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Rewatched the Indiana game yesterday

It's hard to place blame on a single player...

But I hope Alex Bauman has a hemorrhoid for the rest of his life.
 
May be an unpopular view but, aside from the fact that we made more mistakes than did IU, I think most fans undervalue Mendoza. We beat them if he played slightly worse. The kid is solid, makes good decisions, and is accurate where he needs to be. I think we will come to realize that he is better than most would want to credit.
 
On the flip side, Indiana had a chance to put this game away for good if not for an offside.

1st and 10 on the Miami 23 with 2 min left in the game.

They rip off a 9 yard run to the Miami 14 - that's 2nd and 1 with a 90% + chance to get another 1st down, run the clock out or score a TD, but next play they gift Miami an offsides so it is 2nd and 6 instead of 2nd and 1.

They settle for two 1 yard runs and a FG
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
Yep. They outplayed and outcoached us considerably in the first-half. Yeah, having healthy DBs would've helped, but their best DL was out because he got hurt celebrating.

That last drive of the half was especially disheartening. They scored to go up 10-0, and we took almost 6 minutes to go 43 yards and set up a 50 yard field goal. I loved Mario's decision to go for it on 4th and 1 from our side of the field, but the slow as molasses operation and turtling to try a very low percentage kick absolutely sucked.

We needed points there, desperately. And we walked around for 6 minutes only to rely on Carter Davis from 50. Gross. We absolutely should've went for it on 4th and 2 from the Indiana 33. We had about a minute left and a timeout. I know Mario has been working a lot on the Middle 8, and I'm sure the thought process was to not give them the ball with ~45 seconds in decent field position knowing they get the ball coming out of the half, but you're down 10-0 and you already went for it on 4th down on your own 35. You're clearly desperate, as you should be. Go pick up 2 yards and, at worst, give your kicker a much shorter kick.
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That’s the thing, us eating clock and winning the possession battles is a huge reason why we were in the natty. Thats why I can’t really fault us for coming out in the first half and doing what got us there

We made the adjustment to go uptempo in the 2nd half and it would of won us the game but situationally, the 4th down qb draw, the conversions back shoulders etc, then the obvious blocked punt gave them just enough to hold us off. And we still had a great chance at the end the just didn’t execute well enough
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
Yep. They outplayed and outcoached us considerably in the first-half. Yeah, having healthy DBs would've helped, but their best DL was out because he got hurt celebrating.

That last drive of the half was especially disheartening. They scored to go up 10-0, and we took almost 6 minutes to go 43 yards and set up a 50 yard field goal. I loved Mario's decision to go for it on 4th and 1 from our side of the field, but the slow as molasses operation and turtling to try a very low percentage kick absolutely sucked.

We needed points there, desperately. And we walked around for 6 minutes only to rely on Carter Davis from 50. Gross. We absolutely should've went for it on 4th and 2 from the Indiana 33. We had about a minute left and a timeout. I know Mario has been working a lot on the Middle 8, and I'm sure the thought process was to not give them the ball with ~45 seconds in decent field position knowing they get the ball coming out of the half, but you're down 10-0 and you already went for it on 4th down on your own 35. You're clearly desperate, as you should be. Go pick up 2 yards and, at worst, give your kicker a much shorter kick.
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The caution and slow pace mentality is one of the only things that still worries me about our program. We cannot pick up Mensah and Cooper from the portal with Toney on roster and play that conservative this year, can we?

I also felt we were woefully unprepared for Indiana’s line stunting in the first half. Anyone watching film on them would have planned around that and their undersized and less talented units stymied us because we weren’t prepared. Love Taylor and Mirabal. But how do your guys not blow that **** up?
 
E1k said:
That’s the thing, us eating clock and winning the possession battles is a huge reason why we were in the natty. Thats why I can’t really fault us for coming out in the first half and doing what got us there
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Why is it a huge reason?
 
Shooter McGavin said:
3 plays were the difference. One of their two 4th down conversions, the blocked punt, and the interception to end it.
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What about surratt dropping a wide *** open pass on 3rd down which would have put indiana in miami side of the field. What about them false starting when the game probably would have been over? What about cignetti being a ***** and not getting a fg attempt before the half? Those 3 plays?
 
I think most Cane fans are still unable to go back and watch that game because the “woulda, coulda, shouldas” can really mess with you and make you even more upset. Then I think back at what I’ve endured, WE’VE endured as U fans over the last 20 years. It was a **** of a season…full stop. I don’t like making excuses, but the playoff run Miami had to endure was an absolute juggernaut. The way I choose to look at it is last year wasn’t the main course but the appetizer.
 
Jonnyblaze said:
Hidden play I remember is halfway through Q2, Indiana has 3 and 10+ around midfield. They don’t convert and would have to punt, but Bain was offsides. They end up scoring a TD that drive and it’s 10-0.

In a game where they only score 2 offensive TD’s, that second chance at midfield was huge.
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On a 3rd and 13, smh.
There were two 3rd down penalties on that drive. The other was OJ's pass interference on 3rd and 6 on the previous set of downs.

As you said, two TD drives.
The first was assisted by two 3rd down penalties.
The second needed two fourth down conversions.

After Mali scored I thought we had them.
The game was ours...then they go 11/58/4:55 to kick the FG.
I loved that '25 defense, but man, got to get that stop.
 
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grover said:
The caution and slow pace mentality is one of the only things that still worries me about our program. We cannot pick up Mensah and Cooper from the portal with Toney on roster and play that conservative this year, can we?

I also felt we were woefully unprepared for Indiana’s line stunting in the first half. Anyone watching film on them would have planned around that and their undersized and less talented units stymied us because we weren’t prepared. Love Taylor and Mirabal. But how do your guys not blow that **** up?
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Agreed. We lost the game because we "Miami'd" --- we came out slow and plodding and then made too many mental errors. That is why it is so frustrating.
 
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