Miami opens +1 @ Louisville

[F-MarioCristobal]

If we’re actually a playoff team we show up and win the game by 14+ and come home and demolish the Noles

If we’re going to make it to Charlotte and lose to an average Clemson team we’ll go up to louisville and play them close and win by 1-4 points and come home and let the Noles hang around.

If we’re going to miss out on Charlotte all together we go up there and get beat.

This game clarifies how the 2nd half of the season plays out, in my opinion.

 

[OrangeBowlMagic]

If we’re actually a playoff team we show up and win the game by 14+ and come home and demolish the Noles

If we’re going to make it to Charlotte and lose to an average Clemson team we’ll go up to louisville and play them close and win by 1-4 points and come home and let the Noles hang around.

If we’re going to miss out on Charlotte all together we go up there and get beat.

This game clarifies how the 2nd half of the season plays out, in my opinion.

Pretty much agreed.

I've made excuses for the last 2 weeks.

VT was we were due for a letdown game, we should have been up 21-7 but got robbed on a phantom holding call and it let VT back into the game, etc.

Cal was we flew across the country for a 10:30 kick, it was the most emotional game Cal has had in a decade, etc.

But really good teams don't play defense like this 3 weeks in a row. Now, we have all the intangibles on our side. Sleepy noon game so the crowd shouldn't be insane, we've had an extra week and they've played 4 stressful games in a row, our DL is healthy for the first time literally all season. So we should go up there and win by a score or more. If we don't, then I can't justify this team any more, and we're likely a very good but not great team. A great team builds off the last 2 weeks, takes a deep breath during a bye, and goes out and punishes a staggering, tired Louisville team.

Are we good, or are we great? One football game never answers that question fully, but I think we can get a ton of information about the ultimate trajectory of the team on Saturday.

 

[Shogun]

If we’re actually a playoff team we show up and win the game by 14+ and come home and demolish the Noles

If we’re going to make it to Charlotte and lose to an average Clemson team we’ll go up to louisville and play them close and win by 1-4 points and come home and let the Noles hang around.

If we’re going to miss out on Charlotte all together we go up there and get beat.

This game clarifies how the 2nd half of the season plays out, in my opinion.

Agreed. Especially after a much needed bye week.

 

[Mr. Dynasty1]

If we’re actually a playoff team we show up and win the game by 14+ and come home and demolish the Noles

If we’re going to make it to Charlotte and lose to an average Clemson team we’ll go up to louisville and play them close and win by 1-4 points and come home and let the Noles hang around.

If we’re going to miss out on Charlotte all together we go up there and get beat.

This game clarifies how the 2nd half of the season plays out, in my opinion.

Well said!!

We will know pretty quickly, which team has decided to show

 

[simplycanes]

If we’re actually a playoff team we show up and win the game by 14+ and come home and demolish the Noles

If we’re going to make it to Charlotte and lose to an average Clemson team we’ll go up to louisville and play them close and win by 1-4 points and come home and let the Noles hang around.

If we’re going to miss out on Charlotte all together we go up there and get beat.

This game clarifies how the 2nd half of the season plays out, in my opinion.

This man Canes footballs!

 

[Hufftwoseven]

I’m on the over total 59.5. I think we get at least 35 and that leaves 25 for Louisville and I think they def eclipse that with how solid Brohm/Shuck are

 

[mr.h]

Louisville was able to put up 24 against ND and that was the lowest amount of points scored this year. Our defense is healthy. If we win by 2 scores, we’ve done OK..Hopefully we strike fast and keep the lead. This game will show us where we are at….

 

[ST26]

Cam Ward needs to be sharp right of the gate in this game. It’s going to be extremely hard for this offense to play catchup again like the last two games

 

[htownkidd]

If we’re actually a playoff team we show up and win the game by 14+ and come home and demolish the Noles

If we’re going to make it to Charlotte and lose to an average Clemson team we’ll go up to louisville and play them close and win by 1-4 points and come home and let the Noles hang around.

If we’re going to miss out on Charlotte all together we go up there and get beat.

This game clarifies how the 2nd half of the season plays out, in my opinion.

Perfectly said brethren.

