run a dive play and Herndon seals the edge long enough for Homer to get a nice gain. Not pictured.
Second down Thomas has his man beat on a slant and Rosier makes a bad throw. Brings up 3rd and 7. Not pictured.
Third day and Berrios is mugged on a deep route. They called a hold on Gauthier. The call on Gauthier is bad. He’s falling down as the DT comes through and that’s what made the DT fall, not Gauthier. Not pictured. Let’s speed this up some.
We pick up the third down on a slant, but look at the yards that Berrios has if Rosier makes a decent throw. Put this on the money and it might be a house call. What a catch by Berrios to grab this with all his momentum going the other direction.
First down, Rosier is high and late to Ahmonn on a square-in. Second down we run a bubble route and their nickel corner has done a great job on that all day. He stops it for a gain of three, but if Berrios gets by him it’s a big gain. Not pictured.
Third down we run an out route and the pass is a touch high, but Thomas makes a nice catch and it’s 4th and 1. We line up in the eye and sneak it for a first. We should run the sneak on any third or fourth down under a yard in my opinion. It is legal for the FB to come up and push the QB now, so we should be consistently doing that. Not pictured.
First down and Rosier comes off his reads way too early. Look at the middle of the field and you’ll see we run the shallow and deep crossers, as I’m sure you’ve all heard are a big part of Richt’s offense. Both are open. The shallow to Berrios, but also the deeper crosser to Richards are open. Next, Rosier has a lane to run if he wants to take off. Homer drops it, and that’s a good thing because he’d have lost yards. McDermott is actually holding on this play though.
Next play and Donaldson misses his assignment. He’s not supposed to block the DT here, he’s only supposed to chip him with his shoulder as he gets skinny to get by the DT and get to the white LB here. The DT knows this and gets away with a little bit of a defensive hold, but not one that’s ever called. It was just a miss by Donaldson. The LB drills Homer after a gain of two.
On third down, Gauthier loses and his DT gets by him and tips a pass right in Rosier’s face. It looked to be a back-shoulder throw to Herndon, who was not open. Gauthier and whomever has been at RG have had poor gams thus far. Not pictured.
Punt goes into end zone for a touchback. Not pictured.
They run the fly sweep on first down and Jaquan destroys it again. We have run that mirrored safety look every single time they’ve run the jet sweep motion and it’s been effective. Second down they throw a slant and get 8. Not pictured.
Third down and Knowles gets roasted on the corner route. He was going to be wide open so Knowles grabs him and gets the holding called. Not pictured.
Next play is a heck of a catch by the TE. Jackson had perfect position but the TE got his hands on Jackson and knocked him off just enough for the TE to be able to go up and get it. Good play by them.
Next play and Moten plays this wonderfully. It’s a QB draw and the playcall is perfect. We have bailed out in man-to-man and the middle of the field is wide open. Moten holds the blocker to this side and the QB reads it and goes to the other side and Moten shucks the blocker and tackles him on the other side for no gain. This is simply called making a play by Moten to save us from a bad position.
Next play Bandy is playing press on the TE who just made the big catch and he respects his speed too much. He opens his hips well before he really needs to and allows a stop route to be completed for a first down. If Bandy trusts his speed and just stays in his hip, he knocks it down at worst. Not pictured.
Next play Bandy on the edge again and they tried to same route again and McIntosh knocked it down at the LOS, but Bandy stayed on the receiver this time and had it defended well. Not pictured.
Third down they motioned the RB to the boundary and Joe Jackson ran with him. They threw a quick screen into the middle of the field right into our blitz and goes nowhere. FG. Not pictured.
After a touchback we run an inside power run and pull Darling around to kick out the LB. Mahoney loses to the DT and is on his knees here. Darling is late to getting to the LB, but Homer picks the wrong hole here. Look off of Darling’s hip there and you see a lane to getting several yards. Also, look at Herndon blocking the playside DE. My goodness that kid is an excellent blocker.
