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Offense:
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Gained 544yds total Offense (423 passing, 121 rushing), gaing 27 first downs, going 8-11 on 3rd down, at 8.2 yards per play, with 32:26 in time of possession.
First pass of the season Mensah connects to Toney on Whip/Corner route for a 48yd gain.
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2 plays later Mensah hits Toney for the first TD of the season on a Out & Up route.
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The Offense moves so effortlessly with Mensah at the helm. Executing with lethality when going Tempo. Quick hitting targets horizontally when the Defense sits back in 2-High & then Deep ball strikes vs Single-High. Due to the pace & nature of the passing attack, the Defense is forced to play out of it's base & try to Blitz, which leaves one of the WR's in single coverage. Stanford simply doesn't have any DB's that can cover any of our WR's in Man & with Mensah being a honing beacon as a field scanner, this presents an absolute nightmare for opposing DC's because the ball is almost always going to the right read 98% of the time.
Mensah's Defensive field reading, route progression processing & quick trigger release gives him a codified advantage while operating this Offense.
An ELITE NFL QB, who will be a 1st round draft pick. Has CJ Stroud like upside. Plays with great poise in the pocket, standing firm under duress & making advanced level throws.
The biggest difference between this year & last year, will be the protection of the Football. Mensah is Deadly accurate, while simultaneously being an aggressive attacker of the Defense.
This is what great QB play actually looks like. You see how you don't have to make excuses to qualify his play, it speaks for itself. It doesn't need an explanation, you can just see he's an upper echelon player that doesn't have to be carried. It translates from multiple levels & multiple teams in College to the Pros. It's the Truck-Trailer analogy; some QB's are the Truck & some are the trailer; Mensah is a Truck.
The man had more Touchdowns than incompletions for crying out loud, cannot imagine a more perfect debut.
By far, the best QB in the Nation & set CFB on notice in game 1, that he's coming to set this season on fire.
And riding along with him is the Destroyer of DB's himself, Malachi Toney.
Toney is the most explosive & dangerous Offensive weapon in the Nation. Santana Moss+ Percy Harvin + Tyreek Hill type ability. An absolute dynamic gamechanger with Sonic the Hedgehog feet, who completely alters the Defense's game plan. DC's lose sleep preparing for Miami & trying to figure out a way to cover him. Not only is he TNT as a playmaker, he also opens up the rest of the field for the other WR's. DC's have to call their coverages on every snap with Toney in mind to prevent a big play from happening & it still never works. If we win a Natty this year, he'll likely go down as the most impactful WR we've had since Michael Irvin(g).
#HeismanSeasonLoading
Had 5rec for 89yds & 2TD's in the 1st quarter & set a record for most receiving yards in a half.
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Absolutely nasty Outside-In release to stutter step stem on the Quick Slant.
Toney ABUSED Stanford's DB's all game.
Toney on another cross field Post route against a LB in a Cover 2 look, queue the Vince McMahon music, because they had no chance in ****.
UNCOVERABLE
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Upshaw is a high level route runner, with great hands. He adds another dangerous element to the passing attack because of his versatility being able to lineup at Flanker or Slot.
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3x1 Flood concept running Double Post, Barkate beats the Safety on an easy pitch & catch against a Cover 3 look.
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Between Toney, Barkate, Upshaw & Joshua Moore, it's unquestionable we have the best WR corps in America. Cam Vaughn did us a favor getting himself kicked off the team, because it allowed for Upshaw to get those reps & shine.
With this assortment of weapons it will be virtually impossible to slow down Miami's Offensive attack.
The OL was phenomenal in pass protection IMO. They gave Mensah plenty of time to scan the field, however, he didn't need much because he's an incredibly quick processor.
Okunlola did a fantastic job anchoring at LT. His feet looked quick & terrific job getting his hands inside & underneath his primary matchups against DE's. Stanford's pass rushers had trouble all night getting around Okunlola, he did a really good job stonewalling & pushing the rusher back into inside traffic. He didn't allow for Omar Staples to get him out of position once, regardless of the angle from which he rushed.
I saw Hawks in early in the game in the 2nd quarter on max protect jumbo set for a short yardage 3rd down conversion. He looked like he could start if need be.
The rest of the line all looked the part IMO. Will take a 2nd watch for Cantwell & Buchanan, but from first view, they looked like 3 year players already. Obviously, it's against weaker comp, but the reps still count.
