Some observations from the north endzone

[CalCane]

First of all. The view from up in the north endzone was as good a view as I’ve ever had in a stadium. And what a cool experience. Now what I saw up there.

Starting with the offense.
TVD- not sure he will ever be able to run this offense. First of all the routes all take entirely too long to develop and he was sitting in the pocket waiting way too long to go through his reads. By the time he made a decision it was too late. He had some drops as well but the passes weren’t great for the most part. He obviously is a QB who needs rhythm and this offense constantly changing audibles from the sidelines his him hoodwinked. The only time he ever tried to throw a ball to a receiver before they had made their break he missed horribly. Usually he was late and was lucky he didn’t have several picks.

Gattis- I was really worried about him bringing in the big ten power offense and it’s bad. It’s very predictable. I don’t mind the power sets but why are we doing it when we need tempo and need to get up the field. The worst part of this was the slowdown. I don’t see it working with the qb and people we have. Zero creativity. With the lack of talent we have at wr he’s going to have to use the field a lot more. We aren’t running past anyone out there. The offense was so tight and packed in the formations and with three wideouts who can’t get open it bodes for a long season.

O-line- until the holds at the end they played amazing. I couldn’t believe how much time they were giving TVD. And they moved a very talented d-line all night long. Kudos because Mario and mirabal are doing wonders with this group.

Defense- this group came a long way tonight because the d-line really manhandled their o-line. The whole defense was really great and sound except for the one area we all know manny left bare. Linebacker is brutal. The two starters are just not fast enough to play the position at this level. Bissainthe needs to be in the game and getting reps. His athleticism is just that noticeable. Wiliams is a beast and will be our next great safety.

One thing I liked is this team stayed in control right when it looked like we do what Miami does in big games in the road and gets blown out after a few bad things happen. They didn’t. A&M is very athletic but that team will have struggles this year. They just aren’t a very good team. I think our offense from last year lights them up. But I see what Mario is building. We just need to recruit some major players in spots where we have major holes. Gonna take some time. But if we expect to win this year that offense has to be a whole lot better and more creative.

 

[Canedude08]

The fact that our offense was breaking off consistent positive plays, but the criticism is that "It's too boring" is proof that our fanbase would rather have a boom or bust O, instead of one that can win games regularly. The gameplan wasn't the issue tonight, the lack of talent at WR and critical mistakes were. Miami leveraged the best two players on the O(Knighton and Parrish) well, there were multiple runs where it could have been broken, but that last guy didn't miss.

If you have a vastly improved O-Line and MULTIPLE backs that can do the job, you use them. That's what good playcallers to, they maximize the talent they do have while minimizing weak links. You can argue that TVD missed the few open shots available to him(He did) and that would have helped the gameplan a ton, but if you have to scheme guys to be open by 10+ yards in order for them to make a catch, you are already screwed. Why? Because it's rare, and I mean rare for any scheme to be that consistently good. Usually, when a guy is THAT open, there's a coverage bust, or you are playing guys that are significantly less talented. TAMU isn't Bethune-Cookman. TAMU isn't Southern Miss. You will have to make some contested catches every once in awhile. Miami's receivers didn't even try to make a contested catch. I lost count of the drops, I can't remember a time in which the Miami receivers made a catch on a poorly thrown ball. People forget that even the greats like Ken Dorsey weren't 100% accurate, sometimes. you need a guy to make a catch for you. TVD didn't have that tonight, and I doubt Garcia would magically fix that.

 

[CalCane]

The fact that our offense was breaking off consistent positive plays, but the criticism is that "It's too boring" is proof that our fanbase would rather have a boom or bust O, instead of one that can win games regularly. The gameplan wasn't the issue tonight, the lack of talent at WR and critical mistakes were. Miami leveraged the best two players on the O(Knighton and Parrish) well, there were multiple runs where it could have been broken, but that last guy didn't miss.

If you have a vastly improved O-Line and MULTIPLE backs that can do the job, you use them. That's what good playcallers to, they maximize the talent they do have while minimizing weak links. You can argue that TVD missed the few open shots available to him(He did) and that would have helped the gameplan a ton, but if you have to scheme guys to be open by 10+ yards in order for them to make a catch, you are already screwed. Why? Because it's rare, and I mean rare for any scheme to be that consistently good. Usually, when a guy is THAT open, there's a coverage bust, or you are playing guys that are significantly less talented. TAMU isn't Bethune-Cookman. TAMU isn't Southern Miss. You will have to make some contested catches every once in awhile. Miami's receivers didn't even try to make a contested catch. I lost count of the drops, I can't remember a time in which the Miami receivers made a catch on a poorly thrown ball. People forget that even the greats like Ken Dorsey weren't 100% accurate, sometimes. you need a guy to make a catch for you. TVD didn't have that tonight, and I doubt Garcia would magically fix that.