Next play, not sure what Rosier is looking at here, as Herndon is definitely not open. Look at the bottom of the screen and you will see Richards is open. Not sure why the primary is Herndon, but Rosier had to get rid of the ball after the RB missed the block.
On third down we pick it up to Thomas. Great throw by Rosier. Next play, we go deep to Richards, who was double covered. Not pictured.
Second down and Mahoney loses again to the DT. There’s a hole if Mahoney gets his block.
Then on third down Rosier flashes the skills that make you shake your head at times. How can a guy be so inaccurate and then make throws like this one? Herndon isn’t open, but Rosier has to throw it over the LB’s shoulder and in front of the other two defenders and with enough speed to get there, while still being accurate enough that Herndon can catch it and run. One of his top three throws of the year.
After a touchback they run QB power and get nothing. Then they throw an out route and get nothing. Brings up third and 10. The QB is flushed and throws into traffic down the sideline, incomplete. It’s time to punt. Not pictured.
Run a screen on first down for big yards. Second time we’ve run it and the second time it’s wide open. This time Rosier makes a better throw. Not pictured.
Next play we run a dive and Mahoney loses immediately. You can see he’s been pushed into the backfield and his man is in the hole to make the tackle.
Next play is the snap that Rosier isn’t ready for. Loss of five. We’ve been fortunate that al the tipped passes by the defensive line have fallen incomplete, as well as getting this snap back. Not pictured.
On third down, McDermott loses badly and Rosier gets hammered as he gets rid of the ball. Ouch. Not pictured. Punt.
North Carolina moves the ball before halftime, but a questionable unsportsmanlike conduct penalty effectively ends their drive. Another lucky break. Halftime.
First play of the second half is a big one. We run an RPO and Thomas gets deep. For a 78-yard TD. Excellent pass protection. Not pictured.
UNC runs a crosser on first down and it’s tipped away by Shaq. Excellent play. They run QB power on second down and McIntosh eats it up.
Third down, Demetrius Jackson does an excellent job of controlling the blocker to prevent the QB from leaving the pocket and then gets the sack. Wonderful play. Also, look at Bandy and how well he plays this zone coverage. He’s exactly where he should be to be able to cover that square-in and the flat zone to his left.
Berrios is signaling for a fair catch here in this picture. The football is coming down and is right at the middle of the curved line in the “C” of UNC emblem on your screen. My goodness, why?
First down we run an inside zone play and Darling loses right off the snap and gets pushed back. It was a bad loss that forced Homer wide and he gets nothing. Not pictured.
Second down, it’s a 6-man box. We have six blockers, and the point of the zone read is to be able to not use one of your blockers on the edge man because he’s supposed to block himself. You have to be able to run on this box to be successful. It’s a mistake for Rosier to keep here, but you can see McDermott is beat immediately and the free rusher runs right to the QB rather than crashing down. The play design was faulty because UNC overloaded the weakside of the line and you can see St. Louis doesn’t even have someone to block within 10 yards of the play. UNC has a free defender and then the boundary corner crashing on this play. An adjustment if they are going to play it this way is to pull it like Rosier does, take a step, then throw the fade to the WR who is uncovered here until the S can rotate over.
Third down and Richards runs a skinny post and it’s there. The throw is there. Richards just turns his hands the wrong way and doesn’t catch it. He tries to catch it with his palms up on a ball at his shoulders when he needs to turn his hands and have palms down and catch it with tight elbows. That allows you to have a much tighter grip on the ball and pull it into your body quickly. That’s a drop to me. I didn’t picture it because you can’t really see it clearly on the broadcast. Punt is another mediocre one.
First down they run an option and Demetrius Jackson owns this play. Plays it perfectly, gets himself down the line to take away the pitch and makes the tackle for a loss of five. Not pictured.
Second down they throw a stop route that the receiver turns inside and was supposed to turn outside. The throw was there and the receiver pats himself on the chest afterwards. Would’ve been a gain of eight, but goes incomplete. Third down pass is airmailed on the sideline. Not pictured.