The Offense has 2024 like capabilities, but is even more venomous because that group had 3 UDFA's at WR & this year's group has at least 3 future NFL players in it, with Toney no doubt being a 1st rounder.
This Offense is going to OBLITERATE Defenses on a weekly basis!
Defense:
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Held Stanford to just 78yds rushing, while getting a sack, 3TFL's & didn't allow a TD.
Romanas Frederique went down with what looked like a dislocated shoulder after making an early tackle.
Lucas made a nice PBU on 1st down in the 1st quarter on a Fade route to the End Zone.
Got a 2nd PBU in the 2nd quarter with 11:54 on 3rd & 21 on a Deep Go route. He did a good job getting his head around to the ball at the catch point & knocking it out of the WR's hands.
Damari Brown - gave up a 18yd catch to Caden High
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He played like he normally does by my view. But I'll just let the numbers speak for themselves:
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Really hope Ja'Boree Antoine can get healthy soon, we're gonna need him.
The primary weakness of the Defense is the LB corps in pass coverage. OC's are going to put Toure & Chase Smith in one on one situations vs TE's up the seams & RB's in the Flats. Against more talented teams (especially Noter Lame), that's something opposing Offenses will look to exploit attacking the middle of field with the intermediate passing game.
But other than that, the LB's are good at bringing pressure.
Omar Thornton is essentially a 3rd LB himself. Heatherman used him the same way he was used at BC, as an heat-seeking Blitzer from the Nickel/STAR spot. He does a great job as a delayed Blitzer coming from the Weakside to breakthrough the pocket & add an extra rusher.
Zech Poyser has a full grasp of his role at Rover, he looks to be improved at reading his keys & ball tracking from last year. He had a PBU early in the 1st quarter on a 3rd down that was very good eye discipline from him.
JJ Dunnigan was as advertised. He's a big Chess piece that Heatherman/Will Harris can use to move around in multiple Defensive looks being able to play Nickel, or Field Safety. Very bright future ahead for him.
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The DLine was hyperactive & disruptive. There was a lot of worry about a drop-off in play this season, but the DLine didn't miss a beat. They remained stout in the run game & kept heavy amounts of pressure on Stanford's QB all game long.
Armando Blount got the 1st sack of the season on 2nd down
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Lightfoot was wreaking havoc all along the line. The weight/strength gain has definitely paid off for him & turned him into an every down EDGE rusher. He's graduated from just being a pass rush specialist.
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There was a whole lot of concern about "sEtTiNg tHe eDgE!", but like most things, it was an unnecessary worry. Setting the edge is just as much schematic as it is about the actual DE's. Gap assignments & play calls are equal parts of the equation to the player himself.
Armondo Blount, Keona Davis, Moten & Justin Scott were bullying the beat up Stanford OL. Lightfoot got held on nearly every play, their OT's were basically trying to put him a standing sleeper hold every play practically choking him every time he beat them across the line.
Moten doing what he does best, Rhino charge OG's & plant Trees in the ground
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Damon Wilson had a really nice Bull rush & batted ball on 3rd goal with less than 30secs left in the 2nd quarter to prevent giving up a TD right before halftime.
Damon had been working the Bull rush for most of the game & hadn't quite got home, until that play.
The Defense overall picked up right where they left off from last year. They were fast, aggressive, violent & methodically riotous.
There were several key plays where Stanford was knocking on the door of the Red Zone & the Defense stepped up to prevent them from scoring. Once the Offense put the game out of reach in the 2nd quarter, it was basically just another scrimmage.
Except, this wasn't our annual MEAC/SWAC game, this is a fellow ACC P4 peer, but we made them look like a FCS warmup team.
Miami had a grand total of TWO punts thhe entire game, out of 67 plays.
They came out guns blazing from the opening Kickoff to send a message & the message was loud & clear; Back for everything we left on the field last year. This isn't going to be a safe play for field goals winning by the skin of your teeth type team. The theme for this season is DOMINATION.
This is a National championship level squad & as long as we can make it through the gauntlet relatively healthy, we'll be back in the Natty this season; the difference is we'll win it.
The road to #6 starts tonight & we put the rest of College Football on notice that last year wasn't a one-off fluke. We've got unfinished business & game by game we'll handle it.
Forewarning performance from Mensah & Toney. Their hasn't been a Deadlier Duo since Butch Cassidy & the Sundance kid, with the rest of the Offense looking like the Wild Bunch!
BTA SEASON HAS RETURNED
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1-0
Go Canes
