k9cane
Senior
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2011
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The Canes put up E-45 vs the Stanford Cardinal in the season opener and moved to 1-0. They ended up winning 45-6, but I really think they could have put up 60-plus if they pressed things. Some early Saturday morning thoughts on this game..
- Darian Mensah is as advertised. His touch, accuracy and command is elite. He was in control from the beginning, at times it looked like a 7-on-7 out there at times. The first throw/completion of the game to Malachi Toney was symbolic of the night for the Miami offense. And it was an explosive play off a corner route. Then the TD he had a free hitter coming right in his face and he lead Toney into the endzone. That was football art.
- Alright so I stated that perhaps Toney would have less catches this season but for more yards. Well, I was wrong. It looks like he'll have more catches for a whole lot more miles this season. He is almost unguardable from the slot. To see him live you really see the technician he is. I read where he broke the record for most receiving yards in a game that was held for years by Eddie Brown. Toney could have easily had over 300 yards in this game.
-- This is going to be a fun and explosive Miami offense. Like I said, if you are a college football team in a non-college town setting (like Los Angeles or Miami) you have to understand that you are in the entertainment business. It's not just enough to win(which is obviously a prerequisite in this racket) you must also be exciting and fun. That's exactly what they were on this night, and yeah, I get it, but this needs to be the template moving forward for UM football. Be the Showtime Lakers of the 80's, I say.
I loved seeing the four and five-wide sets, the double stacked WR's, with some usage of tempo. BTW, great to see both Moore and Upshaw play and produce.
- Despite the score, and whatever his stats were, I thought Davis Warren actually played pretty well. He made some real throws out there.
- OK, now it was far from perfect (which it's not supposed to be in game 1), both the offensive and defensive line had some issues. They need to be better. The Oline simply couldn't get a good push in the inside run game. Most of Fletcher's yards in the first half were about him making people miss and burrowing forward. I still don't understand why outside-zone isn't utilized a bit more. Center snaps were a bit erratic at times, too.
On the other side of the ball, despite playing a banged up Stanford front, they had some issues creating pressure. Replacing Bain and Mesidor (who were both at the game) will not just be plug-and-play. To be fair, they drew a few holding calls. (Hey, how 'bout dem ACC officials!!) Now with that said, unlike the UM sieve-like defense of 2024, I think these issues are fixable within the season.
This team is a work in progress with a really high ceiling.
- great to see young guys like Javion Mallory, Samourian WIngo, Luke Fickel and JJ Dunigan get in late and make some plays. Jackson Cantwell and Ben Congdon played a lot from the beginning. And a host of other young Hurricanes got to see their first snaps. This is exactly what Miami needs to have a few times this season as they develop depth on the fly
- A bit concerned about OJ Fredrique, he got banged up early and never returned. Damari Brown ended up playing a lot of snaps.
- The Miami fan-base turned out in droves. Honestly, it felt like we had more fans in attendance than Stanford. I met some fans who aren't from Florida who came in for the game, both from other parts of California and nationwide. I think the Miami contingent actually caused Stanford to have a couple of pre-snap penalties on a drive in the second quarter
- In summation, Miami did 'the Chris Rock' -- they did what they were supposed to. But I was still entertained (as Maximus asked in 'Gladiator'). And hey, this is the entertainment business, right?
- Darian Mensah is as advertised. His touch, accuracy and command is elite. He was in control from the beginning, at times it looked like a 7-on-7 out there at times. The first throw/completion of the game to Malachi Toney was symbolic of the night for the Miami offense. And it was an explosive play off a corner route. Then the TD he had a free hitter coming right in his face and he lead Toney into the endzone. That was football art.
- Alright so I stated that perhaps Toney would have less catches this season but for more yards. Well, I was wrong. It looks like he'll have more catches for a whole lot more miles this season. He is almost unguardable from the slot. To see him live you really see the technician he is. I read where he broke the record for most receiving yards in a game that was held for years by Eddie Brown. Toney could have easily had over 300 yards in this game.
-- This is going to be a fun and explosive Miami offense. Like I said, if you are a college football team in a non-college town setting (like Los Angeles or Miami) you have to understand that you are in the entertainment business. It's not just enough to win(which is obviously a prerequisite in this racket) you must also be exciting and fun. That's exactly what they were on this night, and yeah, I get it, but this needs to be the template moving forward for UM football. Be the Showtime Lakers of the 80's, I say.
I loved seeing the four and five-wide sets, the double stacked WR's, with some usage of tempo. BTW, great to see both Moore and Upshaw play and produce.
- Despite the score, and whatever his stats were, I thought Davis Warren actually played pretty well. He made some real throws out there.
- OK, now it was far from perfect (which it's not supposed to be in game 1), both the offensive and defensive line had some issues. They need to be better. The Oline simply couldn't get a good push in the inside run game. Most of Fletcher's yards in the first half were about him making people miss and burrowing forward. I still don't understand why outside-zone isn't utilized a bit more. Center snaps were a bit erratic at times, too.
On the other side of the ball, despite playing a banged up Stanford front, they had some issues creating pressure. Replacing Bain and Mesidor (who were both at the game) will not just be plug-and-play. To be fair, they drew a few holding calls. (Hey, how 'bout dem ACC officials!!) Now with that said, unlike the UM sieve-like defense of 2024, I think these issues are fixable within the season.
This team is a work in progress with a really high ceiling.
- great to see young guys like Javion Mallory, Samourian WIngo, Luke Fickel and JJ Dunigan get in late and make some plays. Jackson Cantwell and Ben Congdon played a lot from the beginning. And a host of other young Hurricanes got to see their first snaps. This is exactly what Miami needs to have a few times this season as they develop depth on the fly
- A bit concerned about OJ Fredrique, he got banged up early and never returned. Damari Brown ended up playing a lot of snaps.
- The Miami fan-base turned out in droves. Honestly, it felt like we had more fans in attendance than Stanford. I met some fans who aren't from Florida who came in for the game, both from other parts of California and nationwide. I think the Miami contingent actually caused Stanford to have a couple of pre-snap penalties on a drive in the second quarter
- In summation, Miami did 'the Chris Rock' -- they did what they were supposed to. But I was still entertained (as Maximus asked in 'Gladiator'). And hey, this is the entertainment business, right?
