My Post Game Recap: GTech

If Cristobal goes to UF he’ll ***** himself worse than he would if he went to Nebraska or something.

Cristobal at UF wouldn’t move the needle at all, that program is stuck as a middling team in the East, they’re not ever going to out recruit UGA & now that Tenn has a gunner in Heupel over there, as soon as he finds a QB Tenn is going to flip sh*t upside down for the 2nd tier SEC East teams.

UF will ALWAYS be behind Bama, UGA, LSU, TAMU & Auburn, it doesn’t matter who coaches them & trust me, if Cristobal brings that Penn St offense to Gainesville he’ll get run out of there quicker than Mullen did.

He’s dominating the PAC-12 because the PAC-12 is literally the worst conference in the P5, every team in that conference has an average of 5 losses, they’re basically a glorified Mountain West conference, but they’re not good at all.
All of that makes sense to me man. Thanks for your insight. Should be an interesting next few weeks to see what happens. Just hope Manolo is not here come Christmas
 
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The best way to use JW is similar to how Clemson used Isaiah Simmons as a multi-purpose Defender.

He’s best in coverage when he gets to roam free, but when they have him situated in a designated deep third zone it limits his effectiveness & ability to cover ground.

The right DC will turn Kam, JW & Tae into a Defensive backfield nightmare.
"The right DC will turn Kam, JW & Tae into a Defensive backfield nightmare."

unfortunately I don't think that is likely to happen. Manny probably doesn't get fired and as a result fully expect the same defense next year. Hope I am wrong.
 
Exactly! That's his scheme. His defense will concede 1st downs and that is ok with Diaz if the play doesn't score. If the DL or the blitzing pressure up front doesn't make the play and the QB can get the ball off then there is a good chance they get the 1st because Diaz's D keeps everything in front of them and since the front 7 is so aggressive that leaves a huge void in the middle of the field.
This is what I don't get. The defense benefits from sacks and TFL by forcing the offense into uncomfortable positions on 3rd down. What's the point if you let them convert?

Manny's OK letting them chunk out first downs into the red zone. Meanwhile, we're 128th (out of 130) in red zone defense. :youre-nuts:
 
No one wants to read or admit this either, but McCloud is playing well on the d-line. I wonder is this switch would ahve been made a year ago if Phillips and Roche did not both transfer. McCloud is not a world beater but it is obvious that he can use his strength and just play better as a d-end than when he had to diagnose and react as a backer. You have ot be happy for #53 and the contributions he has made this year.

We would have switched him YEARS ago if we could recruit good linebackers.
 
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@Liberty City El

I feel like you're being a bit unfair to the defense here in your conclusion. The offense played great but screwed themselves over as well, with the fumbles and 2-point conversion. Our OFFENSE tackles just as bad as their defense, considering our offense allowed them to score twice. You also mentioned that we've given up 25+ to every P5 opponent, but the defense was only responsible for 21 points. The defense today was peak cardiac Cane between 1/2nd down as opposed to 3rd and long...but it feels like we hold them to 20 points if the offense doesn't gift them great field position 3 times.
 
If we go full Air Raid next year, this is a 10 win/Coastal winning offense.

The Defense has a few young pieces, but a scheme change is needed, along with a premier pass rusher, two legit LB’s & 2 cover corners added.

Probably can’t find all of those in the Portal, but we need to scour every square inch of the country until find enough players on defense that can be brought to fix the issues we have.


A new HC, with a new DC can take this roster to the ACCCG in year 1, no doubt in my mind.
(Especially with Howell leaving UNC after this season to the draft)

Remember when D’no was here and all you heard was how awful and overrated the talent was on defense?

What happened when we changed scheme?

Don’t be surprised if most of what we need is already on the roster.

Mel Tucker proved chemistry is just as important as talent. He cleaned house and brought in a bunch of portal guys and the rest is history. We are in position to do the same thing even better.

Get a competent coach. Whoever can’t get with the new program can bounce. Go after high charecter guys WHO FIT in the portal. Coach them hard and get them sharp. We will look like a different team with mostly the same guys.
 
This is what I don't get. The defense benefits from sacks and TFL by forcing the offense into uncomfortable positions on 3rd down. What's the point if you let them convert?

Manny's OK letting them chunk out first downs into the red zone. Meanwhile, we're 128th (out of 130) in red zone defense. :youre-nuts:
Don't shoot the messenger. It's his way of having a safety net. He is rolling the dice with heavy pressure so if that doesn't get home the offense can usually convert but they don't score. Theoretically that's the gist of it. That's why Banda preached tackling over anything else.