I agree with what they are “trying” to do with running the ball. But I sat and watched TVD go through all of his reads consistently and he was unsure of where to throw the ball. Many times he just threw to the last read and missed someone who was wide open. These wide outs aren’t great and we know that. But the routes they are running take 10 years to develop. Gattis isn’t helping the offense by just running the playbook. He needs to utilize the personnel better. Whatever it is TVD looks incredibly uncomfortable

 

[Dghustla]

I agree with what they are “trying” to do with running the ball. But I sat and watched TVD go through all of his reads consistently and he was unsure of where to throw the ball. Many times he just threw to the last read and missed someone who was wide open. These wide outs aren’t great and we know that. But the routes they are running take 10 years to develop. Gattis isn’t helping the offense by just running the playbook. He needs to utilize the personnel better. Whatever it is TVD looks incredibly uncomfortable

Soo TVD not seeing open WRs is the reason the offense sucks?

 

[3FW]

The fact that our offense was breaking off consistent positive plays, but the criticism is that "It's too boring" is proof that our fanbase would rather have a boom or bust O, instead of one that can win games regularly. The gameplan wasn't the issue tonight, the lack of talent at WR and critical mistakes were. Miami leveraged the best two players on the O(Knighton and Parrish) well, there were multiple runs where it could have been broken, but that last guy didn't miss.

If you have a vastly improved O-Line and MULTIPLE backs that can do the job, you use them. That's what good playcallers to, they maximize the talent they do have while minimizing weak links. You can argue that TVD missed the few open shots available to him(He did) and that would have helped the gameplan a ton, but if you have to scheme guys to be open by 10+ yards in order for them to make a catch, you are already screwed. Why? Because it's rare, and I mean rare for any scheme to be that consistently good. Usually, when a guy is THAT open, there's a coverage bust, or you are playing guys that are significantly less talented. TAMU isn't Bethune-Cookman. TAMU isn't Southern Miss. You will have to make some contested catches every once in awhile. Miami's receivers didn't even try to make a contested catch. I lost count of the drops, I can't remember a time in which the Miami receivers made a catch on a poorly thrown ball. People forget that even the greats like Ken Dorsey weren't 100% accurate, sometimes. you need a guy to make a catch for you. TVD didn't have that tonight, and I doubt Garcia would magically fix that.

Agree. Solid post.

 

[Number1CanesFan]

I think it's a combination of things.

The glaring problem is that the routes take too long. We don't have the personnel to run the routes in the Gattis offense.

Secondly, it's the timing. TVD doesn't have the timing with his WRs. The throws where he missed badly were timing throws where the WRs were not in sink with him. The times where the ball was delivered, the WRs were not ready and dropped catchable balls.

Even with all of that, we moved the ball down the field. The glaring issue to me is the redzone. The play calling was conservative and terrible. We didn't even challenge the endzone. On the drive late in the game down 11, Gattis ran 3 times from the 10 yard line and one of the runs was a called run for TVD. That was just terrible and inexcusable. It's way too conservative. Especially, when you need a TD with the clock as your enemy.

Lastly, when you lose, it's easy to pick at all the things that were wrong.

If we execute on special teams, we would have won this game 12-10 worst case and 21-10 with better offensive execution and redzone play calling. With the running game we have, we should be able to put up 40 if we had a good passing attack because the successful run game should open up passes to wide open WRs and it isn't.

I think we have a very good team. That was a tough road game and we did more than hold our own. Before the season, we looked at this game as a loss. We had a great chance to win and probably should have won. You can't look at AtM as what they were the previous week. That was a different team than the one that lost to App St.

The offensive line, defensive line, and secondary were the brightest to me. The offensive line blocked well in the run game and pass game. The defensive line had a really good night both against the run and getting pressure on the QB with only 4 which they didn't do in the first 2 games. The secondary played very well and DJ Ivey played great.

The encouraging thing to me is that the passing game is the only thing to fix. The special teams will sort itself out as well as LB. The only time the LBs didn't play well was when they were isolated on Achane. We're not going to face anyone close to his type of speed until we play Clemson. By then, I expect the more athletic LBs to emerge.

If people look at the game and team with rationale (they won't), we have a really good team with potential to be great if we get the passing game sorted out. A lot of the problems from last year have been fixed. The biggest improvement is the OL. The secondary was a huge improvement from game 1 and 2.

The good thing is we have next week and then a bye to figure it out.

I still believe this is a 10-2 or even 11-1 one team if we get the passing game going.

 

[Hoyacane1620]

That was the loudest stadium I’ve ever been in. At some points my ears were actually ringing.
It’s a HUGE home field advantage. I was proud of the way the team handled it; pretty sure that wouldn’t have happened with prior coaching staffs.