Punt is blocked by Garvin. It’s a special athletic play as he splits the wedge, leaps high in the air and blocks the punt. Man’s game. Not pictured.
You wonder why we are having trouble in the red zone, here is part of the reason. The execution is just poor. We got exactly what we wanted here. We lined up in a bunch formation with Michael Irvin at the top of the formation. UNC has an 8-man box to stop the run. We run a pattern to the outside to pull away coverage to that side and hold the backside S. Richards runs an out route and we have it. This is a TD if the throw is good. Look at the corner in the end zone getting blocked by Mullins. If this pass is on target he scores a TD here. It’s wide, and Richards doesn’t catch it. He needs to go down and secure the catch, but a good throw needs to be made from a clean pocket here. Richards was visibly frustrated after the play.
Second down we just miss a block. Rosier pulls this one and a few things go wrong here. For one, I’d like to see Berrios sell this a little better and float down the line to pull his defender with him. Next, Herndon doesn’t block the edge man and instead chips him and tries to get to the nickel corner. The play is blown up there and gets only a couple.
Third down, we throw a swing pass to Homer and it’s a bad throw behind Homer, which takes away his forward momentum and he gets tackled a yard short of the first down. Rosier has really been off most of this game. FG. Not pictured.
UNC returns the kickoff to midfield after a few Canes slip and then a missed tackled. Not pictured.
First down they run a dive and get nothing. Second down gets a penalty. Replay the down. Not pictured.
They run a screen next, and Bandy does a great job of getting upfield and beating the block. Unfortunately, he misses the block and the runner gets away for a big run. Little things add up. Make this tackle and it’s 3rd and 16. They get a TD on this drive. Big difference. Still think we are blitzing too much and not making this QB read the field and beat us.
They get a toss option pitch for a first down. Then on the next play they run a backwards pass at the LOS. Malek Young bites hard, and his man has already run right by him. Throw is behind him for a TD. Worst part is we didn’t need him to bite like this as the play is defended without the pass. The UNC coaches have really been excellent today. Called everything they could against an aggressive defense to get a win. This is the TE’s first TD of his career and he throws the inverted U as a celebration. His coach told him about it afterwards, but the Miami players noticed.
Kickoff and Deejay has to take control here. Run into the end zone and tackle him if you have to, but get the signal up to take a knee here. Thomas tries to run this out and gets tackled at the seven-yard line. We have to get this figured out, as this is basically an 18-yard penalty.
First down we throw a stop route to Richards for a first down. Good throw and catch. Second down we run a dive and Gauthier has a chance to get the LB at the second level and open up a big run, but he ducks his head and loses sight of the LB who makes the tackle after a gain of six. Second down we throw deep to Mullins and it’s a bad throw and he isn’t open. Not pictured.
Third down and you have to make this throw. Thomas is wide open on the square-in and Rosier just sails the throw. Punt.
First down they run QB counter and McIntosh has the play stopped but just misses the tackle. That’s not the part that’s bad though. Darrion Owens has completely run himself out of this play. You can see him about to get blocked behind McIntosh, but he lined up on the other side of McIntosh originally but just ran way out of his gap. Bad, bad play. Do your job. Don’t try to do others. This goes for a first down.
Next play and Owens shoots a gap and makes a nice tackle for loss. Not pictured.
Second down and this is another player just not doing his responsibility. I’ve written multiple times that any time they run that jet sweep motion we mirror and replace our S to the other side. We do exactly that here. Jaquan rotates out, Redwine rotates down. You can see Redwine coming into your screen at the top to take the jet sweep motion player. Jaquan is backpedaling into single-high in the middle of your screen. McCloud is supposed to take the slot receiver. Obviously, he is lined up right over him. Instead, you can see he is driving forward to take the jet sweep receiver and no one is covering the slot man. The receiver just runs upfield and catches the ball and runs for a first down. It’s defended, the players just didn’t execute. Woof.
First down and Perry and Mike Smith make a nice play on outside zone and stop it for no gain. Not pictured.
Next play and Michael Jackson makes a great play on the ball in the air and gets an interception. The development of his ball skills and ability to make plays on the edge has been phenomenal.
We run a dive on first down and then we go deep on the next play. Berrios makes a sensational catch down the sideline. If Rosier makes a good throw this might be a TD. Instead it gets us out of our own end zone at least. Berrios toasts this defender.
First down we throw a fade to Langham, who was covered. Not pictured.
Next play Rosier gets a first down on a run down the sideline. The defender has his jersey three yards out-of-bounds and throws him down, but no call. This is an egregious no-call.
Next play and my goodness Mahoney is ragdolled. St. Louis loses on an inside stunt after Mahoney gave up that much space for the rusher to loop into. It’s St. Louis’s man that gets the sack, but Mahoney getting walked back five yards is what blew the play up. This is a drive killer right here. Plain and simple.
Next play and Mahoney is beaten badly again. The man to the left of Darling here is the rusher that blew past Mahoney. #49 running to the QB has already blown past Darling, who lost immediately. Both G’s ae going to want to burn this game film. Woof.
Throw it over the middle to Herndon on 3rd down and bring up a 4th and 13. Not pictured.
The 4th down play hurts. We have it. Richards has the square-in and is open at the top of your screen for the first down. We allow the ball to get tipped again by the DL. On this one they run the X-stunt that we love with their DT’s and we do not pass the DL off at all. Mahoney has to pass this DT off to Gauthier (who has to take him, which he isn’t here) #97 runs free to the QB and knocks the ball down. Our OL has just been taken apart in this game. No other way to say it.
On first down, UNC runs a slant and we blitz Jaquan. Charles Perry gets the interception and it’s a nice job by him to complete the play, but this play is made by Shaq. I show this frame frozen here to show you how Shaq has identified it and is jumping the slant. This causes the QB to throw it further inside than he wanted to and right to Perry. Shaq made this play and it was excellent.
Failed screen on first down. Second down try to run an in-breaking route and it’s not open so Rosier steps up and gets a couple of yards. Third down they send six against our empty look and Rosier throws it into the line again. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a game where this many passes were defended by the defense. Punt and we go to the 4th quarter.
First down and Owens fills the running lane nicely. Second down run gets eight yards as Joe Jackson loses the edge when he needs to stay outside. Jaquan takes a great angle and makes the tackle to stop the QB short of the first down. Jet sweep fake and QB power gets the first down though. Not pictured.
First down and McCloud is responsible for this edge. Look at how physical the TE is at the point of attack as opposed to McCloud, who is absorbing the contact here. This play goes for a first down and I’m disappointed at the physicality we are allowing UNC to display against us in this game. Mike Smith has to come all the way over and make the tackle as McCloud never did get off this block.
Next play we again give up the edge with a pass rush out of our lane. McIntosh gets washed inside a little bit, but the culprit is Demetrius Jackson here. He has to stay outside for containment in this play. The QB spins around to that side and gets wide and picks up the first down. Yuck.
Jet sweep picks up five and gets the first down. We had it defended, but Jaquan takes too shallow of an angle and Trent Harris gets blocked off his feet. Not pictured.
First down and they throw a horizontal swing pass that was close to backwards and falls incomplete. Not pictured.
UNC runs a double reverse and halfback pass to the QB again and it’s open again. They just threw a bad pass. Announcers wanted a flag for a late hit, but it was a legal football play. Third down and Joe Jackson bull rushes the LT and then dips inside. That gives up the edge and the QB rolls that way and just threw the ball a little short or they’ve picked this up. I know we want to get to the QB, but this guy runs a lot. We have to stay disciplined in our rush lanes and stop giving up the outside edge. Not pictured.
Throwaway pass on first down. Then we run a counter outside zone run that Homer gets the edge and then makes a few guys miss for a big run. Nice play, and good adjustment by the coaches and play call. Not pictured.