I think he is much too passive on the backend. I don't like his scheme as it is too fundamentally unsound and if his pressure doesn't get home, the opposing QB gets to play pitch and catch down the field. This is why you see mediocre QBs having career days against Diaz's defense. If his gimmicky blitzes don't get home or there is no edge pressure the middle of the field is wide open.
 
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Don't shoot the messenger. It's his way of having a safety net. He is rolling the dice with heavy pressure so if that doesn't get home the offense can usually convert but they don't score. Theoretically that's the gist of it. That's why Banda preached tackling over anything else.

I think he is much too passive on the backend. I don't like his scheme as it is too fundamentally unsound and if his pressure doesn't get home, the opposing QB gets to play pitch and catch down the field. This is why you see mediocre QBs having career days against Diaz's defense. If his gimmicky blitzes don't get home or there is no edge pressure the middle of the field is wide open.
I'm not questioning you. I agree.

I just don't understand the strategy behind focusing on pressure and negative plays while leaving gaps open, then playing 10 yards off the line of scrimmage with the CBs on 3rd down. Not protecting the first down marker has been allowing easy conversions by even pedestrian QBs. Today his saving grace was the GT QB was particularly inept and couldn't hit them.
 
I'm not questioning you. I agree.

I just don't understand the strategy behind focusing on pressure and negative plays while leaving gaps open, then playing 10 yards off the line of scrimmage with the CBs on 3rd down. Not protecting the first down marker has been allowing easy conversions by even pedestrian QBs. Today his saving grace was the GT QB was particularly inept and couldn't hit them.
I agree with you that it's ridiculous. When Diaz first came here, I immediately liked his defense because of the pure garbage that Donofrio was putting on the field. However it didn't take too long to realize that Diaz, beneath all the flashy aggressive gimmicks was a pretty conservative, prevent the big play at all costs type of DC. He just had a unique way of presenting that philosophy. Diaz's defensive philosophy is basically the combination of two opposing schools of thought. He wants to be super aggressive without being vulnerable to giving up big explosive plays by the offense. So what he does is combine both aggressive and conservative tactics into one paradoxical fundamentally flawed system. He uses his front 7 in a super aggressive yet undisciplined manner to create as much chaos and confusion for the offense as possible. Obviously this can and does result in TFLs, Sacks, QB pressures, tipped balls, fumbles, incomplete passes and interceptions. However in order to protect the defense from being easily vulnerable to big explosive and/or scoring plays, he often has his secondary in a very soft zone giving significant cushion to receivers. He can change this up periodically but it is safe to say that the soft almost prevent type zone is an integral part of his defensive system. So in essence he is gambling that his blitzes/pressures will either get home or rush the QB into an incompletion/interception. On the occasions that the QB is able to deliver an accurate throw then his defense is beat for a completion and possibly a first down but not a scoring play and his defense gets to fight another down and have another opportunity at creating negative plays. He is basically gambling that the offense will not be able to maintain a long scoring drive without being done in by negative plays, mistakes etc. Basically this defense is Diaz's own spin on a bend but don't break defense. Obviously he will change a few things up depending on the strength of his personnel. For example if he knows he has great cover CBs then he will trust them enough to be more aggressive in the secondary. We saw this in 2017/2018. However his default position is playing that soft zone so at times when he doesn't have a great group of CBs, you can be absolutely sure that he is going to run that soft zone adnauseum like we have seen this year.
 
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So you’re telling me that DJ Ivey did not make 1 single tackle… c’mon mane.
 
Yeah cuz but do you really want to be up 6 in the 4th with the way this defense been playing?

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Defense wasn't the problem yesterday though the offense gave the ball away three times but seemed to clean it up in the 2nd half.

It's 10 minutes left you have momentum you ride the wave and put them away like we could've in the 1st half if we don't give the ball away like we did in the 1st half.
 
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Offense:

Tyler Van Dyke - 22/34 389yds & 3TD’s
Jaylon Knighton - 32car 162yds & 1TD
Charleston Rambo - 7rec 201yds & 1TD
Mike Harley - 3rec 38yds & 1TD
Keyshawn Smith - 3rec 35yds & 1TD
Will Mallory - 3rec 39yds
Jacolby George - 1rec 20yds
Romello Brinson - 1rec 19yds
Elijah Arroyo - 1rec 19yds
Xavier Restrepo - 2rec 11yds

Gained 564yds of total offense (389 passing, 175 rushing), going 6-13 on 3rd down with 24 first downs at 7.7 yards per play off 76 plays total & 25:47 in time of possession.

