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Offense:
Emory Williams - 24/33 151yds 1TD & 1INT
Don Chaney Jr - 17car 63yds
Ajay Allen - 16car 54yds & 1TD
Brashard Smith - 4car 87yds & 5rec 36yds
Colbie Young - 6rec 76yds & 1TD
Xavier Restrepo - 7rec 26yds
Offense gained 362 total yards (151 passing & 211 rushing), off 71 plays at 5.1 yards per play, gaining 17 first downs going 9/18 on 3rd down with 34:54 in time of possession.
Just last week Miami was on the bad end of unlucky end zone fumble, but this week the broken clock struck twice; Will Shipley fumbles as the goaline & then on the very next play Brashard Smith lined up at RB takes it to the house for 80yds, only to get stripped at the goaline as well. But luck was on our side this time with Jacolby George falling on it.
Emory’s first game, many have been waiting with bated breath for Emory to start & we finally got to see it...
One of the differences between TVD & Emory; on that 3rd & 9 play towards the end of the 1st quarter where Emory was supposed to get it JGeorge on a 5 route he throws it inside even through it’s an outside leverage route. It’s a timing & rhythm route that’s supposed to be placed on JG’s outside shoulder in order to keep it away from the Corner, but Emory is late & throws it inside, incomplete pass. No big deal right? Sure, but the point is, these are the nuances that get overlooked.
He was throwing mostly Screens & quick outs, when he had to throw the ball down the field he often times short-armed it & threw a bad pick early on. However, he made some nice throws in the 4th quarter, doing the anti-TVD & instead of locking in on Restrepo just locked in on Colbie Young & threw him multiple jump balls. The back shoulder fade was textbook throwing towards the pylon & letting your 6’5 WR box out & high point the ball.
His throwing mechanics are still a bit off IMO, he has a bit of weird release where he throws the ball with his palm instead of his fingers which inadvertently decreases the velocity off his ball & puts way more air under than it should on some throws. He’s not a laces thrower, which can affect the trajectory of the ball & cause it to float from time to time. But I give him credit for his overall poise in an intense situation, making his first start & not really having the full playbook at his disposal, he handled himself really well given the circumstances going up against a really good top 10 Defense.
Colbie Young has his best game since TAMU, aside from one catch breakup by Nate Wiggins, he came alive in the 4th quarter & was a big reason why we were able to win this game. When he gets opportunities he can be a legit big time playmaker.
Brashard Smith is finally coming into his own, his speed is finally being used properly. What a novel fckin idea, to get the ball in multiple ways to one of the fastest players on the team, who woulda thunk it.
OL was okay early on, Mauigoa struggled & Cam McCormick played his worst game. But again, the the tale of two half’s, they did a good job leaning on Clemson’s DLine in the 4th quarter & OT getting push up front, resulting in Miami rushing for a combined 200+ yards between 3 players.
The TE’s have no idea what to do with the ball, they’ve become so accustomed to just Blocking they’ve forgotten they can actually run & catch lol
Overall, the offensive performance was solid, not great but made enough plays to win. We outscored Clemson 21-3 in the 2nd half. I don’t think you can beat teams like say FSU, LVille or even Boston College on the road like this, but the name of the game is winning at all costs, so even if it’s an ugly win it still counts.
Defense:
Ruben Bain - 8tks 2 sacks 2TFL’s & 1FF
James WIlliams - 7tks
Francisco Mauigoa - 6tks 2TFL’s & 1 sack
Kamren Kinchens - 6tks & 1INT
KJ Cloyd - 6tks 1 sack & 1TFL & 1PD
Leonard Taylor - 5tks & 2TFL’s
Corey Flagg - 5tks & 2TFL’s
TeCory Couch - 4tks 1 sack 1TFL 1FF & 1PD
Wesley Bissainthe - 4tks
Jaden Davis - 3tks & 1PD
Daryl Porter Jr - 3tks & 1PD
Jared Harrison-Hunte - 2tks
Defense held Clemson to just 31yds rushing, while getting 5 sacks, 10TFL’s & forcing 3 turnovers.
Rueben Bain with another relentless effort sack forcing a fumble on Klubnik & stifling Clemson’s momentum after they were driving in scoring position. He was an absolute menace for Clemson to deal with all night. The most disruptive force on the field for the Defense, he was a game wrecker & completely ate Clemson’s OL lunch. Great performance by Bain.
Leonard Taylor had really good impactful game as well getting penetration against the run game & blowing up multiple plays in the backfield.
The DLine was pressuring Klubnik all game & forcing him to make a lot of erratic throws, his rhythm was completely off & he was making some bad decisions. We forced multiple international grounding throws from the pressure he was facing upfront.
