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Miami Hurricanes WR coach Rob Likens has overseen a group that struggled mightily through Miami’s first 5 games, and, going into Game 6 vs. UVA, Likens opened up the depth chart at his position to try and light a fire under his guys. It seems like the gambit worked as Miami receivers, led by starters Mike Harley, Mark Pope, and Dee Wiggins, caught a season-high 18 passes in the game and consistently converted on big plays throughout the night.
“The guys that started in the game were the ones that earned it,” Likens said. “I told them early on in the week whoever practiced the best (would start). They’ve always been practicing hard. Whoever produced, paid attention to detail, competed for the ball the most (would start). Those were the guys that earned it, they practiced really well with assignments, doing everything right. I think that’s good for everybody. I noticed we were kind of getting in a lull, not being comfortable, more of a lull. It wasn’t like guys weren’t practicing hard, I wouldn’t let that happen.
“It’s a production business, that’s the way life is. You have to go out there and produce and (opening the depth chart) gave someone else a chance to see if they can do it. Those three guys, and Jeremiah Payton was in that mix also, were the guys that did the best that week.”
With just 12 catches for 154 yards through 6 games, Wiggins has been UM’s least productive starting receiver, but Likens says he has liked what he’s seen from Wiggins on film.
“It’s a process at receiver - we watched every clip that we played this year and it’s just funny how some guys jog out into the game and the ball finds them, the coverage (sometimes) dictates,” Likens said. “Dee had been struggling coming down with some contested catches. I challenged him with that, the room with that. You have to attack the ball when it’s in the air. I’ve been watching Dee and he runs overall consistently, he has been running the best routes, most consistent routes out of everybody up to this point. And it’s just a process.”
Of the four freshmen receivers, Likens has given Keyshawn Smith the most snaps thus far, and he talked about why that was.
“I think he’s one of our faster guys, everybody knows that," Likens said of Smith. "If you want to know who the fastest DB is, ask a receiver. The fastest receiver, ask a DB. Keyshawn can run, get behind people. I see an extremely bright future in him. He is a freshman, and this happens to a lot of freshmen - he has to learn to process all the information, and he’s doing a better job of that. Once he becomes just assignment sound then you’re going to see him take off as a player.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum, freshman receiver Dazalin Worsham has only played in the FSU blowout win, and although Likens is still high on Worsham long-term, he had doubts if Worsham would see significant time this season barring injury.
“You never know, 2020 right?"" Likens said. "I’m very, very excited about Daz and I tell him that every day. I tell him `You’re going to be a really good player.’ Daz needs to get a little stronger in the weight room. He is coming off an injury in high school. He had a great practice today, is giving effort every day. I can’t tell if we’ll see him in a game. If no one gets hurt and things stay the way they are, probably not.”
A big point of focus for Likens in practice has been to stress winning contested passes in the air, something the Canes’ receivers showed improvement on against the Cavaliers last week.
“It’s a mindset. You walk across that white stripe, you can be the nicest guy in the world, but you better put your hard hat on and say `I’d rather die than let that ball hit the ground or me not catch it',” Likens said. “You can develop that mindset. Our call for the wide receivers is `DBS' - `Don’t Be Soft'. The ball is in the air - go get it."
**Last week vs. UVA, the Canes continued to have issues with targeting, as Amari Carter got his second of the year on UVA's very first offensive play and was ejected, and safeties coach Ephraim Banda addressed the problem on Wednesday.
“This is a thing across all of college football right now,” Banda said. “Personally, I know we’re working really, really hard, and always have, at targeting the strike zone. We’re a shoulder leverage tackling team - in our tackling, there is nothing above the waistline how we teach it (with) techniques. It’s definitely been a challenge for us and for Amari. Last week was a tough one. When a receiver catches it who is 5-foot-8 and then ducks, how do you make a defender respond? Our eyes can be up, but you can’t make a human shrink that much and have another human shrink that much in that small a time.