Lashlee called a very good 11 play 93 yard drive to open the game that resulted in a great 8yd TD off a pinpoint accurate back shoulder throw to Mike Harley who made a terrific one handed catch.



Good to see the young gun WR’s get some early targets on the first drive, Key Smith, George & Brinson are one **** of a trio for the future WR corps, then you add on Restrepo, B Smith & possibly another portal vet WR for next year & that’s a high octane group if you put them in the Air Raid offense.

Knighton with a nice 25yd run on the 2nd drive in the 1st quarter, getting quickly on the outside edge & busting one open up the field. He had his best rushing performance of his career thus far off 32 carries at 5.1 yards per carry today, with the exception of the fumble he played a really great game. He ran tough, played through some pain & had some critical long runs to extend drives & gain 1st downs for us, he’s really stepped up as a workhorse back since Cam went down. If this was Basketball his usage rate would be sky high, they’re going to have to start getting Brown & Thad Franklin more carries to keep Knighton fresh throughout the game before they wear him down.

That was great recognition by TVD on that TD to Rambro, it was another really good play call by Lash with 4-wide stacked formation with Restrepo running a route & Rambro running a Fade from behind the bunch, TVD quickly recognizes the busted coverage & throws a layup for a 35yd TD.

Rambro made a nice catch on the 3rd down slant play, but made a mistake by downshifting & trying to cutback, if he simply just keeps running straight he would’ve gained more yards & got tackled much easier going down for a 1st down, it was during the process of him trying to change hands while running with the ball that caused the fumble from the backside because he hadn’t completely secured it yet.

But he had a nice bounce back catch off a 44yd Post route, he beat the CB off a great inside move & created separation at the top of his stem. Easy pitch & catch from TVD to Rambro (and yes I keep calling him Rambro on purpose lol).

He played a phenomenal game despite a few drops & the fumble, he came close to setting the single game record for most yards in a game by a WR, set by Eddie Brown, but he did become 2nd all time in school history passing Phillip Dorsett & Wesley Carroll with today’s performance.



Miami had a serious case of fumblitis in the 1st half with fumbles from Rambro, Arroyo & Knighton, clearly ball protection needs to be an emphasis in practice. We gave up 14 points off turnovers & 1TD off the fumbles, plus gave away great field position, gotta get that cleaned up.

Heck of an upstairs catch by Mallory on 3rd & 8 in the 2nd quarter, he had solid game coming off a not so great game last week.

On the drive the resulted in a missed FG, TVD locked in too much on Rambro, in the red zone, on both 2nd & 3rd down he had Mallory on a seam route & Key Smith one on one for an end zone fade, if he came off his first read he would’ve thrown a TD.

Great flea flicker play call to start off the 2nd half, catching the defense off guard, then 3 straight runs for 15yd resulting in a TD to set the tone for the 3rd quarter responding to being down at Halftime.

On the 4th down & 1 in the 3rd quarter I disagreed with the play call big time, just trying to ram it up the middle with Cody Brown wasn’t the smart move at that juncture, should’ve went with an quick PA rollout to Mallory or Arroyo.

Restrepo made a **** of play almost blocking the Punt in the 4th quarter, that just shows what kind of tenacity & pure hunger that kid has making plays on Special Teams & being an overall high motor competitor.

Nice YAC play by Harley taking the quick Hitch route for a 24yd gain.

Keyshawn Smith did a **** of job fighting to get in the End zone off the quick slant & got his TD!
@EmilioEstevez I hope his dancing didn’t bother you too much lol

Only in Miami does a 2 point conversion turn into a Pick 2 for the defense smfh lol

Explosive plays was the theme of today’s game on offense, we had 8 20+ yard plays in the first half & over 10 for the whole game. The Deep ball is the bread & butter for this offense, when we attack Defenses by stretching the field vs one on one matchups we are truly a difficult offense to stop.

And don’t look now, but that’s 1,474 yards of total offense in the last 3 games...
We didn’t have that much in **** near 7 games during the same stretch of this schedule when Enox was OC...
Just saying lol.

