Quick thoughts the day after-

[wushah]

Just a couple of thoughts the day after:

1. I got the sense, especially after the first touchdown, that we were just trying to hang on. We had a "deer in headlights"-look the entire first half. Some of that was preparation, and some was just experience. Clemson has played a lot of big games over the years. This sort of game wasn't too big for them. Miami simply hasn't had enough of these games. You could see it from the start. The question is how to get there, right? The answer to me is that every player needs to buy into the culture, the program, and the coaching. They need to keep working. As they get better, the team will get better, and we'll start playing a lot more relevant, big-time, games.

2. It was nice to see the team keep on fighting. That pride, the anger from the loss, and the fear of failure, need to drive this team through the rest of the schedule. It's what is going to tell us if Manny has turned the corner or not. This game was a measuring stick for the program, but the rest of the schedule is a more relevant measuring stick.

3. We simply aren't as talented in a lot of places, particularly at OL, WR, CB, and LB, as the top 4 teams in the country. Out of all those spots though, we won't go anywhere until we get dominant physically with the OL and the trenches in general. Our recruiting evals need to keep getting better, and we need to get the right guys at Miami. As far as coaching talent goes, I'll defer to Manny. He needs to keep upgrading where necessary.

4. Watching this team yesterday, I couldn't help but think how important it is for both player and program for almost all of these draft-eligible guys to return. Phillips, Silvera, and even King should return. Having senior guys on the team will pay off handsomely down the road.

5. If we can beat Pitt and gain some momentum, this team could look drastically better by the end of the year. Need to stay disciplined, not buy into the hype, and prove it on the field. The program and the players might not see it now, but at some point further downstream, if they keep working hard, the dots will connect.

 

[TemplarCane]

A rematch with Clemson in the ACCCG will have a similar result as last night. The talent deficiencies you referenced are not going to improve over the next two months. Game plans and play calling by Lashlee, maybe. By Diaz and Baker, likely not.

 

[k9cane]

next three games is going to be VERY telling about Manny. He is the leader for this program or not.

I get losing to Clemson but can they at least consistently win vs middle of the road ACC clubs?

 

[citizenkane]

might be in the minority but i though Ivey played well in coverage.
it was just the poor angle on the etienne run
other than that he was pretty good

 

[Hegemon]

Good level headed post.

As usual @wushah

 

[TheSwagger1]

I didn’t expect to win last night, and I saw a lot of stuff that excited me to be honest. We know about the holes, some needed a reminder. I saw some grit. I saw a QB that can win out. I saw a front seven bow up, even when outgunned. I saw Frierson and Smith and Bolden look like serious dudes. I saw Ivey make some positive steps. I saw some OL who were seriously out-pedigreed hang in there and learn what it’s going to take even if we aren’t there, and not mentally fold like they have so much the last 2 decades. I saw Sam Brooks pop a mother ****** in the teeth, with no care of anyone being an All American. I saw an OC who got welcomed to the big time, who I believe and hope is smart enough to learn about what this kind of game will look like next time. Welcome to the big time, that’s where the bar is.

We aren’t #1. We aren’t #7. But I think we are legitimately closer than we have been in a long long time. For the first time in a long time, I truly believe that if King comes back we are going to get there next year and compete for an ACC title.

 

[Odysseus]

We just have to get used to playing on the big stage coaches and players as a whole. As for the future we just have to keep stacking talent because there is a huge gap between us and Clemson, Bama, Ohio St, and Georgia

 

[ADELPHI]

A rematch with Clemson in the ACCCG will have a similar result as last night. The talent deficiencies you referenced are not going to improve over the next two months. Game plans and play calling by Lashlee, maybe. By Diaz and Baker, likely not.

Nope. If we run the table(big if), we will lose to Clemson again but this team will be much better prepared.