 

[Number1CanesFan]

I agree with what they are “trying” to do with running the ball. But I sat and watched TVD go through all of his reads consistently and he was unsure of where to throw the ball. Many times he just threw to the last read and missed someone who was wide open. These wide outs aren’t great and we know that. But the routes they are running take 10 years to develop. Gattis isn’t helping the offense by just running the playbook. He needs to utilize the personnel better. Whatever it is TVD looks incredibly uncomfortable

If you watched the games from last year you know TVD is a next level passer. Whst I mean is that he throws the ball with anticipation. He throws the ball before the WR has completed his route. That's next level. He tried to do that on several play and the timing was off or the WR dropped the ball

Unfortunately, he's not insync with WRs. You can't throw with anticipation when the WR can't shake the DB to create throwing angles. It makes the QB look bad and throws are errant and get picked when you can't trust the WRs to be where you think they will be. Fortunately, there were no interceptions.

 

[Hufftwoseven]

Agreed with everything. I will say that Flagg made some plays this game. We will get better at Lb with recruiting

 

[Canedude08]

That was the loudest stadium I’ve ever been in. At some points my ears were actually ringing.
It’s a HUGE home field advantage. I was proud of the way the team handled it; pretty sure that wouldn’t have happened with prior coaching staffs.

Miami marched in there and fought their asses off, they weren't scared. That said, it's obvious that there's only so much heart can accomplish. We need receivers, we need guys that want the ball thrown at them on 4th down. We need a real punt returner. We need more talent. This is why Mario was pooh poohing some of the hype coming into the season. He's seen the film, he knows that years of bad recruiting can't be fixed in one offseason...

 

[Joe_thegreat]

The linebackers we’re not that bad gotta give some credit to them..steed missed achane but he was in good position but **** he made 3 of them miss on that TD..we gotta figure this offense out asap

 

[Number1CanesFan]

Miami marched in there and fought their asses off, they weren't scared. That said, it's obvious that there's only so much heart can accomplish. We need receivers, we need guys that want the ball thrown at them on 4th down. We need a real punt returner. We need more talent. This is why Mario was pooh poohing some of the hype coming into the season. He's seen the film, he knows that years of bad recruiting can't be fixed in one offseason...

I don't think we're that far off for this season's expectations. The coaching staff has done an amazing job. We look great on the OL and DL. The secondary played great. They really took a step forward tonight.

Outside of the passing game, we look like a team that could beat Clemson. We didn't have trouble moving the ball even with a crippled passing game.

We could have won this game if the special teams were clean despite the passing game issues. That's encouraging!!! Special teams is the easy fix. The passing game will take time. Gattis needs to figure out plays that can work with the personnel he has.

If we had the passes game production with the rest of what I saw last night, we'd be top 5 -10 team.

I hope the passing game can improve over the next 2 weeks. The team as a whole should get better each week. We have a really good team that is much improved in many areas. Unfortunately, WR and the passing game isn't one of them.

I'm very encouraged by what I saw last night with the trenches and secondary.

 

[Number1CanesFan]

The linebackers we’re not that bad gotta give some credit to them..steed missed achane but he was in good position but **** he made 3 of them miss on that TD..we gotta figure this offense out asap

You can't let elite speed get into space. That guy has world class speed. He was a difference maker in the game.

We really did a great job against them other than Achane.

 

[Canedude08]

I don't think we're that far off for this season's expectations. The coaching staff has done an amazing job. We look great on the OL and DL. The secondary played great. They really took a step forward tonight.

Outside of the passing game, we look like a team that could beat Clemson. We didn't have trouble moving the ball even with a crippled passing game.

We could have won this game if the special teams were clean despite the passing game issues. That's encouraging!!! Special teams is the easy fix. The passing game will take time. Gattis needs to figure out plays that can work with the personnel he has.

If we had the passes game production with the rest of what I saw last night, we'd be top 5 -10 team.

I hope the passing game can improve over the next 2 weeks. The team as a whole should get better each week. We have a really good team that is much improved in many areas. Unfortunately, WR and the passing game isn't one of them.

I'm very encouraged by what I saw last night with the trenches and secondary.

Leonard Taylor had himself a night last night. He flashed. Our O-Line looked completely different from what I've seen over the last 5 years. I can't remember the last time Miami played a talented team and pounded them on the ground. There's a lot to be optimistic about, this team will get better as the season goes on, because the coaches are solid. That's the mark of good coaching, teams that grow and improve. That said, this team does have a ceiling, because of the talent. This isn't top 10 talent, it's obvious that Diaz recruited like trash throughout his tenure. Not shocked.