Defense:

Kamren Kinchens - 7tcks 2PBU
Tyrique Stevenson - 6tcks 2TFL 1 sack
Waynmon Steed - 6tcks 1TFL
Gilbert Frierson - 6tcks
Corey Flagg - 6tcks
Avantae Williams - 4tcks 1INT
Zach McCloud - 4tcks 2TFL’s 1 sack
DeAndre Johnson - 3tcks 1TFL 1 sack
Leonard Taylor - 2tck 2TFL’s 0.5 sacks
James Williams - 3tcks
Nesta Silvera - 3tcks
Amari Carter - 2tcks
Keontra Smith - 2tcks
Chantz Williams - 2tcks
Jordan Miller - 1tcks
Te’Cory Couch - 1tcks
Marcus Clarke - 1tcks

Defense gave up 329yds total & 135yds rushing, with 9TFL’s 4.5 sacks & 1 turnover.

Miami’s Defense remains the same bend but don’t break, break but don’t shatter defense they always are, they haven’t given up less than 25 points to any P5 opponents this season, still can’t stop the run & still only creates minimal pressure upfront.

Amari Carter another bad missed tackle in open field on the first drive, but (here me out on this) I believe due to being called for so many targeting penalties that he really is lost in terms of how to make a proper tackle. You gotta think that if you’re AC5 there’s about a 90% chance anytime you make contact with a runner that you’ll be flagged, so that has to affect him mentally in terms of his ability to simply strike a runner without the fear of getting called for Targeting. Regardless of that, he shouldn’t be playing over Frierson or Chase Smith, I mean he’s essentially a Striker that can’t Strike lol. Great kid though!

On the 71yd TD by Jordan Mason on 3rd & 2 is classic Miami Diaz Defense, the middle of the field was wide open, they ran trap to the outside of McCloud & of course both Steed & Flagg shot the wrong gap & got swallowed up in the hole in traffic & because we’re playing Two-high none of the Safeties were in position to get back in time before the RB was already galloping to the End zone. That play was because the LB’s misread the Gap & none of the interior DL’s could shed & get a hand on the RB coming through the lane.

Then on the 2nd TD by Gibbs, Flagg once again gets caught flat footed staring in the backfield & while Gibbs is already strolling into the End Zone off the fake reverse he’s there with cinder blocks on his feet & doesn’t even get a chance to make a swipe at him before Gibbs makes a 29yd run for a TD. Roberts over pursued on the backside at the LOS & Kam took a bad angle coming from the opposite hash to make a tackle but it was already too late. Another play where the LB is Missing In Action at the 2nd level of the Defense which allows the RB a free lane to glide into the End zone.

Leonard Taylor & Jordan Miller are our best interior run defenders, Taylor’s upside is special, once he gets a good DLine coach he’ll be a big time player for us. That was a nice clutch inside stunt move to get the sack by McCloud, he played a really solid game today. He’s a classic Diaz AARP Cane but he’s played pretty nicely these last two weeks. (Maybe he should come back for year 8? Lol j/k)

TAE BOOGIE! That was a **** of a pick by Tae Williams, he read his keys & came over top out of Cover 3 look & just snatched the ball away from the WR. Really proud of this kid, especially after many fans were ready to completely give up on him because what happened earlier this year, but he’s taken all the necessary steps to get back on the right track & handled his business off the field, bright future for this kid.



That was terrific coverage by Kinchens on his 2nd PBU in the 4th quarter with 5+ left, playing over to the shoulder of the WR & getting his hands in playing through the ball. His Football IQ has been the accelerator that has kept him from playing like a typical TF, he has veteran instincts & is a kid who studies his *** off in the film room. There was someone who told yall this kid was going to be a beast coming out of HS, I wonder who that was 🤔... #BullPride 🤘🏽🐂💛💙

The Safety trio of JW, JoJo (Kam) & Tae Williams is gonna be Deadly once they play in a Defense that understands how place them in advantageous situations & use their skill sets to confuse Offenses. The 3 of them can cover a ton of ground in the backfield, they all are fluid movers who can cover larger distances of field, find a legit DC who knows how to disguise coverages & the 3 of them will be Dangerous!

The LB corps needs a complete overhaul for next year, a lot will depend on if we get a new HC & what kind of Defensive system he’ll bring in, but regardless of whether we stick with the 4-2-5 or switch to a more 4-3 base or even go multiple & incorporate a 3-3-5, we 100% need a Portal LB & kids like Keontra Smith & Chase Smith should be the spearheaded top in-house LB’s to add with whoever we bring from the Portal.

We got lucky AF that Jeff Sims had his knee on the ground on the throw he made with 42 seconds left in the game, wiping away a 31 yard gain to Sanders who of course had Ivey playing Quarters coverage with no idea where the sideline was smh.