KJ Cloyd had struggled early on in pass coverage on the first TD to Briningstool, but he redeemed himself playing good bracketed coverage in the 4th quarter on a 3rd down to force a punt. Guidry puts a lot of faith in his LB’s covering down the field, but reality is our Backers are mostly downhill pass rushers who can aide & assist in the run game, they always have issues when they are forced to drop back & cover.
Bissainthe got frozen looking in the backfield & in that split instance Briningstool takes the 4 route for 50yds. It was a Cover 3 look where the Will is supposed to get depth, but Biss just got caught flat footed & it was a wrap. Then next play Briningstool mosses James Williams on an End Zone Fade.
Mauigoa was active as a Blitzer & was collapsing gaps all game. He plays like a Tasmanian Devil, sometimes it’s reckless & out of control, but sometimes he just creates havoc & gets in the backfield against run game.
**** of a play by Corey Flagg to end the game, he did a good job not biting on the fake & just stayed with the QB. He never took his eyes off the ball & made a great read to get after Klubnik & wall off his run towards the short side of the field. Big time big time smart IQ play for Flagg.
Daryl Porter Jr, played absolutely terrific in coverage getting on phase & tracking the ball on the Deep crosser to Antonio Williams, playing towards his back shoulder & got the nice PD. Aside from one catch off a comeback route, he mostly did a very good job keeping his man in front of him & not giving up too many big plays.
Couch had a nice game as well, had a sack off a Nickel Blitz coming from the weak side on an overload & stripped Klubnik. Also had a good ball breakup in the 3rd quarter.
Nice heads up INT by Kam, he read Klubnik’s eyes & followed the ball to the play & almost had another INT late in the 4th. Good bounce back game for Killa Kam.
Overall the Defense forced Klubnik to complete just 52% of his passes & flipped the game upside down in the 4th quarter. They completely shut down Shipley & Mafah, had trouble containing Briningstool lol, but otherwise none of Clemson’s top players really got off. Clemson lacks a lot of explosion, they’re built like a B1G team lol, they have very little team speed & are pretty much dependent on their TE to do all the heavy lifting. It appears as though the wheels are falling off for Dabo. Without an Elite QB & top tier WR’s, they really don’t have an answer once you shut down their run game.
Another Bullsh*t call by the ACC refs, that was clearly a Safety towards the end of the 2nd half, but that’s to be expected at this point. We’re not going to get any crucial pivotal calls in our favor, expect to get screwed every time.
This was a crucial must win game & we won it. After 2 rough losses we were able to turn these around & get the W in a critical moment. For the majority of the game it was looking like we were going to lose another one, but we stayed in it, didn’t panic, didn’t quit, kept fighting & did what we had to do to get the win. No excuses, no pointing fingers, just handle your business & get it done. That’s how it’s supposed to be, that’s what CFB is all about, doing what’s necessary in order to win even when things don’t go perfect.
The lesson to be learned from this game is if they just keep playing & stop always trying to find a way to justify bad mistakes, they can block out the noise & focus on what’s important & that’s winning the dame game.
This was a huge victory; missing our starting QB & starting RB, having a TF QB make his debut start against a top 10 Defense & a team in particular that has absolutely shellacked us for the last 5 years that we’ve played them. It cannot be downplayed or undersold, we were supposed to lose this game, but we didn’t. The major testament to resiliency for this team.
Good job by Mario & staff, especially Dawson IMO. Yes he called a very conservative game for obvious reasons, but when it was crunch time he allowed Emory to throw it down field & gave the Offense a chance. Guidry called a very good game as well mixing up the pressure & dialing up Blitzes from all angles.
I also give props to Mario for making the decision to take the game to Overtime instead of playing for the Field Goal on the last drive in the 4th quarter. Sure it could’ve backfired, but it didn’t, IMO it was a smart move because it shortened up the field which allowed for Ajay Allen & Emory to operate with more comfortability knowing they only had to go 25yds to get in the End Zone. It lessened the pressure of the moment & simplified the game down to just Red Zone offense, so instead of having to travel the length of the field & hop Borregales hits a 40-50+ yarder (which he likely could & would have), it put the game in the hands of the QB, RB & OL & it worked. Kudos to Mario & Dawson for that decision.
Next week should be another W, even though UVA just upset UNC @ Chapel Hill, I find it hard to believe they can replicate that performance again, but you never know. The ACC is the most unpredictable conference, the absolute worst teams always have nights where they play out of their minds & give a top team ****. However, I’m expecting regression to the mean & UVA to come back down to Earth.
With this victory we’re still in it; we have some tough games coming down the stretch with @NC ST, @FSU, LVille & @BC, but we’re going to see exactly what kinda team we have with these road games. IMO each one of those teams are beatable, we just have stop beating ourselves & play sound Football. One game at a time & lets see how this thing turns out.
Congratulations to Jimmy Johnson & Dennis Erickson being entered into the Miami Ring Of Honor, the two greatest Coaches is School history.
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Go Canes!