 

[AboutTheU05]

Just a couple of thoughts the day after:

1. I got the sense, especially after the first touchdown, that we were just trying to hang on. We had a "deer in headlights"-look the entire first half. Some of that was preparation, and some was just experience. Clemson has played a lot of big games over the years. This sort of game wasn't too big for them. Miami simply hasn't had enough of these games. You could see it from the start. The question is how to get there, right? The answer to me is that every player needs to buy into the culture, the program, and the coaching. They need to keep working. As they get better, the team will get better, and we'll start playing a lot more relevant, big-time, games.

2. It was nice to see the team keep on fighting. That pride, the anger from the loss, and the fear of failure, need to drive this team through the rest of the schedule. It's what is going to tell us if Manny has turned the corner or not. This game was a measuring stick for the program, but the rest of the schedule is a more relevant measuring stick.

3. We simply aren't as talented in a lot of places, particularly at OL, WR, CB, and LB, as the top 4 teams in the country. Out of all those spots though, we won't go anywhere until we get dominant physically with the OL and the trenches in general. Our recruiting evals need to keep getting better, and we need to get the right guys at Miami. As far as coaching talent goes, I'll defer to Manny. He needs to keep upgrading where necessary.

4. Watching this team yesterday, I couldn't help but think how important it is for both player and program for almost all of these draft-eligible guys to return. Phillips, Silvera, and even King should return. Having senior guys on the team will pay off handsomely down the road.

5. If we can beat Pitt and gain some momentum, this team could look drastically better by the end of the year. Need to stay disciplined, not buy into the hype, and prove it on the field. The program and the players might not see it now, but at some point further downstream, if they keep working hard, the dots will connect.

Spot on assessment, especially points 1 and 2............that’s the most important part of this process and moving forward.

 

[TemplarCane]

Nope. If we run the table(big if), we will lose to Clemson again but this team will be much better prepared.

Sarcasm?

 

[dodaniels]

Just a couple of thoughts the day after:

1. I got the sense, especially after the first touchdown, that we were just trying to hang on. We had a "deer in headlights"-look the entire first half. Some of that was preparation, and some was just experience. Clemson has played a lot of big games over the years. This sort of game wasn't too big for them. Miami simply hasn't had enough of these games. You could see it from the start. The question is how to get there, right? The answer to me is that every player needs to buy into the culture, the program, and the coaching. They need to keep working. As they get better, the team will get better, and we'll start playing a lot more relevant, big-time, games.

I disagree. We need to take care of business (beat the teams we supposed to) to keep playing in these type of games. The more big games we play, the more experience we gain. We've two more potential big to play to gain valuable experience.

 

[k9cane]

I didn’t expect to win last night, and I saw a lot of stuff that excited me to be honest. We know about the holes, some needed a reminder. I saw some grit. I saw a QB that can win out. I saw a front seven bow up, even when outgunned. I saw Frierson and Smith and Bolden look like serious dudes. I saw Ivey make some positive steps. I saw some OL who were seriously out-pedigreed hang in there and learn what it’s going to take even if we aren’t there, and not mentally fold like they have so much the last 2 decades. I saw Sam Brooks pop a mother ****** in the teeth, with no care of anyone being an All American. I saw an OC who got welcomed to the big time, who I believe and hope is smart enough to learn about what this kind of game will look like next time. Welcome to the big time, that’s where the bar is.

We aren’t #1. We aren’t #7. But I think we are legitimately closer than we have been in a long long time. For the first time in a long time, I truly believe that if King comes back we are going to get there next year and compete for an ACC title.

Swagger, love to see some optimism on this board from a respected poster. But I have a question, are you concerned that Lashlee's offense has been figured out to a certain degree, or that it becomes very ineffective as you stop the run -- or was this just the dominance of Clemson? And it was also the limited nature of our WR crew vs their secondary?

 

[caneworld]

Any of you watched the 'ole Miss -Bama game? I don't think we were even close to ole ****, unfortunately.

 

[Damiencane86]

The talent gap is wide between us & Clemson no doubt. I think we have a staff that can recruit well enough to help close the gap albeit 2-3 years away. But this defensive staff is full of corches & Manny will need to make changes if he wants to truly build this program into a power 2021 & beyond. What he can do immediately is abandon his hard on for seniority and play the better players on D vs Pitt: Hunte, Brooks should both start. Carter & McCloud are liabilities and should be sparsely used bench players. I'll also be very interested to see how Lashlee responds to being embarrassed by Venables and how he overcomes our subpar receiving corps.

