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Let me preface this by saying that any win against competition like Bethune has caveats, but that there are still some takeaways for this game. Manny Diaz finally gets his first win as an HC, and Miami pulls itself out of a three-game losing streak extending to last season. Here's what we learned from today's matchup.
- Jarren Williams continues to be exceptional. Despite being a bit shaky for the first quarter and a half of this game, Jarren Williams found some rhythm as the game went on. He finished the day 19/24 - 254 yds - 3 TD. Jarren's stats for the year as of now are 68/92 - 778 yds - 6 TD's. Most important is the fact that Jarren is completing 74% of his passes. For a Miami team that could barely complete 50% of its passes last year, this is a massive improvement. Jarren will only get better as the season goes on. It's also notable that he hasn't thrown an INT yet, though he threw a few close ones today.
- Miami's offense is moving the ball. With more than 500 yards of offense in back-to-back weeks, Miami hasn't had an issue with moving the ball. Playcalling is getting better, and the offense continues to develop. Balance has also been a key point for this offense, as Miami hasn't had to overtly rely on the running or passing game exclusively in either of its matchups.
- Behind Jarren Williams, Deejay Dallas is the most important player on this offense. Deejay had a great day with 12 carries, 108 yds, and 3 TD's. Without Dallas, Miami gets blown out against UF and UNC, and likely goes into halftime today up 10-0 at the most. Dallas is going to be a playmaker all year and is a matchup nightmare for any team.
- Miami's WR's show up and hold onto the ball. Beyond KJ Osborn and Jeff Thomas, Miami's other WR's didn't make much of an impact against UF and UNC. Today, 7 WR's got touches, with Mark Pope, Dee Wiggins, and Mike Harley making huge plays. Also, Miami's WR's didn't drop too many passes. In fact, a lot of our guys made some pretty clutch passes.
- KJ Osborn is Miami's #1 WR by a mile. While Jeff Thomas has been inconsistent these first three games of the season, KJ Osborn has been the opposite. Osborn consistently makes big plays and does not drop passes. Osborn is undoubtedly the biggest steal Miami had in the transfer portal this past offseason.
- For what it's worth, considering the competition, the OL continues to show improvement. Our OL didn't give up a sack or a QB pressure today, which is a positive development. Nevertheless, it's hard to tell if this is the beginning of the trend or just improvement as a result of subpar competition. The OL certainly looked better against UNC last week, so it continued its development into this week. Overall, this OL will only get better as the season goes on. There is lots of youth and talent on that line.
- Miami's defense shows up. Again, considering the competition, it's hard to tell how improved this defense is from last week. Holding any team to a total of 137 yards and 4 first downs though is exceptional. Bethune has some South Florida guys on their offense, and they weren't able to move the ball past their own 40-yard line. The DL was improved from last week as well.
- Louis Hedley plays well and continues to improve. Hedley had some great punts today and looks to be a solid punter all year long. He'll only get better with more reps and has the leg to be the best punter in Miami since Jack O'Donnell.
- Tackling continues to be a problem. Much like the Florida and UNC games, Miami continued to have issues with tackling today. Scott Patchan, in particular, had a few whiffs in the backfield. Against better teams that will cost us. Also, this defense has major issues with keeping contain on the outside. Our LB's are to slow to pick up any slack left by our DB's.
- Bubba Baxa continues to struggle. At 4 for 8 on the year, Bubba Baxa is going through the toughest stretch of his young career. Baxa's confidence is shot, and he looked terrified before attempting his eventual 26-yard chip shot miss. The only way for Baxa to get out of his rut is to get on a kicking streak of his own. Unfortunately, the way Baxa is kicking, he'll special teams will likely cost Miami another game this season. For a team that needs all the points it can get, it doesn't help that Miami's kicker has left 12 points on the board this year.
- Miami continues to struggle on third down and in the RedZone. This is the primary concern for Dan Enos going forward. Miami doesn't have an issue moving the ball until it gets to the RedZone. This team also continues to struggle on third down, and can't afford to whiff so many times against better teams.