 

[NCCanefan]

Interesting how metrics can be misleading and you can tell which pundits look at just the stats and which watch the games. I was watching PFF analysis of this game this morning. They mentioned that Miamis linebacker corps is the 4th best in the nation and they can help shut down the Louisville passing game. On paper our pass defense looks decent. Then they say that Miami is vulnerable to the run and giving up 4.7 yards per carry. I think Miami is much better against the run than the metrics show. The numbers are skewed by a few big runs due to missed tackles by that #4 rated LB group, but I am far more concerned about the UL pass game than I am about their run game.

Agree. Most of the conclusions people make are based on the stats that are really averages. Of course those mean something but it is the distribution that often matters. I haven't done any analysis (wait for it...) but, I think we are a huge outlier. Our D is good most of the time. However, we are bad too often and when we are bad we are catastrophically bad. Bottom line, you can be an above average D based on averages and give up a ton of points due a huge number of disaster plays.

 

[NCCanefan]

Going to repeat myself, I think we beat that ***, shortcomings and all. yall can pull the reciepts later lol

side note - What are the chances we play time of possession a bit and run the ball far more often in this game than we have in our first 6 games?

Louisville will decide that more than we will. If they play like CAL did early in the game, we'll run a lot. If I were UL, that's what I'd do. Using the Belicheck logic, haven't you seen enough of Ward to try to minimize his impact? Play soft and see if Miami can run or you can stop them with 6-7 guys.

 

[NCCanefan]

Cam Ward needs to be sharp right of the gate in this game. It’s going to be extremely hard for this offense to play catchup again like the last two games

I suggested leaving the punters home. Plan to score on every possession. Sadly, we may need to if we can't tighten up.

 

[CaneMutiny06]

If we’re actually a playoff team we show up and win the game by 14+ and come home and demolish the Noles

If we’re going to make it to Charlotte and lose to an average Clemson team we’ll go up to louisville and play them close and win by 1-4 points and come home and let the Noles hang around.

If we’re going to miss out on Charlotte all together we go up there and get beat.

This game clarifies how the 2nd half of the season plays out, in my opinion.

I think you summed it up perfectly.

This is a “get over the hill” game for this team. Show up and play well, and the remainder of the season will be all downhill from there. Survive by the skin of our teeth again and it will be obvious that we’re just getting lucky, and an L will likely occur between then and the ACC CG.

 

[Handsome Squidbum]

I think you summed it up perfectly.

This is a “get over the hill” game for this team. Show up and play well, and the remainder of the season will be all downhill from there. Survive by the skin of our teeth again and it will be obvious that we’re just getting lucky, and an L will likely occur between then and the ACC CG.

Don’t think we make it to the ACC CG if we drop a game.

Setup couldn’t be better for UM. Deck stacked in our favor against UL other than it being a road game. UL playing fifth game in a row. We got a bye and two weeks to prep. Team is almost at 100% strength. They are beat up. Noon game (UL might be extra motivated for primetime game). They won last week so they aren’t total desperation mode about losing 3 straight. They lit us up last year so we should want revenge.

If we can’t win decisively with this much in our favor, I don’t see the rest of the season playing out well for us.

 

[ajkreider]

Don’t think we make it to the ACC CG if we drop a game.

Setup couldn’t be better for UM. Deck stacked in our favor against UL other than it being a road game. UL playing fifth game in a row. We got a bye and two weeks to prep. Team is almost at 100% strength. They are beat up. Noon game (UL might be extra motivated for primetime game). They won last week so they aren’t total desperation mode about losing 3 straight. They lit us up last year so we should want revenge.

If we can’t win decisively with this much in our favor, I don’t see the rest of the season playing out well for us.

We have a shot at the playoff even without a ACCCG appearance with one loss.

There will only be a handful of 1-loss Power 4 teams, and a whole mess of 2-loss teams. The committee's job will be a lot easier to just pass the 1-lossers through, than trying to pick out which two loss teams to send.

Last year, they needed BOTH the Travis injury AND a conference champ (Texas) to justify keeping FSU out. No way a two loss Ole Miss, that lost to South Carolina goes in over a one loss Miami.

 

[htownkidd]

We have a shot at the playoff even without a ACCCG appearance with one loss.

There will only be a handful of 1-loss Power 4 teams, and a whole mess of 2-loss teams. The committee's job will be a lot easier to just pass the 1-lossers through, than trying to pick out which two loss teams to send.

Last year, they needed BOTH the Travis injury AND a conference champ (Texas) to justify keeping FSU out. No way a two loss Ole Miss, that lost to South Carolina goes in over a one loss Miami.

