Copeseticman
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I really enjoy reading Vishnu's work... Thought it was worth sharing.
Source: http://www.pageqsports.com/2014/02/miami-hurricanes-spring-preview-a-golden-offense/
There is always a period of transition for any head coach taking over a program — a period of time when he has to use players he didn’t recruit who might not fit him stylistically. At Miami, this issue was exacerbated for Head Coach Al Golden, who dealt with significant off-field issues that likely impacted the specific style of player he was able to attract. Beggars can’t be choosers.
As we enter Year 4, Golden should be able to put his stamp on how this team plays, and we might finally see an “Al Golden team.”
But what does that mean? We can find out by looking backwards at his most successful Temple teams, comparing them to his Miami teams, and concluding by examining the 2014 Canes roster and how it fits with what Golden stylistically likes to do.
As the Canes enter spring practice, I will try to discover what an Al Golden team is and whether the 2014 Miami Hurricanes will fit that mold. In this part, I will look specifically at the offense. In Part II, I will examine the defense.
The Style
Golden gave a window into his offensive philosophy in his end-of-2013 press conference when he lamented the lack of time of possession. While there are factors in this that have nothing to do with the offense and make this seem like excuse making (like the defense never being able to get stops), he was also accurate. For two years running, Miami has been one of the worst teams in the country at possessing the ball. But this only tells part of the story. All ranks are relative. However, by looking at Golden’s last two teams at Temple (the two that were good) and his three teams at Miami, we can see decided shifts in emphasis and more importantly in efficacy.
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The trends are fairly clear here. At Temple, when Golden had finished molding the program, the team not only ran significantly more than it passed, but ran much more effectively than it passed. At Miami, the team is running and throwing an almost equal amount, and passing much more effectively. Basically, when Temple did what they did best, they ran the football. When Miami does what they do best, they throw.
To go a step further, I examined a specific game as well to get a feel for tendencies. Unfortunately, this task proved difficult as Temple often found themselves in situations like the 2013 Hurricanes, largely in front or largely behind, therefore throwing off the overall game.
But one such game is probably Al Golden’s most impressive win at Temple (or maybe of his entire career) — the 2010 win over Connecticut, the eventual Big East co-champs. And they did this by rallying from a 16-14 deficit to win 30-16. This game is also informative because it shows Al Golden football at its core. The run-pass split was 36 rushes to 22 passes, and yardage was 194 rushing to 154 passing. The real interesting part here, though, is how they came back and won this game. They did it on the ground.
Trailing 13-7 midway though the third quarter, Temple had a 60-yard drive consisting of one pass (which was wiped out with a pass interference) and 11 runs. After Connecticut regained the lead, Temple responded with a defensive score and another turnover cashed in via the ground game. Temple, needing to run the clock out, ran eight times for 60 yards and chipped in a field goal to ice the game. All told, from the midpoint in the third quarter to the end of the game, the run-pass split was 24-6.
And if that sounds familiar, it should, because the Canes did the same thing last year in two close games. Against North Carolina and Wake Forest, Miami had four fourth-quarter touchdown drives. Against UNC, the run-pass split on those drives was 16-4, and against Wake Forest, 16-2. In both games, the only time where Miami was actually pressured to make plays late in the game, and did so successfully, the Canes ran 32 times and threw 6 times. Slowly, this Miami program is turning into an Al Golden team.
2014 Look Ahead
We’ve established what Al Golden’s offensive style would be if he was omnipotent. Run the ball a lot, pass as a backup plan, and when in a tight spot, lean on the running game to almost insane proportions.
To play this style, you need multiple things:
A big and powerful offensive line. This is essential with the plan being to wear down the opponent so that late in the game you can run over a tired defense. If you have a lighter, smaller offensive line, this task becomes impossible.
A stable of running backs. Again, if the idea is to wear down the opponent, the more quality backs you can throw at them the better.
A QB that is consistent and accurate. Throws aren’t frequent, so the QB cannot afford to miss them.
You can see where the Canes fell short on the last two items last year. But in 2014, everything is in place.
Miami returns the entire left side of the offensive line, with Ereck Flowers and Jon Feliciano returning as well as center Shane McDermott. Danny Isidora should lock down the right guard position, and there are several options at tackle. More importantly, Flowers, Feliciano, and Isidora are all over 300 pounds, and McDermott is four pounds shy of that at center. Miami has the personnel to lean on defenses and wear them down.
At running back, injuries really hurt Miami last year, but one year of injuries leads to another year of depth. With Dallas Crawford and Gus Edwards getting a lot of work last year after Duke Johnson was injured, they are now ready to fully contribute to the rotation. Duke had 145 carries last year, Crawford had 137 and Edwards had 66. But that was basically a tale of two seasons. Crawford had 103 carries when Johnson was unavailable through injury, and 34 otherwise. The same goes for Edwards, to a lesser degree, with the split being 38 to 28. But the net effect of all that is the Canes now return three experienced backs, and also add freshman all-everything recruit Joseph Yearby to the mix. That is four running backs Miami can comfortably rotate, where last year, they had one until Duke was injured.
Finally, the Canes have a new quarterback. I was higher on Stephen Morris than most, but he was very inconsistent. Morris was the perfect passer for a big-play offense featuring a lot of downfield passing, which will allow a team to take advantage of his arm strength while simultaneously building in margin for error for his inconsistency. In summary, he was the wrong quarterback to run Al Golden’s preferred ball-control approach. We don’t know a lot about Ryan Williams, given that his only extensive action was three years ago while starting for Memphis. However, accuracy is said to be a strength, and it is reasonable to assume he can manage a game. So, the Canes should finally have a quarterback who is accurate on the short-to-medium passes necessary to run a ball-control offense.
Al Golden finally has the pieces in place to run his offense. Expect a lot more running, a slow pace of play, and a concerted effort out of this offense to hold the ball in attempt to keep the defense off the field. Golden has stressed time of possession, repeatedly, and it should be the singular focus of improvement for a Canes offense that has been good for the first three years of the Golden Era. In theory, there is some merit to the approach. Now we have to see if it works on the field.
Source: http://www.pageqsports.com/2014/02/miami-hurricanes-spring-preview-a-golden-offense/
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