 

[TheSwagger1]

Swagger, love to see some optimism on this board from a respected poster. But I have a question, are you concerned that Lashlee's offense has been figured out to a certain degree, or that it becomes very ineffective as you stop the run -- or was this just the dominance of Clemson? And it was also the limited nature of our WR crew vs their secondary?

He got his teeth kicked in. Yes, concerned but optimistic, too. All of the things you mention were definitely at play. I think Lashlee is a smart guy and nowhere near a finished product at OC... Venables and Dabo have been there, done that, seen it all 100 times over. Multiple conference/national championship appearances for both, in a mature, peaking program. Lashlee had 3 years at Auburn under Malzahn's thumb, yes, but this was really his first dance against an elite defense on his own. His style is what this program needs, now he needs to grow, tweak and perfect it. And he needs to recruit some guys at OL and WR who increase the margin for error just a smidgeon, as there was zero on Saturday night.

 

[Number1CanesFan]

A rematch with Clemson in the ACCCG will have a similar result as last night. The talent deficiencies you referenced are not going to improve over the next two months. Game plans and play calling by Lashlee, maybe. By Diaz and Baker, likely not.

I completely disagree. Lashlee had a very poor game plan and didn't adjust. He was baited into calling vertical pass plays because Clemson was playing man coverage on our WRs with no safety help. We don't have the WRs (at least not the starters) for a verical game that we're not good at.

Secondly, as badly as we played on offense (only running 54 plays and 9 first downs), we were 2 defensive penalties and 1 redzone interception from a 28-24 game. If we don't have those two 3rd down penalties on Clemson's first 2 drives, they punt the ball and score 28 points instead of 42.

If we get a better offensive game plan and cut out the penalties we can play a competitive game with Clemson.

 

[mirasuegui]

A rematch with Clemson in the ACCCG will have a similar result as last night. The talent deficiencies you referenced are not going to improve over the next two months. Game plans and play calling by Lashlee, maybe. By Diaz and Baker, likely not.

I think lashlee will adjust : we figure the receivers would catch up to us and it did. What is frustrating is the coaching and scheming on the defensive side> Good grief it looked like every time Jennings showed up they pick on him, Mccloud love the guy but he just seemed to never react or recognize what is going on : The TE that licked out was his responsibility and walked right past him. Really don't understand what the backers are being coached up to do .

 

[LuCane]

This would all be more exciting if we had a solid foundation as a culture. Instead, we have a tenuous one where people legitimately talked about Lashlee being one and done and a slew of like 12 guys leaving early for the draft. All after beating UAB, Louisville, and FSU (at their worst). That's what Miami has unfortunately become.

And, it starts at the top. I wrote about it last year. I get the need for marketing and hype to pick up our floundering program. But, we won't be **** until substance > hype. That's a personality thing. I hope the Clemson game was as humbling as last season was. We need to be humbled to the bone. Stop ******* celebrating everything.

 

[Gables Canes]

This would all be more exciting if we had a solid foundation as a culture. Instead, we have a tenuous one where people legitimately talked about Lashlee being one and done and a slew of like 12 guys leaving early for the draft. All after beating UAB, Louisville, and FSU (at their worst). That's what Miami has unfortunately become.

And, it starts at the top. I wrote about it last year. I get the need for marketing and hype to pick up our floundering program. But, we won't be **** until substance > hype. That's a personality thing. I hope the Clemson game was as humbling as last season was. We need to be humbled to the bone. Stop ******* celebrating everything.

I've seen several players (I don't want to name names, but both freshmen and upperclassmen) who have posted their "highlights" to social media from this absolute beat down. That to me shows the culture hasn't changed one bit.

 

[Gables Canes]

I didn't understand why we never utilized Knighton in this game. Clemson's LB's are relatively slow and yet we never tried to exploit them in the passing game.