“If it’s malicious, I understand, if he’s intending to throw the head, not trying to target low. I don’t believe it should be ejected from the game if a young man is trying. I know Amari is a good young man. I don’t feel it’s fair to take a senior who has a limited amount of time to play football out of a game. Add 2020 to it, all these young men have had to do to get on the football field... But the rule is the rule, we’re going to try to continue to improve and work at it. Hopefully in the offseason, we as coaches can find a way to try to help this rule, make this rule better so we’re not taking away from these kids and all their hard work and their right to play.”
Specifically with Carter, Banda said they continue to work on tackling technique with the senior safety to avoid the targeting penalties.
"You have to put a lot of emphasis into technique,” Banda said. “With Amari, it's continuing to stress tackling as low as you can, keeping your eyes up. It's not being gun-shy, you can't get gun-shy. You have to continue to play the game as hard as you can and play the cards you're dealt. We're going to continue to work at it."
With the missed time from targeting calls by both Carter and Gurvan Hall at safety recent weeks, freshmen such as Brian Balom and Jalen Harrell have gotten opportunities to impress at the position.
“Brian has done a really good job of preparing every week,” Banda said. “The times he’s gotten in games he’s made freshman mistakes, which we all knew he’d make, but he runs and tackles which for us is a big thing. They’re going to make mistakes. The problem with playing freshmen is they’re going to make freshmen mistakes. He’s been extremely good on special teams. Jalen got an opportunity, I said `Your chance is going to come, stay locked in, urgent.’ He was going to play a lot on special teams, then all of a sudden is playing defense. He didn’t do what he was supposed to do exactly right, but when it was time to run and hit, he made a couple of tackles.”
The Canes’ third healthy freshman safety, Keshawn Washington, has only played in the FSU blowout win, but Banda has liked what he’s seen from him so far in practice.
“Keshawn has done an excellent job of staying locked in,” Banda said. “Keshawn has been locked in with the game plan, practicing hard, looking for opportunities on special teams.”
A fourth freshman safety, Avantae Williams, is out this year with injury, but Banda has been encouraged by his ability to stay locked in with the team.
“His attitude off the field has been really good, staying engaged, handle academics,” Banda said of Williams.
Junior Bubba Bolden has been a standout for Miami at safety this season, leading the team with 38 tackles, 4 TFL, a sack, an INT, 3 PBU, 3 FF, and 2 blocked kicks.
“Bubba, you see the plays he makes, but he and I know the plays he doesn’t make where he is struggling a little bit,” Banda said. “The greatest thing about Bubba is he’s very self-aware, understands and knows when he makes mistakes. He’s really played extremely hard, has not been right all the time. He’s done good things but there’s so much more improvement in terms of his eye discipline, techniques, foot pattern, doing things the Miami defensive way.
“The good and bad at Miami is everyone wants to hoot and holler when things are good, but Bubba has only played nine true games here if you incorporate the three last year and six this year. He’s still a player in that learning part. The best part about it is Bubba knows that. Bubba knows where he’s at in terms of his progression, understands he has so much to improve. The other day he said `I hear all the good stuff, I need to hear the bad stuff, want to hear what I have to get better at.’ He’s not going to settle for just being good or okay, he wants to be great.”
Hall (21 tackles in 2020) was limited going into Miami’s last game vs. Virginia with injury, but ended up playing a lot of snaps with the Canes shorthanded at safety.
“Gurvan’s put together two back-to-back really good games,” Banda said. “He gutted it out (vs. UVA). I was really proud of his toughness. I reminded him of (Sheldrick) Redwine, the toughness Redwine had to have a couple of times in his career. I’m really proud of where Gurvan is in terms of on the field, challenging himself to be locked in and focused, running hard and playing hard. He has to improve off the field in taking care of his body, being in that training room and living in there. That’s part of growing and maturing as a player.”
Overall, what has been Banda’s impression of the defense so far this season?
“The best thing, the thing we all agree that we really are pleased with, is we’re running and we’re hitting,” Banda said. “We made a big emphasis in self isolation period to now, just run to the ball. I’m really, really pleased to see that. We could have been better at that vs. UVA, I felt we didn’t do it to the standard we had been doing it all year. So as an identity I’m pleased to see that part of our defense and our kids take note of that. We have a lot to improve on, but what we are pleased with is our toughness from all different levels of running to the ball and tackling.”
