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Im up, tough night. Some thoughts on the game...

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k9cane said:
A landmark year for Miami football came to a disappointing end last night at Hard Rock Stadium. The #Canes championship dreams ended with a 27-21 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers, who completed a historic 16-0 season. As crushing as this loss was, like Ed Reed: "Im hurt dawg'' -- but Im not devastated. As a fan I'm proud of the players and coaches on this team. They made major strides this season and I believe had laid the foundation for years to come.

Congrats to Indiana, they earned it. Coach Cignetti has engineered one of the most remarkable turnarounds in sports -- not just college football -- history.

Im very grateful to have had the opportunity to go on this playoff run from College Station, to the Cotton Bowl to the Fiesta Bowl and then last night. Miami has come so far, but as Mario Cristobal would say, still has work to do- and

Some thoughts on the game:

- UM played hard and well at times, but simply didn't play a clean enough game versus a team that is as good and disciplined as IU. It's really that simple. The blocked punt was really the play that will haunt this staff. IU seemed to not even try and really block the punt and Alex Bauman's execution (or lack thereof) simply wasn't good enough and it gave the Hooisers 17-7 lead in the 3rd quarter when Miami had seemingly taken some of the momentum. That and the missed FG by Carter Davis cost Miami 10 points in what became a one-possession loss

Special teams really hurt Miami last night. From missed kicks, the blocked punt and penalties on returns that pinned UM back on offense. Those hidden yards are key in close games.

- Speaking of which, twice Indiana went up two scores in the second half and both times the Miami offense responded to cut the lead to 3. They showed some real character.

- Not sure why the outside zone play wasn't utilized more by Miami. That's the play that broke Fletcher for this big TD. The inside zone was handled much of the game by IU. There seems to be a pretty good amount of criticism of Shannon Dawson, I'll let the X-and-O gurus fight that battle

- Moving forward, Miami need to find some more dynamic outside threats that can back a defense of and create more consistent separation. This offense lacked consistent explosiveness throughout this season. IIRC, all three losses saw Miami score 21 points or less this season.

- Charlie Becker scared me going into this game and he proved me right unfortunately. Sarratt and Cooper are good WR's who will have a chance to play at the next level, but this guy has the best measurables and ball skills of the three. Ultimately, Miami's injuries/suspensions at cornerback ended up hurting them a bit here

- Great scene at the tailgate, saw a good bit of former players. I dont think you see an alumni base of players who consistently show up to games that way Miami does. Had some great conversations with some of them (including the great Russell Maryland).

- Wanted to salute guys like Ruben Bain and Cici Mauignoa, who most likely played their last game as Hurricanes. They will leave as all-time UM greats and transformative players for this program. When they came to Coral Gables, this program was mediocre (to say the least), by the time they left they were playing (and nearly winning) a national title. I can not say enough about their impact on this progam. Also, the likes of Akeem Mesidor, Anez Cooper, Wesley Bissanthe and the like, my salute to you guys.

And portal additions like Kieonte Scott, Jakob Thomas, Blake Brockmeyer and CJ Daniels who will move onto the next stage of their career and lives. Their contributions should not be forgotten. They left this place better than they found it.

- Finally, Mario Cristobal. That's my coach. Bottom line. He wants no sympathy or a pat on the back for coming close. That's not the way he's wired. But there's a belief that if this doesn't work with him in charge at Miami, it simply won't work at all. Nobody will work harder for Miami than this guy, I truly believe that. All we ask is that he continually evolves as a coach.

In his fourth year, he now has Miami playing serious football again, and being taken seriously nationally. He can show blue-chip recruits a real proof of concept. He himself, will never truly consider a non-championship season a success(that's just not how he's wired) but this was a successful season for his program and I am glad I was able to go on this ride the past month.

Mario will have more talented teams top-to-bottom in the years to come, I truly believe that. But Im not sure we'll ever see one as gritty as the 2025 unit.
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You said literally everything on my flipping mind. Second I'm so jealous you got to see it all in person. I had season tickets for 10 years . Because of cot **** cancer I didn't make a game in person this year. So part of me feels empty as **** I didn't get that chance. I love this team and staff. You're so correct about the punt, it was that play.

I kept waiting for that special Miami moment the last drive. I really thought someone was was about to become a legend.

Thank you for the awesome recap brother. I really appreciate your writing.
 
FromDeeeeep said:
No this guy is Specials Coach

Danny Kalter

miamihurricanes.com miamihurricanes.com

Look at his bio, dude is not qualified to be ST coach. He and the assistant ST coach Isa both need to go.

socialhousenews.com

Isa's journey to Miami's coaching staff is movie material

After graduating from Canton in 2012, Isa attended Wayne State, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering.
socialhousenews.com socialhousenews.com

Ole Miss was rumored to be interested in TE coach Cody Woodiel. Let him go.

Cody Woodiel

miamihurricanes.com miamihurricanes.com
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It needs to be a massive focus. Easiest way to create mismatches within a game.

-Teams have to be afraid to kick to us. A Miami team should have a handful of punt + kick returns every year. But, more importantly, the difference between Miami and the top team in the country in punt returns is 15 yards per punt return. It's 10 yards per kick return. Over the course of a game you're talking about an extra 50-75 yards. That's probably worth 4-7 points per game.
-If you want to control games having a phenomenal punter is a huge step in doing that. We need to have the top punter in the country with our style of play. Pinning a team back an extra 10 yards, having the gunners coached well enough to pin the ball inside the 5, having clean operations, this stuff makes a huge difference.