Bad pass on first down, incomplete. Second down they throw the deep ball to Thomas and it was a terrible pass. So bad, in fact, that the defender ran over the WR trying to come back to the ball and a flag is thrown. It negates the interception. Not pictured.
What a catch by Deejay Dallas here. The ball is thrown on him quick and a touch behind him because of the defender. He catches it in stride, breaks a tackle, and then accelerates. He truly shows off his athleticism on this play.
First down and Gaynor loses at the snap from LG and the run is blown up. Berrios catches a dime on the slant on the next play for a TD. Then he brings the U emblem back right-side-up after the UNC freshman TE making his second career catch disrespected it. Not pictured.
Redwine reads the rollout and drives on the football for an interception here.
First down and we run the zone read and the play is to give it to Homer, but they mess up the mesh point and fumble it for a loss of four. Darling loses at the snap and nothing was there. Not pictured.
Second down we run around the edge for a gain of five, but they throw a flag on Herndon for a block-in-the-back and it’s a bad call. That changes everything and makes it 2nd &29. Not pictured.
Rosier throws it into a deep zone and I have no idea what he’s looking at, as the defender is just standing in front of the post to Richards. They pretty much double covered him the whole game and this results in an interception. Rosier also wants to join the G’s at their bonfire of this game film.
A short run, then a sack bring up 3rd and 14. Nothing open and a quick three-and-out. Not pictured.
On the punt, Berrios has to catch this ball and save a bunch of yards off the roll. Plus, he has some room to run if he catches it and reverses field.
Incomplete on first down. Dive for two on second. Then a slip screen to Berrios gets seven, but it’s time to punt.
On first down we tip the pass. Not pictured.
On second down, here is Owens taking the wrong gap again. He has to stay in his lane, instead he goes with #2 , which is Shaq’s job. The QB just pulls this and runs right into that huge lane here. Demetrius rushes wide as well, which makes this an easy run. He gets 20 yards here.
QB run on first down gets three. On second down, look at Jackson play this ball in the air. This is picture perfect.
Third down they throw a screen and it’s incomplete. Not pictured.
Fourth down we send a blitz and with Jaquan right in his face the QB throws this ball complete. I just tip my cap this is a dime and a perfect throw.
Just like in the screenshot above where Owens went with the RB, Pinckney does it as well and the QB runs right through that gap for a big run again. Not pictured, because it’s just a mirror of the previous play this happened.
UNC throws this ball out to the TE who makes Perry miss and gets into the end zone, but Perry is flat footed here and the receiver behind him in the end zone is uncovered. This defense was busted.
They run an onsides kick and we recover. On first down, Homer gets the ball and he will learn from this. He needs to cover up in this situation, but gets the ball knocked out. Mahoney got destroyed into the backfield and that caused Homer to have to dodge a man before he expected and didn’t get his arms around the ball in time. Mahoney is bringing the lighter fluid and matches to the BBQ.
First down the ball is dropped by the TE. Not pictured.
Next play I just wonder what in the world McCloud is thinking. He unloads on this QB when all he has to do is usher him out-of-bounds. This is definitely the right call.
Jackson takes the QB first, re-traces down the line and knocks this ball out. Nice play by the defense on a day when the offense just didn’t do enough to play championship football.
We were fortunate to win this game. There really is no other way to say it. Rosier was really subpar in this game. Both G’s struggled big time and Gauthier was subpar as well. Richards was off, Homer missed a few holes, and the defense missed a bunch of tackles and took poor angles. Through it all, Miami found a way to win and had a few bounces go their way.
I’d rather learn this lesson in a win, than a loss. There are all kinds of things to clean up, things to learn from, and things for the coaches to scheme against more effectively, but all that goes away now.
It’s the game of the year for us. It’s the game to finally get to the ACCCG. It’s at nighttime. It’s against a hated rival. Let’s get ready to turn this page and get hyped for the game with Virginia Tech.
Everything else is just noise when you’re 7-0.