What does Banda look for when trying to identify a Miami-level safety prospect in recruiting?
“We’re looking for people that can make plays,” Banda said. “Guys with instincts, toughness, that show leadership and length.”
“The guys that started in the game were the ones that earned it,” Likens said. “I told them early on in the week whoever practiced the best (would start). They’ve always been practicing hard. Whoever produced, paid attention to detail, competed for the ball the most (would start). Those were the guys that earned it, they practiced really well with assignments, doing everything right. I think that’s good for everybody. I noticed we were kind of getting in a lull, not being comfortable, more of a lull. It wasn’t like guys weren’t practicing hard, I wouldn’t let that happen.
“It’s a production business, that’s the way life is. You have to go out there and produce and (opening the depth chart) gave someone else a chance to see if they can do it. Those three guys, and Jeremiah Payton was in that mix also, were the guys that did the best that week.”
With just 12 catches for 154 yards through 6 games, Wiggins has been UM’s least productive starting receiver, but Likens says he has liked what he’s seen from Wiggins on film.
“It’s a process at receiver - we watched every clip that we played this year and it’s just funny how some guys jog out into the game and the ball finds them, the coverage (sometimes) dictates,” Likens said. “Dee had been struggling coming down with some contested catches. I challenged him with that, the room with that. You have to attack the ball when it’s in the air. I’ve been watching Dee and he runs overall consistently, he has been running the best routes, most consistent routes out of everybody up to this point. And it’s just a process.”
Of the four freshmen receivers, Likens has given Keyshawn Smith the most snaps thus far, and he talked about why that was.
“I think he’s one of our faster guys, everybody knows that," Likens said of Smith. "If you want to know who the fastest DB is, ask a receiver. The fastest receiver, ask a DB. Keyshawn can run, get behind people. I see an extremely bright future in him. He is a freshman, and this happens to a lot of freshmen - he has to learn to process all the information, and he’s doing a better job of that. Once he becomes just assignment sound then you’re going to see him take off as a player.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum, freshman receiver Dazalin Worsham has only played in the FSU blowout win, and although Likens is still high on Worsham long-term, he had doubts if Worsham would see significant time this season barring injury.
“You never know, 2020 right?"" Likens said. "I’m very, very excited about Daz and I tell him that every day. I tell him `You’re going to be a really good player.’ Daz needs to get a little stronger in the weight room. He is coming off an injury in high school. He had a great practice today, is giving effort every day. I can’t tell if we’ll see him in a game. If no one gets hurt and things stay the way they are, probably not.”
A big point of focus for Likens in practice has been to stress winning contested passes in the air, something the Canes’ receivers showed improvement on against the Cavaliers last week.
“It’s a mindset. You walk across that white stripe, you can be the nicest guy in the world, but you better put your hard hat on and say `I’d rather die than let that ball hit the ground or me not catch it',” Likens said. “You can develop that mindset. Our call for the wide receivers is `DBS' - `Don’t Be Soft'. The ball is in the air - go get it."
**Last week vs. UVA, the Canes continued to have issues with targeting, as Amari Carter got his second of the year on UVA's very first offensive play and was ejected, and safeties coach Ephraim Banda addressed the problem on Wednesday.
“This is a thing across all of college football right now,” Banda said. “Personally, I know we’re working really, really hard, and always have, at targeting the strike zone. We’re a shoulder leverage tackling team - in our tackling, there is nothing above the waistline how we teach it (with) techniques. It’s definitely been a challenge for us and for Amari. Last week was a tough one. When a receiver catches it who is 5-foot-8 and then ducks, how do you make a defender respond? Our eyes can be up, but you can’t make a human shrink that much and have another human shrink that much in that small a time.
“If it’s malicious, I understand, if he’s intending to throw the head, not trying to target low. I don’t believe it should be ejected from the game if a young man is trying. I know Amari is a good young man. I don’t feel it’s fair to take a senior who has a limited amount of time to play football out of a game. Add 2020 to it, all these young men have had to do to get on the football field... But the rule is the rule, we’re going to try to continue to improve and work at it. Hopefully in the offseason, we as coaches can find a way to try to help this rule, make this rule better so we’re not taking away from these kids and all their hard work and their right to play.”
Specifically with Carter, Banda said they continue to work on tackling technique with the senior safety to avoid the targeting penalties.
"You have to put a lot of emphasis into technique,” Banda said. “With Amari, it's continuing to stress tackling as low as you can, keeping your eyes up. It's not being gun-shy, you can't get gun-shy. You have to continue to play the game as hard as you can and play the cards you're dealt. We're going to continue to work at it."
With the missed time from targeting calls by both Carter and Gurvan Hall at safety recent weeks, freshmen such as Brian Balom and Jalen Harrell have gotten opportunities to impress at the position.
“Brian has done a really good job of preparing every week,” Banda said. “The times he’s gotten in games he’s made freshman mistakes, which we all knew he’d make, but he runs and tackles which for us is a big thing. They’re going to make mistakes. The problem with playing freshmen is they’re going to make freshmen mistakes. He’s been extremely good on special teams. Jalen got an opportunity, I said `Your chance is going to come, stay locked in, urgent.’ He was going to play a lot on special teams, then all of a sudden is playing defense. He didn’t do what he was supposed to do exactly right, but when it was time to run and hit, he made a couple of tackles.”
The Canes’ third healthy freshman safety, Keshawn Washington, has only played in the FSU blowout win, but Banda has liked what he’s seen from him so far in practice.
“Keshawn has done an excellent job of staying locked in,” Banda said. “Keshawn has been locked in with the game plan, practicing hard, looking for opportunities on special teams.”
A fourth freshman safety, Avantae Williams, is out this year with injury, but Banda has been encouraged by his ability to stay locked in with the team.
“His attitude off the field has been really good, staying engaged, handle academics,” Banda said of Williams.
Junior Bubba Bolden has been a standout for Miami at safety this season, leading the team with 38 tackles, 4 TFL, a sack, an INT, 3 PBU, 3 FF, and 2 blocked kicks.
“Bubba, you see the plays he makes, but he and I know the plays he doesn’t make where he is struggling a little bit,” Banda said. “The greatest thing about Bubba is he’s very self-aware, understands and knows when he makes mistakes. He’s really played extremely hard, has not been right all the time. He’s done good things but there’s so much more improvement in terms of his eye discipline, techniques, foot pattern, doing things the Miami defensive way.
“The good and bad at Miami is everyone wants to hoot and holler when things are good, but Bubba has only played nine true games here if you incorporate the three last year and six this year. He’s still a player in that learning part. The best part about it is Bubba knows that. Bubba knows where he’s at in terms of his progression, understands he has so much to improve. The other day he said `I hear all the good stuff, I need to hear the bad stuff, want to hear what I have to get better at.’ He’s not going to settle for just being good or okay, he wants to be great.”
Hall (21 tackles in 2020) was limited going into Miami’s last game vs. Virginia with injury, but ended up playing a lot of snaps with the Canes shorthanded at safety.
“Gurvan’s put together two back-to-back really good games,” Banda said. “He gutted it out (vs. UVA). I was really proud of his toughness. I reminded him of (Sheldrick) Redwine, the toughness Redwine had to have a couple of times in his career. I’m really proud of where Gurvan is in terms of on the field, challenging himself to be locked in and focused, running hard and playing hard. He has to improve off the field in taking care of his body, being in that training room and living in there. That’s part of growing and maturing as a player.”
Overall, what has been Banda’s impression of the defense so far this season?
“The best thing, the thing we all agree that we really are pleased with, is we’re running and we’re hitting,” Banda said. “We made a big emphasis in self isolation period to now, just run to the ball. I’m really, really pleased to see that. We could have been better at that vs. UVA, I felt we didn’t do it to the standard we had been doing it all year. So as an identity I’m pleased to see that part of our defense and our kids take note of that. We have a lot to improve on, but what we are pleased with is our toughness from all different levels of running to the ball and tackling.”
What does Banda look for when trying to identify a Miami-level safety prospect in recruiting?
“We’re looking for people that can make plays,” Banda said. “Guys with instincts, toughness, that show leadership and length.”
