k9cane
Senior
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2011
- Messages
- 9,739
OK, just got back from a fund day/night at Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood(which is actually famous for being the hang-out spot for Jim Morrison back in the day and where I guess he ****ed on the bar one time or something) and now is a 'Miami bar' and there was a very good turnout or Hurricane fans. Watched the game with [MENTION=37]CanesAreAble[/MENTION] and some other friends who are UM fans. A good time was had by all. Some thoughts on the game( and yeah, I'm still buzzed so bear with me...)
- Again, this is not a vintage Hurricane team, we all know its shortcomings and defiencies - but to the nation who completely dismisses this squad: do you believe now just a bit more? This is hard-nosed scrappy team who just keeps biting and scratching and finds ways to overcome. That wasn't perfect but that effort was spectacular. We got something cooking here, add a few more parts(which are on the way) and there could be another special run in store. As frustrating as this game got late in the first half and at the beginning of the second half, it was just as satisfying to see this team start rolling downhill and playing off the crowd at the Rock.
- Speaking of Hard Rock Stadium, just from the shots from the ABC broadcast, you could feel the energy of the fans. This was OB-like in it's energy and intensity. Please no more talk of any other venue, Hard Rock is a great place for UM football, it fits the culture of the program and city. It's an incredible atmosphere when it gets going.
- [MENTION=37]CanesAreAble[/MENTION] and I nearly fainted as Richt came out and called for a motion-jet sweep( or was it a shovel?) to Berrios to begin the game. Then he brought out a reverse-pass from Berrios to Rosier and then later on another play I'll talk about that I thought was a tad ill-advised based on the field position. But it's clear we were going to empty the bucket tonight vs the Hokies.
- Once again goal-line/short yardage running is a huge problem. Im beginning to think Miami should just go spread the whole time and run rub routes or if in the I-form do more sprint roll-out or bootleg/waggle stuff because they simply can't get a push upfront needed. I hated that throwback pass from to Rosier( it gave me flashbacks of Payton to Willie Pile vs Vatech in 2002) and based on the type of game this was going to be, I would've taken the 3 points and gotten on the board. But Richt wanted to be bold. In the future he'll have better guys upfront to make that gamble pay off.
- I really thought UM should've been up 17-0 or so at the half but Rosier had an implosion oven a dozen play stretch( or so) where he kept putting the ball on the ground or getting picked. This is where we are really starting to see his limitations but I have to give him credit, on runs plays today he was very ballsy and it was his threat keeing the ball which opened up Travis Homers big TD run as he held the edge defenders to the outside and created a natural running lane for the Homer(run hitter).
- The defense, IMO ,played it's best overall game. After an early run gash they were pretty solid for the most part and held up well against the tempo that Fuente likes to employ and all their jet-motions that really make you think for a split second. What I really loved was how they seemed to rise to the challenge after the lead was cut to 14-10 and Rosier was struggling. That's what elite defenses are supposed to do - erase blemishes and keep teams afloat. Like a great boxer they got stronger as the fight went on and in the championship rounds they were really relishing the contact and punishing the Hokies.
You could just feel it as they were in a feeding frenzy of hard hits and turnovers at the end. Speaking of which...
- The Turnover Chain. Honestly, as this was unveiled at the beginning of the season I thought it was somewhat corny and I thought to myself,"Bennie Blades, Jerome Brown and Michael Barrow would never need or want something like this."(Yeah, Im getting old, hey, get off my lawn you SOB!!). But I've done a 180 on it. The players love it, the media actually does too and the crowd feeds off of it. It's been one of the bright spots of this 2017 season. And even at the Beanery, there were people who not only wore 'Turnover Chain' T-shirts but brought their own homemade chains and as it was brought out each time, the people at this bar really got into it. It was pretty **** cool to see not only the players react to it but how it jacks up the audience, both at the venue and at places like the Beanery.
- A recurring theme : quality PT for this freshman class. We can see Deejay Dallas' role expanding( a hybird RB/slot WR), Trajan Bandy continuing to be a really good slot corner, Derrick Smith and Amari Carter working into the rotation and this week we saw the first big play at DE from Jonathan Garvin who created a strip sack-fumble of Josh Jackson. This is the second straight class where a large number of first year players are making an impact. Yeah, the future's so bright...
- Wanna mention this guy again - Jaquan Johnson. Yeah, he may not be Sean Taylor, Ed Reed or Horacio(Bennie) Blades, but he's becoming a real standout. [MENTION=2]DMoney[/MENTION] and I spoke about this on Friday but we as Miami fans are so spoiled having seen so many legendary-type players we take for granted guys like JJ. Just think about how many All-Americans or 1st round draft picks that aren't even considered top 5 all-time Hurricanes? But back to Johnson, he created two more turnovers today but more and more you start to really appreciate and notice the solid-to-routine plays he makes over and over again. My hats off to #4
- So yeah, moving forward: prime time slot, whole country watching, many pundits doubting the Hurricanes after last weeks desultory effort in Chapell Hill. But as I stated last week, it really meant nothing. That was the classic look-ahead game and there's no other sport where emotion/focus will dictate quality of performance. UM made believers out of many people tonight. Now, we look ahead to Notre Dame in what is one of THE games of the year
At the rock
At night
I cant wait.
- This thing is coming together, you can feel it. This isnt a great Miami team by any stretch but let's keep riding the crest with these boys. To paraphrase Al Davis - the greatness of the Miami Hurricanes is in it's future.
But the present ain't so bad, either
- Again, this is not a vintage Hurricane team, we all know its shortcomings and defiencies - but to the nation who completely dismisses this squad: do you believe now just a bit more? This is hard-nosed scrappy team who just keeps biting and scratching and finds ways to overcome. That wasn't perfect but that effort was spectacular. We got something cooking here, add a few more parts(which are on the way) and there could be another special run in store. As frustrating as this game got late in the first half and at the beginning of the second half, it was just as satisfying to see this team start rolling downhill and playing off the crowd at the Rock.
- Speaking of Hard Rock Stadium, just from the shots from the ABC broadcast, you could feel the energy of the fans. This was OB-like in it's energy and intensity. Please no more talk of any other venue, Hard Rock is a great place for UM football, it fits the culture of the program and city. It's an incredible atmosphere when it gets going.
- [MENTION=37]CanesAreAble[/MENTION] and I nearly fainted as Richt came out and called for a motion-jet sweep( or was it a shovel?) to Berrios to begin the game. Then he brought out a reverse-pass from Berrios to Rosier and then later on another play I'll talk about that I thought was a tad ill-advised based on the field position. But it's clear we were going to empty the bucket tonight vs the Hokies.
- Once again goal-line/short yardage running is a huge problem. Im beginning to think Miami should just go spread the whole time and run rub routes or if in the I-form do more sprint roll-out or bootleg/waggle stuff because they simply can't get a push upfront needed. I hated that throwback pass from to Rosier( it gave me flashbacks of Payton to Willie Pile vs Vatech in 2002) and based on the type of game this was going to be, I would've taken the 3 points and gotten on the board. But Richt wanted to be bold. In the future he'll have better guys upfront to make that gamble pay off.
- I really thought UM should've been up 17-0 or so at the half but Rosier had an implosion oven a dozen play stretch( or so) where he kept putting the ball on the ground or getting picked. This is where we are really starting to see his limitations but I have to give him credit, on runs plays today he was very ballsy and it was his threat keeing the ball which opened up Travis Homers big TD run as he held the edge defenders to the outside and created a natural running lane for the Homer(run hitter).
- The defense, IMO ,played it's best overall game. After an early run gash they were pretty solid for the most part and held up well against the tempo that Fuente likes to employ and all their jet-motions that really make you think for a split second. What I really loved was how they seemed to rise to the challenge after the lead was cut to 14-10 and Rosier was struggling. That's what elite defenses are supposed to do - erase blemishes and keep teams afloat. Like a great boxer they got stronger as the fight went on and in the championship rounds they were really relishing the contact and punishing the Hokies.
You could just feel it as they were in a feeding frenzy of hard hits and turnovers at the end. Speaking of which...
- The Turnover Chain. Honestly, as this was unveiled at the beginning of the season I thought it was somewhat corny and I thought to myself,"Bennie Blades, Jerome Brown and Michael Barrow would never need or want something like this."(Yeah, Im getting old, hey, get off my lawn you SOB!!). But I've done a 180 on it. The players love it, the media actually does too and the crowd feeds off of it. It's been one of the bright spots of this 2017 season. And even at the Beanery, there were people who not only wore 'Turnover Chain' T-shirts but brought their own homemade chains and as it was brought out each time, the people at this bar really got into it. It was pretty **** cool to see not only the players react to it but how it jacks up the audience, both at the venue and at places like the Beanery.
- A recurring theme : quality PT for this freshman class. We can see Deejay Dallas' role expanding( a hybird RB/slot WR), Trajan Bandy continuing to be a really good slot corner, Derrick Smith and Amari Carter working into the rotation and this week we saw the first big play at DE from Jonathan Garvin who created a strip sack-fumble of Josh Jackson. This is the second straight class where a large number of first year players are making an impact. Yeah, the future's so bright...
- Wanna mention this guy again - Jaquan Johnson. Yeah, he may not be Sean Taylor, Ed Reed or Horacio(Bennie) Blades, but he's becoming a real standout. [MENTION=2]DMoney[/MENTION] and I spoke about this on Friday but we as Miami fans are so spoiled having seen so many legendary-type players we take for granted guys like JJ. Just think about how many All-Americans or 1st round draft picks that aren't even considered top 5 all-time Hurricanes? But back to Johnson, he created two more turnovers today but more and more you start to really appreciate and notice the solid-to-routine plays he makes over and over again. My hats off to #4
- So yeah, moving forward: prime time slot, whole country watching, many pundits doubting the Hurricanes after last weeks desultory effort in Chapell Hill. But as I stated last week, it really meant nothing. That was the classic look-ahead game and there's no other sport where emotion/focus will dictate quality of performance. UM made believers out of many people tonight. Now, we look ahead to Notre Dame in what is one of THE games of the year
At the rock
At night
I cant wait.
- This thing is coming together, you can feel it. This isnt a great Miami team by any stretch but let's keep riding the crest with these boys. To paraphrase Al Davis - the greatness of the Miami Hurricanes is in it's future.
But the present ain't so bad, either