These two things alone can net you 100+ yards over the course of a game. How much money would you pay a player that was guaranteed to get you 100 yards per game?
 
hurricaneman said:
It needs to be a massive focus. Easiest way to create mismatches within a game.

-Teams have to be afraid to kick to us. A Miami team should have a handful of punt + kick returns every year. But, more importantly, the difference between Miami and the top team in the country in punt returns is 15 yards per punt return. It's 10 yards per kick return. Over the course of a game you're talking about an extra 50-75 yards. That's probably worth 4-7 points per game.
-If you want to control games having a phenomenal punter is a huge step in doing that. We need to have the top punter in the country with our style of play. Pinning a team back an extra 10 yards, having the gunners coached well enough to pin the ball inside the 5, having clean operations, this stuff makes a huge difference.

These two things alone can net you 100+ yards over the course of a game. How much money would you pay a player that was guaranteed to get you 100 yards per game?
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Mario is really close to Broncos Special Teams coach Darren Rizzi from there days together at Rutgers. So much so his daughter Madison works in the recruiting department and his son is a walkon player.

When Mario first here we hired Rizzi’s former assistant Marwan Maalouf who wasn’t cut out for lead job or college football. He is back working as Rizzi’s assistant in Denver.

Kalter was former student volunteer who worked his way up over the years.

Would love to poach a proven current college Special teams coach.
 
fatnasty187 said:
You said literally everything on my flipping mind. Second I'm so jealous you got to see it all in person. I had season tickets for 10 years . Because of cot **** cancer I didn't make a game in person this year. So part of me feels empty as **** I didn't get that chance. I love this team and staff. You're so correct about the punt, it was that play.

I kept waiting for that special Miami moment the last drive. I really thought someone was was about to become a legend.

Thank you for the awesome recap brother. I really appreciate your writing.
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🙏 So sorry to hear you’re going through that. Hope next season you’re able to make all the games!
 
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Steve44 said:
we whiffed on a basic punt….wasnt even a designed block.

Dawson and Heatherman outdid their respective counterparts. Our offense scored more than them. Our defense gave up less points than them.

We took a blocked punt TD for -7 points, and lost by 6. Still with a chance to win last drive. Frustrating
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Every big play they made was because they had 3 players going against our 2…
 
ThomasM said:
Man, penalties this game were a crap shoot. No one knew what was or wasn't going to get called. They were hanging all over our WRs, and we got called for less than what they were doing to us. Not sure how you fix that in house.
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We got called last night because that is our history of making penalties . Indy did not because they too have a history of playing “clean.” That is it. The whole story.
 
The grit of this team and sheer dominance of the DL and at some times the OL is what I will miss the most

A lot of championship mindset players who deserved a ring and unfortunately won’t get it

For next year and moving forward, If there’s anything that’s going to get Mario and Miami to the top of the mountain, its going to be even more talent to cover up coaching deficiencies on offense

IMO Hetherman is an absolute stud coach and DC and so are other members of the defensive staff. No concerns there moving forward, besides continuing to acquire top tier talent

Offense - Dawson is a decent OC but can his offense elevate good players to great? I don’t think so. I think he needs great players (ie. The Cam Ward and Mali Toney’s of the world) to have a great offense. Beck is a winner and was great for us. But I think we need a dynamic QB, who can make plays when nothing is there like Cam, an outside speed and physical WR threat (ie. Jeremiah Smith or Chris Bell type) to really take this offense to the next level
 
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After Carter Davis missed that kick, i got nervous that we brought in a FSU kicker. Bad juju
 
Lot of good points. Here’s others to consider:
- Beck was not the problem with offense. Weapons obviously limited. No factors or threat/separation other than Fletcher or Toney. Absolutely no TE.
- Secondary beat up & worst game. Brown out & Frederique limited. Safeties unusually quiet.
- Quietly missed Lofton. Bauman struggled & more snaps than normal. Fell asleep & casual on punt block.
- *****ing about offense is over the top. Technically, we out scored them 21-20 or whatever due to another TD coming on punt block
- IU first TD was clearly on defense - stupid penalties & missed tackles.
- Idea of IU having more fans in the stadium is sad. Understand, allotment or whatever was technically even, but can’t imagine another program in the country being outdrawn in its own stadium.
- Finally, Miami is definitely back. We’re in everyone’s head. Social media hate is crazy post-game. Haters relentlessly attacking Beck, Fletcher, Canes culture & fans.
 
In all fairness to Bauman, it was his block that helped spring Fletcher on his TD run....
 
I don’t know how many times this season someone has correctly observed , “Well, we played like **** and made every mistake possible but somehow we’re in the game.”

If Miami plays a mostly mistake free game, we win- likely by two scores. For sure we don’t give up the TD on the punt block. Offsides , face masks, and other dumb things have them extra chances that got them points. I can live with an occasional DPI, those are generally effort mistakes. The other ones are dumb mistakes. Thats the frustrating thing- this team was more than good enough to win the title but silly mistakes gave it away.

Ohio State and TAMU likely go the same way as this one if we make the same mental errors. Somehow Cristobal got the players to play with discipline in those two games. But then Ole **** and Indy we were back to the typical boneheaded errors we saw on most Saturdays.

I wish there was something to point to as the reason that sometimes the players are focused and disciplined. Why can’t they always be like that?
 
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