 

[Number1CanesFan]

Leonard Taylor had himself a night last night. He flashed. Our O-Line looked completely different from what I've seen over the last 5 years. I can't remember the last time Miami played a talented team and pounded them on the ground. There's a lot to be optimistic about, this team will get better as the season goes on, because the coaches are solid. That's the mark of good coaching, teams that grow and improve. That said, this team does have a ceiling, because of the talent. This isn't top 10 talent, it's obvious that Diaz recruited like trash throughout his tenure. Not shocked.

This is week 3. We could have a scary good team by the end of the year. If we get the passing game figured out, we could win the ACC.

I don't have any worries playing at Clemson. Our team was well poised playing in a hostile stadium last night. I see it as a competitive game. Hopefully, our passing game improves. It has to.

 

[OldhamA]

I agree with what they are “trying” to do with running the ball. But I sat and watched TVD go through all of his reads consistently and he was unsure of where to throw the ball. Many times he just threw to the last read and missed someone who was wide open. These wide outs aren’t great and we know that. But the routes they are running take 10 years to develop. Gattis isn’t helping the offense by just running the playbook. He needs to utilize the personnel better. Whatever it is TVD looks incredibly uncomfortable

Maybe it's time to give Garcia a go in this offence then if TVD is struggling so much.

 

[coffeecane]

I agree with what they are “trying” to do with running the ball. But I sat and watched TVD go through all of his reads consistently and he was unsure of where to throw the ball. Many times he just threw to the last read and missed someone who was wide open. These wide outs aren’t great and we know that. But the routes they are running take 10 years to develop. Gattis isn’t helping the offense by just running the playbook. He needs to utilize the personnel better. Whatever it is TVD looks incredibly uncomfortable

Tvd goes through reads really slow and hasn't been accurate once he makes a decision. Not saying to bench him but he is struggling. He looked terrible last week and he looked worse tonight, with more time to throw. He needs to hit a guy in stride with better ball placement. If he did that then I don't think the game would have been close.

 

[twes.305]

First of all. The view from up in the north endzone was as good a view as I’ve ever had in a stadium. And what a cool experience. Now what I saw up there.

Starting with the offense.
TVD- not sure he will ever be able to run this offense. First of all the routes all take entirely too long to develop and he was sitting in the pocket waiting way too long to go through his reads. By the time he made a decision it was too late. He had some drops as well but the passes weren’t great for the most part. He obviously is a QB who needs rhythm and this offense constantly changing audibles from the sidelines his him hoodwinked. The only time he ever tried to throw a ball to a receiver before they had made their break he missed horribly. Usually he was late and was lucky he didn’t have several picks.

Gattis- I was really worried about him bringing in the big ten power offense and it’s bad. It’s very predictable. I don’t mind the power sets but why are we doing it when we need tempo and need to get up the field. The worst part of this was the slowdown. I don’t see it working with the qb and people we have. Zero creativity. With the lack of talent we have at wr he’s going to have to use the field a lot more. We aren’t running past anyone out there. The offense was so tight and packed in the formations and with three wideouts who can’t get open it bodes for a long season.

O-line- until the holds at the end they played amazing. I couldn’t believe how much time they were giving TVD. And they moved a very talented d-line all night long. Kudos because Mario and mirabal are doing wonders with this group.

Defense- this group came a long way tonight because the d-line really manhandled their o-line. The whole defense was really great and sound except for the one area we all know manny left bare. Linebacker is brutal. The two starters are just not fast enough to play the position at this level. Bissainthe needs to be in the game and getting reps. His athleticism is just that noticeable. Wiliams is a beast and will be our next great safety.

One thing I liked is this team stayed in control right when it looked like we do what Miami does in big games in the road and gets blown out after a few bad things happen. They didn’t. A&M is very athletic but that team will have struggles this year. They just aren’t a very good team. I think our offense from last year lights them up. But I see what Mario is building. We just need to recruit some major players in spots where we have major holes. Gonna take some time. But if we expect to win this year that offense has to be a whole lot better and more creative.

I thought the LBs played pretty good. Could they have been better off, but that’s only gonna come with time and more stud players.

 

[twes.305]

You can't let elite speed get into space. That guy has world class speed. He was a difference maker in the game.

We really did a great job against them other than Achane.

Achane is fast as ****, but Steed was in position to make that tackle he just ******* whiffed.

 

[Hoyacane1620]

Tvd goes through reads really slow and hasn't been accurate once he makes a decision. Not saying to bench him but he is struggling. He looked terrible last week and he looked worse tonight, with more time to throw. He needs to hit a guy in stride with better ball placement. If he did that then I don't think the game would have been close.

I think a lot of that is not trusting the WR. If the OL didn’t give him the time they did it would have been worse. After being there close up I. Can see why he hesitates.