But the CB group in general is pretty broken, CB remains to be an issue for this defense as a whole, it’s been that way for 3+ years now & it’s just more of an example of Diaz’s failures on the recruiting trail. In fact, the entire Defense with the exception of Safety (thanks to Ephraim Banda) has been nothing short of a massive regressive disappointment & that falls squarely on Diaz. His entire defensive system is faulty, gimmicky & has major schematic flaws that he has yet to adjust or attempt to change since being DC for the last 6 years.

Overall, another good nail-biter win where the Offense carries the way & the Defense tries its hardest to give the game up lol. It’s the continued teeter totter of weekly Miami football, always walking the tightrope & consistently leaving victory hanging by a thread in the balance of defeat.

Miami has a two more tough games left on schedule in FSU @ Dork Campbell & home vs VA Tech. Now on paper, these should be easy walk in the park games, but as I’ve been saying, Miami plays down to its competition & will not blow any team out this year except for the season finale against Duke, which in all honesty could end up a close game too.

Whether we win out still remains to be seen, if you assume that we’re just going to beat FSU or VA Tech easily, you’re not paying attention to this team. Yes the offense has exploded & has won us these last 3 games but the Defense is plagued & all it takes is for just one day when we don’t get the lucky breaks we’ve been getting. We survived today, but who’s to say we keep this up every week?

Either way I’m happy we won & I like what I’m seeing from the offense, it’s become more & more clear we are an Air Raid team for the future, that’s the key to our success next year.

FSU week starts tomorrow, I hope the boys get up for this game & keep the streak alive. Let’s leave out of Doak with Chief Osecola’s scalp from Trailerhasse back to Hard Rock! Long Live John Horse the real Seminole Warrior Rebel!

Nothing has changed, Fire Frenk, Fire Snake James & Fire Diaz.

Go Canes!

You keep saying that it is clear that we are an Air Raid team for now and in the immediate future. I agree in that I like what I see from the passing game and would like to see it evolve further. I know the term from people describing the Mike Leach offense but I really don't know exactly what it is that constitutes an Air Raid offense. Could you explain in detail what an Air Raid offense is and how it differs from other wide open passing attacks and pass oriented spread offenses? I would greatly appreciate that. Thank you.
 
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Lol if you’re suggesting that Cristobal runs a 3-3-5, the answer is no he doesn’t.

His DC Tim DeRuyter is a 3-4 guy & comes from the Air Force Fisher DeBerry system.

They run Multiple sets, but they’re a structured 3-4 base.
If Mario does end up being the guy, there is no way he brings a 3-4 down here is there? He has to know from first hand experience that it’s 4-3 aggressive defense doesn’t he?
 
If Cristobal goes to UF he’ll ***** himself worse than he would if he went to Nebraska or something.

Cristobal at UF wouldn’t move the needle at all, that program is stuck as a middling team in the East, they’re not ever going to out recruit UGA & now that Tenn has a gunner in Heupel over there, as soon as he finds a QB Tenn is going to flip sh*t upside down for the 2nd tier SEC East teams.

UF will ALWAYS be behind Bama, UGA, LSU, TAMU & Auburn, it doesn’t matter who coaches them & trust me, if Cristobal brings that Penn St offense to Gainesville he’ll get run out of there quicker than Mullen did.

He’s dominating the PAC-12 because the PAC-12 is literally the worst conference in the P5, every team in that conference has an average of 5 losses, they’re basically a glorified Mountain West conference, but they’re not good at all.
This is the thing that scares me most about Mario. He still doesn’t seem to have figured out that the Penn State offense is a thing of the past. I guess we would have to hope that, if he comes here, he has enough sense to fit his offense to the area. Ground and pound really isn’t what South Florida is about.
 
If we go full Air Raid next year, this is a 10 win/Coastal winning offense.

The Defense has a few young pieces, but a scheme change is needed, along with a premier pass rusher, two legit LB’s & 2 cover corners added.

Probably can’t find all of those in the Portal, but we need to scour every square inch of the country until find enough players on defense that can be brought to fix the issues we have.

A new HC, with a new DC can take this roster to the ACCCG in year 1, no doubt in my mind.
(Especially with Howell leaving UNC after this season to the draft)
Agree 100%.

If the candidates are Mario or Stoops there will be no Air Raid offense.
 
Not sure which one it was but they showed him about halfway through thd 4th quarter leaning in the back wall checking his text messages…if you watch the game again you’ll see him.I think it was during one of the flops and they had the cameras on him for a few seconds just checking messages.

Jesus Christ


It was a fan dressed up as a player, it’s the dudes thing

Board gets dumber and dumber
 
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