David Lake from Inside the U, joined the show for the better part of an hour to break down all the buzz surrounding the Miami Hurricanes through two games. From UM's offensive firepower, to offensive line projections and general CFB happenings; D$ and Lake took a look at everything concerning the Canes.
Here are some highlights from their discussion:
DMoney: Like everyone else, I expected this offense to be good but I did not expect it to be hitting the ground running to this level of efficiency. Where are you at two games in on where the Miami Hurricanes stand?
Lake: Darian Mensah has taken his game to another level year over year. He was already very good at Duke last year, but I think it's a product of him being surrounded by better talent at Miami. I was blown away by that Stanford performance. A lot of people are brushing it off like, "Oh, it's Stanford," and I get that, they've been terrible in recent years, but that's still a Power Four team with Power Four body types, on the road, in a season opener. You could see the concerns early with the offensive line and pass protection on those first couple drives, and in my opinion, Mensah kind of covered that up. He was getting the ball out, getting hit at the same time a lot, and a lot of those balls were completions to Malachi Toney. But Miami cleaned it up as the game progressed, and since then it's been a very clean, explosive offensive operation.
DMoney: Where are you at with this offensive line, and do you think it can get to a point where it's national championship caliber?
Lake: Right now I'm still in wait-and-see mode, because I think Wake Forest is going to provide an interesting test, but I don't know if we'll even know after Wake Forest. I will say this: I think the potential is there for this offensive line to be national championship caliber within the structure of this offense.
One thing that's been better than I expected is the way Darian Mensah can play both styles in the passing game. Coming into the season, his metrics mirrored Cam Ward more than Carson Beck, getting the ball out quick, making fast decisions. But through two games, he's shown he can be just as good, maybe better, at getting it out downfield in an explosive fashion, too. In that Stanford game, his deep shots were out in two point six seconds.
Doing it against Wake Forest is one thing; doing it against Texas A&M, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Indiana is a totally different world, but if Miami can get somewhere decent against that level of opponent, it's hard to not think about Miami being able to win it all this year.
DMoney: Alright, I'm putting you on the spot, because your offensive line predictions set the world on fire every time you drop them. Playoffs, we're playing Ohio State, David Lake is picking Miami. Who's on the offensive line in a perfect world, assuming no injuries and the right guys develop the way you want them to?
Lake: Left tackle, Samson Okunlola, he's been better than I expected. Left guard is the real question, but I think the most realistic answer is Max Buchanan. Center, still Ryan Rodriguez, I think SJ will be a dynamic center eventually, but right now this is Rodriguez's job. Right guard, Jackson Cantwell. Right tackle, Matthew McCoy. So to me the question really is the guards, and I think it plays out organically. If SJ can't get it done, Max Buchanan gets his shot. If Buchanan can't get it done, Ben Congdon gets his shot. Miami has other options behind those guys too, so this isn't a situation where they have to cross their fingers and hope. I go Samson, Max, Ryan, Jackson, McCoy, and SJ is next year's starting center.
DMoney: And Jacob Hawks, I knew he'd be good, but he accelerated his development. I did not expect to see him playing meaningful snaps in an unbalanced-line look against Stanford. He's clearly second string right now, and when I talked to people about him early on, they didn't really know what they had, given how raw he was.
Lake: I'm surprised too, but he's clearly earned it. I don't think he's a Markel Bell type, but it's a similar idea: if you teach a guy with decent baseline athleticism at that size how to use his frame, he can be highly effective at this level. If a guy's 6-foot-9, 340-pounds, with a wingspan and he knows what he's doing, it takes a defensive end a long time to get around him, and by the time he does, the ball's gone. I
DMoney: We've been tearing this up in the group chat, the Protect College Sports Act. Ross Dellinger's reporting that lawmakers are eyeing changes to the expansion provision, reducing the independent probationary period for schools from five years to three, and terminating the concept after six years. At least five ACC schools, Miami, Clemson, FSU, UNC and Stanford, have raised concerns to lawmakers about the current setup. From a Miami standpoint, does any of this actually matter?
Lake: The thing that matters most is the nineteen-team power conference cap. Whoever's working on this needs to push that number up to 20, 21, 22, that's more important than the probationary period stuff. Miami's going to be attractive regardless. You'd assume Miami gets one of those, but the Big Ten is the tough one, because it's only one spot, and would the Big Ten take Miami over North Carolina or somebody else? If that cap number bumps up, that gets easier. Miami doesn't necessarily need this act to be enacted, but they'd be fine with it if that conference cap moves.
DMoney: Four minutes left and we haven't talked Wake Forest at all. Let's go. I want to see the pass rush get going against this team.
Lake: Part of the answer on the pass rush this year has to do with the approach from opponents. I looked at the numbers, small sample, but through two games teams are clearly making a concerted effort to get the ball out quicker against Miami than they did last year. These offensive coordinators watched tape all offseason, saw the defensive line wrecking shop and the nickel blitzing constantly, and they've adjusted.
Now, Gio Lopez is a guy who holds onto the ball. He did it at South Alabama, he did it at North Carolina, he's doing it again at Wake Forest. He's a big-play hunter who likes to extend plays and scramble. So in theory there will be opportunities to get sacks this week.
DMoney: I'm curious how much Wake tries to move the pocket on us, because that's what the last two teams have done.
Lake: Miami's blitzing less than it did last year, and part of that is managing a new corner reality with guys banged up. Keionte Scott was really good at blitzing, Omar Thornton's good too, but not quite at that level yet. Miami's time to pressure this year is 2.2 seconds, it was 2.3 last year. Last year's opposing quarterbacks averaged 2.85 seconds to throw for the season, this year through two games it's 2.5. That difference of a few tenths of a second is the gap between getting a throw off and getting sacked, and teams are clearly trying to neutralize Miami's pass rush by getting the ball out fast.
DMoney: What about how Wake Forest defends us? Stanford stacked the box, one safety, and we ripped it up, it was light work. What's Jake ****ert going to try?
Lake: Watching his presser, he's alluding to a bend-but-don't-break approach, force field goals in the red zone, get turnovers when they come. I think it looks a lot like what Georgia Tech did to Cam Ward in 2024, a lot of quarters coverage, try to keep everything in front of them and make Miami be methodical.
Georgia Tech had a bye week to prepare for that and threaded the needle perfectly. Cam Ward, tremendous quarterback, best I've ever covered at Miami, but he was ultra-aggressive and wouldn't just take the easy stuff that game, and that's a big reason they lost. I'm optimistic Darian Mensah handles those looks better, because I think he's more willing to just take the easy throw underneath instead of hunting the home run every time.
Watch the full episode down below:
Here are some highlights from their discussion:
DMoney: Like everyone else, I expected this offense to be good but I did not expect it to be hitting the ground running to this level of efficiency. Where are you at two games in on where the Miami Hurricanes stand?
Lake: Darian Mensah has taken his game to another level year over year. He was already very good at Duke last year, but I think it's a product of him being surrounded by better talent at Miami. I was blown away by that Stanford performance. A lot of people are brushing it off like, "Oh, it's Stanford," and I get that, they've been terrible in recent years, but that's still a Power Four team with Power Four body types, on the road, in a season opener. You could see the concerns early with the offensive line and pass protection on those first couple drives, and in my opinion, Mensah kind of covered that up. He was getting the ball out, getting hit at the same time a lot, and a lot of those balls were completions to Malachi Toney. But Miami cleaned it up as the game progressed, and since then it's been a very clean, explosive offensive operation.
DMoney: Where are you at with this offensive line, and do you think it can get to a point where it's national championship caliber?
Lake: Right now I'm still in wait-and-see mode, because I think Wake Forest is going to provide an interesting test, but I don't know if we'll even know after Wake Forest. I will say this: I think the potential is there for this offensive line to be national championship caliber within the structure of this offense.
One thing that's been better than I expected is the way Darian Mensah can play both styles in the passing game. Coming into the season, his metrics mirrored Cam Ward more than Carson Beck, getting the ball out quick, making fast decisions. But through two games, he's shown he can be just as good, maybe better, at getting it out downfield in an explosive fashion, too. In that Stanford game, his deep shots were out in two point six seconds.
Doing it against Wake Forest is one thing; doing it against Texas A&M, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Indiana is a totally different world, but if Miami can get somewhere decent against that level of opponent, it's hard to not think about Miami being able to win it all this year.
DMoney: Alright, I'm putting you on the spot, because your offensive line predictions set the world on fire every time you drop them. Playoffs, we're playing Ohio State, David Lake is picking Miami. Who's on the offensive line in a perfect world, assuming no injuries and the right guys develop the way you want them to?
Lake: Left tackle, Samson Okunlola, he's been better than I expected. Left guard is the real question, but I think the most realistic answer is Max Buchanan. Center, still Ryan Rodriguez, I think SJ will be a dynamic center eventually, but right now this is Rodriguez's job. Right guard, Jackson Cantwell. Right tackle, Matthew McCoy. So to me the question really is the guards, and I think it plays out organically. If SJ can't get it done, Max Buchanan gets his shot. If Buchanan can't get it done, Ben Congdon gets his shot. Miami has other options behind those guys too, so this isn't a situation where they have to cross their fingers and hope. I go Samson, Max, Ryan, Jackson, McCoy, and SJ is next year's starting center.
DMoney: And Jacob Hawks, I knew he'd be good, but he accelerated his development. I did not expect to see him playing meaningful snaps in an unbalanced-line look against Stanford. He's clearly second string right now, and when I talked to people about him early on, they didn't really know what they had, given how raw he was.
Lake: I'm surprised too, but he's clearly earned it. I don't think he's a Markel Bell type, but it's a similar idea: if you teach a guy with decent baseline athleticism at that size how to use his frame, he can be highly effective at this level. If a guy's 6-foot-9, 340-pounds, with a wingspan and he knows what he's doing, it takes a defensive end a long time to get around him, and by the time he does, the ball's gone. I
DMoney: We've been tearing this up in the group chat, the Protect College Sports Act. Ross Dellinger's reporting that lawmakers are eyeing changes to the expansion provision, reducing the independent probationary period for schools from five years to three, and terminating the concept after six years. At least five ACC schools, Miami, Clemson, FSU, UNC and Stanford, have raised concerns to lawmakers about the current setup. From a Miami standpoint, does any of this actually matter?
Lake: The thing that matters most is the nineteen-team power conference cap. Whoever's working on this needs to push that number up to 20, 21, 22, that's more important than the probationary period stuff. Miami's going to be attractive regardless. You'd assume Miami gets one of those, but the Big Ten is the tough one, because it's only one spot, and would the Big Ten take Miami over North Carolina or somebody else? If that cap number bumps up, that gets easier. Miami doesn't necessarily need this act to be enacted, but they'd be fine with it if that conference cap moves.
DMoney: Four minutes left and we haven't talked Wake Forest at all. Let's go. I want to see the pass rush get going against this team.
Lake: Part of the answer on the pass rush this year has to do with the approach from opponents. I looked at the numbers, small sample, but through two games teams are clearly making a concerted effort to get the ball out quicker against Miami than they did last year. These offensive coordinators watched tape all offseason, saw the defensive line wrecking shop and the nickel blitzing constantly, and they've adjusted.
Now, Gio Lopez is a guy who holds onto the ball. He did it at South Alabama, he did it at North Carolina, he's doing it again at Wake Forest. He's a big-play hunter who likes to extend plays and scramble. So in theory there will be opportunities to get sacks this week.
DMoney: I'm curious how much Wake tries to move the pocket on us, because that's what the last two teams have done.
Lake: Miami's blitzing less than it did last year, and part of that is managing a new corner reality with guys banged up. Keionte Scott was really good at blitzing, Omar Thornton's good too, but not quite at that level yet. Miami's time to pressure this year is 2.2 seconds, it was 2.3 last year. Last year's opposing quarterbacks averaged 2.85 seconds to throw for the season, this year through two games it's 2.5. That difference of a few tenths of a second is the gap between getting a throw off and getting sacked, and teams are clearly trying to neutralize Miami's pass rush by getting the ball out fast.
DMoney: What about how Wake Forest defends us? Stanford stacked the box, one safety, and we ripped it up, it was light work. What's Jake ****ert going to try?
Lake: Watching his presser, he's alluding to a bend-but-don't-break approach, force field goals in the red zone, get turnovers when they come. I think it looks a lot like what Georgia Tech did to Cam Ward in 2024, a lot of quarters coverage, try to keep everything in front of them and make Miami be methodical.
Georgia Tech had a bye week to prepare for that and threaded the needle perfectly. Cam Ward, tremendous quarterback, best I've ever covered at Miami, but he was ultra-aggressive and wouldn't just take the easy stuff that game, and that's a big reason they lost. I'm optimistic Darian Mensah handles those looks better, because I think he's more willing to just take the easy throw underneath instead of hunting the home run every time.
Watch the full episode down below:
