This was the same game as Clemson and UNC last year. Or LSU in 2018. Nothing felt different. Forget the opponent for a second. We didn't play well. The takeaway for the rest of the country is that Manny can’t compete in these games. There is no evidence otherwise.
On to specifics:
- The physicality gap was expected, but still deflating. The two plays that stick out to me are Navaughn Donaldson getting spun into Cam Harris and Will Mallory getting bullied into Rambo on a bubble screen. Men against boys.
- The area that scares me the most going forward is our pass rush. No length or explosiveness. We relied heavily on blitzing Amari Carter and he was handled by their RBs. Overall, Bama toyed with our blitzes. It’s a cruel joke that the one position where we were top-level (DE) goes barren right before we play Bama.
- Giving back the Turnover Chain down a million was a low point in the history of the program. Either shelve the chain or put on a point limit where we can’t give it away.
- This loss cannot beat us twice. App State and Michigan State are coming down with confidence and momentum. They expect to win and they can. Bama openers can ruin seasons. Ask FSU and Louisville. We need to respond like we did last year after Clemson, or this season can become a nightmare real fast.
- I saw a national 247 guy say this on Twitter and it’s true—the simplicity of Lashlee’s offense is great when Miami has a talent advantage, but gets exposed against equal or superior talent.
- Bama will blow out almost everyone this year. The front seven is NFL, Young can run their offense and their two transfers (Williams and Too’Too) are difference makers. The rest of our schedule is playing a different sport.
- Stevenson and Couch are the two starting corners going forward. They were two of the only guys who competed physically.
- Given the enormous talent disadvantage, the OL competed better than I thought upon rewatch. The major exception is Navaughn Donaldson. He had no balance or bend and was the cause of the majority of our negative plays. He has no chance of going pro this year so he may as well do some Yoga and come back.
- Don Chaney needs to be the starter going forward. He’s gotten even bigger. If he doesn’t get hurt during his dominant spring, he would have been the bellcow already. He’s healthy now.
- Justice Oluwaseun looks like a good pickup. He moved very well in space and he has some pop. He knocked a moving target on a Cam screen and knocked over Will Anderson while looking for work. He needs to start somewhere.
- The talent gap was most profound at LB. Miami can’t be Miami without Miami LBs. Even a guy like Shaq would’ve made a huge difference—when he tackled guys, they stayed tackled. The one guy who did flash true talent was Keontra Smith. He will be even better against smaller teams.
- Jalen Rivers, Xavier Restrepo, James Williams , Andres Borregales and Kam Kinchens all flashed. Kinchens was very physical and actually knocked back #4 on a blitz to force an incompletion. I want to see Leonard Taylor going forward. I get playing older, bigger DL against Bama, but don’t keep a 5* talent sulking on the bench against the rest of the schedule.
- King looked about 90%. The opponent had something to do with it. Interested to see how he looks next week. TVD has had very limited opportunities but has yet to flash. I would love to see some Garcia during this homestand. Obviously, too early to judge either guy.
- The tackling has dropped off considerably since 16-19. I don’t know why. Losing elite tacklers like Shaq and Jaquan Johnson hurt, but it shouldn’t be this drastic.
- Zion Nelson played a good, clean game but I still think he should come back. His strength isn’t all the way there yet if he’s going to be a first round, instant NFL starter. In fact, everyone on our line should come back except Jarrid Williams.
Overall, it sucked. Nothing to get excited about. Best case, this is an exhibition game which showed us the level we need to reach. Worst case, it ruins our season and we kill our home crowd the next two weeks. See you at the Rock on Saturday.
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