Sure they can, especially if they beat UGA. All will be right in the committee’s eyes. If we lose a game AND don’t even make it to Charlotte, we aint going to the playoffs big dawg. We face zero ranked opponents. They will 1000% put in several 2 loss SEC squads in before us, and honestly don’t even believe it would be that unfair. Our schedule is pure basura.

 

[WeBallinBoyz]

The issue is SMU plays no one, sort of like us. IF we lose to Louisville (which I’m pretty confident that if this team is better than just an elite QB with a good but not elite OL, an off and on pass rush, and 2 reliable receivers, we’ll win this game by 10+), one of the top tiebreakers is H2H record against common opponents.

SMU would hold the win over Louisville. The rest of the common opponents are Duke, Cal and FSU. If they beat Duke and Cal + we lose on Saturday, things get mucked up. We’ll need them to drop two games, or Clemson to drop one against someone we both play. Preferably, I want Pitt to lose to someone (Clemson for sure but hopefully someone else as well), then beat SMU. That would help our cause a lot regardless if they beat Duke and Cal, with some tricky spots left including BC.

It’s still too early to start drawing up scenarios, but quite simply - win out and you don't have to worry about anything.

I still think Syracuse is a trappy game for us the way their passing game has operated. Their defense is cheeks though, and we can’t look too far ahead.

We still haven’t proven that we can put away mediocre conference teams, even with the best roster we’ve had in 15+ years. Have to prove it eventually, or more questions than answers will arise.

 

[SCarolina Ibis]

We're all aware of our recent record in games following bye weeks. Its a noon game, on the road. Its their homecoming and basically their super bowl. We've also got a rival coming to town next week that we're looking to destroy. "Caught looking ahead" is about to be a theme on gameday.

I get why some may think its a trap game.

But none of that matters this year. Cam is a man on a mission. Restrepo too.

This game was much more concerning before the season. Unless Louisville finds something on film they can repeatedly exploit, its gonna get ugly for them.

I think we win AND cover.

 

[Groz73Cane]

If we’re actually a playoff team we show up and win the game by 14+ and come home and demolish

Pretty much agreed.

I've made excuses for the last 2 weeks.

VT was we were due for a letdown game, we should have been up 21-7 but got robbed on a phantom holding call and it let VT back into the game, etc.

Cal was we flew across the country for a 10:30 kick, it was the most emotional game Cal has had in a decade, etc.

But really good teams don't play defense like this 3 weeks in a row. Now, we have all the intangibles on our side. Sleepy noon game so the crowd shouldn't be insane, we've had an extra week and they've played 4 stressful games in a row, our DL is healthy for the first time literally all season. So we should go up there and win by a score or more. If we don't, then I can't justify this team any more, and we're likely a very good but not great team. A great team builds off the last 2 weeks, takes a deep breath during a bye, and goes out and punishes a staggering, tired Louisville team.

Are we good, or are we great? One football game never answers that question fully, but I think we can get a ton of information about the ultimate trajectory of the team on Saturday.

the Noles

If we’re going to make it to Charlotte and lose to an average Clemson team we’ll go up to louisville and play them close and win by 1-4 points and come home and let the Noles hang around.

If we’re going to miss out on Charlotte all together we go up there and get beat.

This game clarifies how the 2nd half of the season plays out, in my opinion.

If we’re actually a playoff team we show up and win the game by 14+ and come home and demolish the Noles

If we’re going to make it to Charlotte and lose to an average Clemson team we’ll go up to louisville and play them close and win by 1-4 points and come home and let the Noles hang around.

If we’re going to miss out on Charlotte all together we go up there and get beat.

This game clarifies how the 2nd half of the season plays out, in my opinion.

Well said,.. Every obstacle is an opportunity, Every stumbling block is a stepping stone. Good teams don’t make excuses. They self assess, reflect, make adjustments and move forward. Haven’t heard word one of excuses from this team.They did call a meeting to self asses and hopefully air things out. Coaches are making adjustments, players are practicing. IMO, what makes good teams great? All of this. Good teams take the small steps, to make the giant leap to be great. From the outside it feels like they’re ready. It’s Crossroads Time folks, LFG,.. GO CANES

 

[Reyrey]

I’ll be honest. I feel much better than I do before VT or Cal. Both games gave me some nerves. I feel good about this Saturday. With that being said, this scares me a little: