The month of October will define the 2016 team

[Richard Belding]

The other interesting subplot this year is who will win more games this year, Georgia or Miami? Georgia is more talented but Miami has the QB. My money is on Georgia winning 9 and Miami winning 8.

8 games! WTF Why did we fire Golden? He could have won 8 games. SMH

I look at our roster compared to last year and it looks worse in some spots.

Our depth at linebacker is scary thin. I think outside Quarterman and Grace, we're screwed. I'm not buying the hype on Pickney at all right now....but maybe he'll prove me wrong. Owens has been injured. Outside of that, we don't have a lot of talent or depth.

CB is massively downgraded. We lost Burns and Howard, and we're back to looking at grad transfers. I think Redwine is serviceable but not a stud, and none of those guys know how to tackle or support in the running game. At safety, so much is gonna depend on Jenkins but he just isn't as good at football as people seem to want to believe. We will really miss deon bush. Carter is unproven at best. The depth isn't there. Our best hope in the secondary is that Jaquan Johnson becomes an impact guy and a leader this year...the guy he was in high school.

The other concern I have is offensive line...who is really gonna hold it down for us? We just don't have a lot of talented kids there, the recruiting has been terrible. Jags everywhere. A guy like Isadora will show flashes, and you wonder if guys like St Louis or McDermott will ever reach their potential, but then the line is littered with guys like Gall and Loftus because we have no depth.

The good news is that coaching will be improved, so some of these roster problems can be masked to an extent. But Al's recruiting failures and the ****tiness of last year's class will hurt us in 2016 IMO

 

[Cold Beer]

I tend to agree with this view except for one additional concern that you left out - the Appalachian State game in Boone. I'm less worried about this game now than I was when Golden was still here. However, I still cant' believe we agreed to play in Boone against a team that is used to winning and sometimes competing with superior talent. I'm not ready to call it a "trap game", but I'm also unwilling to call it an automatic win.

I am not buying that. We should smash App State. Now, we should not go into that game thinking we should smash them simply because we showed up as Miami. We should smash them because we are Superior and our attitude is that we play a Superior brand of football...no matter the opponent.

 

[IndayArtHauz]

My ignore list keeps growing.

 

[Cold Beer]

The other interesting subplot this year is who will win more games this year, Georgia or Miami? Georgia is more talented but Miami has the QB. My money is on Georgia winning 9 and Miami winning 8.

8 games! WTF Why did we fire Golden? He could have won 8 games. SMH

I look at our roster compared to last year and it looks worse in some spots.

Our depth at linebacker is scary thin. I think outside Quarterman and Grace, we're screwed. I'm not buying the hype on Pickney at all right now....but maybe he'll prove me wrong. Owens has been injured. Outside of that, we don't have a lot of talent or depth.

CB is massively downgraded. We lost Burns and Howard, and we're back to looking at grad transfers. I think Redwine is serviceable but not a stud, and none of those guys know how to tackle or support in the running game. At safety, so much is gonna depend on Jenkins but he just isn't as good at football as people seem to want to believe. We will really miss deon bush. Carter is unproven at best. The depth isn't there. Our best hope in the secondary is that Jaquan Johnson becomes an impact guy and a leader this year...the guy he was in high school.

The other concern I have is offensive line...who is really gonna hold it down for us? We just don't have a lot of talented kids there, the recruiting has been terrible. Jags everywhere. A guy like Isadora will show flashes, and you wonder if guys like St Louis or McDermott will ever reach their potential, but then the line is littered with guys like Gall and Loftus because we have no depth.

The good news is that coaching will be improved, so some of these roster problems can be masked to an extent. But Al's recruiting failures and the ****tiness of last year's class will hurt us in 2016 IMO

I gotcha. I don't agree, but I understand.

There will be a Sh*t Storm if MR manages only 8 wins.

 

[Richard Belding]

@ GT - Very Winnable
Home FSU - Will be our first GUT check, but winnable. Better Coaching and we would have won the last 2 vs FSU.
Home UNC - this is NOT last years squad, and we should win at Home.
@ VT - I know they have a new system, but we handled them the last couple of years with BAD run defense; however Lane should NEVER be taken lightly.
@ ND - I think is the only tough fought loss.

7-1 Going into November, EVERYBODY should be excited!

I see it shaping it out this way as well.

@GT - Richt has a history of slapping them around playing them every year at UGA

FSU - like you said, we've been a good coach away from winning the last two years. With experience at QB and their lack-of, I think we get the upper hand in the second half. Richt and Kaaya will be on the same page and you know Richt will want to beat FSU bad.

UNC - right after a win against FSU. The stadium will be rocking. I say we get serious revenge for last year. That **** was embarrassing.

VT - not worried. But any game at Blacksburg should not be taken lightly. They will be fired up and if we beat FSU and UNC, I just hope we dont come sleep walking into this one. Those are two huge games right before and a short week with the game being on Thursday.

ND - our biggest test of the year right after a full marathon of a schedule in October. Good thing is that we have a long week to prepare but we will be traveling back form VT and going to ND so that advantage cancels out. If Kaaya is firing on all cylinders at this point, I dont see why we cant win this game. Good QB's carry teams. I see no reason he cant get the job done. Add a couple of turnovers and plays going our way with Manny's gambling D.

Now let's look at it from another POV

Georgia Tech - say we win.

FSU. - Two big things working against us: first, we play them right after Georgia tech....and you never want to play a tough game right after you play an option team. Reason for that is injuries - we're sure to be banged up on defense. Second thing is: they match up well against an aggressive defense like Manny Diaz likes to run. They have a lot of screens, delays, and misdirection son that offense and I see us giving up a lot of plays to them. They will score a lot of points in this one. On offense, we ran for 20 yards last year against their d line. Will the same group do better this year?

UNC - A well-coached and talented team. We will be coming off a disappointing loss to FSU. Our fans and players won't be confident and focused. We never get psyched up enough to play these guys, and this year, they will come in and beat us in a closer game than last year.

VT - I say we win

ND - They have recruited better than we have now for several years in a row. They will be at home. It might be cold. They will get all the ref calls. Everything favors them. I say they win.

 

[Reppingtheu]

I'm still not ready to buy into UNC. In 2014 they were 6-6 and we beat them by 20+. Last year they had a great season, and lost a few players to the draft. Not ready to crown them and say they repeat what they did last year. Glad that they play FSU before they play us. We can get a good idea of how good they really are.

 

[Canes21]

Their LT is also out for the year.

 

[PanteraCanes]

Feels like old times, getting ready to crush the dreams of highly rates FSU and ND.

 

[hoover437]

Man, I can't believe there have been no topics discussing this yet. Good find.

We should beat GT. If we are healthy and go into that game focused and prepared then we should dominate. We can't get caught looking ahead to FSU. Since we have two weeks to prepare for that game I do expect the team to roll here.

I also think VT should be a win if we are healthy. Fuente may be a great coach, but they do not have the horses on offense to keep up to what our offense should potentially be. If our defense is any semblance of an actual defense and not what we've witnessed the last 5 years, then we have a chance to go in and dominate this game 2005 or 2014 style.

FSU, UNC, and ND are hard to predict. My head wants to say 1-2 at best, but part of that is because of what I've seen the last 10 years from the program. I am not sold on UNC this season yet. I will need to see they are continuing off of last year before I buy into the hype. Notre Dame has a good squad on paper, but I think they are being overrated at this point. They are replacing a good amount of talent and were ugly at times last year in games not against Clemson. FSU is also great on paper obviously, but Jumbo always drops 2-3 games a year without Jameis and a lot are games he shouldn't drop at all. If they come into this game without solid QB play then we definitely have a chance to take the cake at home. New stadium renovations, re-energized fan base, an actual coaching staff, and a top QB in the nation that plays his best against them... yea, we'll have a shot.

So basically we could really go 8-0 in the other games and then split UNC, FSU, VT, and ND and really be 10-2 if we remain relatively healthy where we need to be. With a top quarterback you can stay in any game. Surround him with the athletes we have in Coley, Njoku, Herndon IV, etc. and this offense can really be deadly if Searles is truly the man. The S&C should really have a positive impact here as well. If Kul can get the DL playing like we all believe he can and Manny doesn't get dumb with exotic blitzes, but actually calls a good defense all year, then who knows what the limit is with this team. 10-2 is definitely a true possibility and I am almost expecting 10-2 or at least 9-3 if we're healthy most of the year and play hard and prepared each and every week which I believe we will. Richt has something like a 108-10 record against teams that finish unranked so he has a good track record against teams he should beat.

I do not expect us to go 12-0 at all, but for once I actually can look at our schedule and our staff and feel like there isn't a game on there that is a guaranteed loss.

In listening to Richt on ESPN you get the feel that this is the floor for him.

 

[Chris91]

As a longtime Miami fan, these are the stretches of games that I have looked forward to. Big games are what the UM brand was built on. As a fan, I loved watching this team ahem Rise To The Occasion. These types of games are and have been an opportunity to defy odds, prove people wrong, make a statement etc. The past decade plus has changed that especially the last 5 years under that fat fraud Al Folden.

If this was still a Folden led team, I would still expect to win the first 2 with the game @ Appalachian State being a huge concern. As for October, under Folden I would know for a fact that 0-5 was a distinct possibility. Under that loser the last 4 games against Pitt, Virginia, NCSt and Dook would be murderers row.

Things are being run in quite a different manner right now in Coral Gables but Richt and the new staff haven't coached a single game yet. Obviously there is still plenty of work to do and more talent to be acquired but I am still extremely curious as to what kind of tangible impact this staff can have in year one. I think these kids are going to react very positively to the new atmosphere, culture, attitude and everything else The Grim Richter has installed post Folden. To make a long story very short, I think the team is going to enjoy playing football again and in turn we the fans will again have fun watching them play. I'm pumped!

Careful what you post. People will call you gloom and doom for insinuating "there is plenty of work to do". Then they will be butt-hurt and put you on ignore.

I miss the late 80' and early 90's too when the only teams that had more talent and attitude played on Sundays

 

[CoCaneHead]

8-4

 

[Chris91]

8-4

FSU
NC
ND
Plus one you pick'em. I say VT
Another **** bowl, but we actually win one!

 

[MAC 6 CANES]

@ GT - Very Winnable
Home FSU - Will be our first GUT check, but winnable. Better Coaching and we would have won the last 2 vs FSU.
Home UNC - this is NOT last years squad, and we should win at Home.
@ VT - I know they have a new system, but we handled them the last couple of years with BAD run defense; however Lane should NEVER be taken lightly.
@ ND - I think is the only tough fought loss.

7-1 Going into November, EVERYBODY should be excited!

I see it shaping it out this way as well.

@GT - Richt has a history of slapping them around playing them every year at UGA

FSU - like you said, we've been a good coach away from winning the last two years. With experience at QB and their lack-of, I think we get the upper hand in the second half. Richt and Kaaya will be on the same page and you know Richt will want to beat FSU bad.

UNC - right after a win against FSU. The stadium will be rocking. I say we get serious revenge for last year. That **** was embarrassing.

VT - not worried. But any game at Blacksburg should not be taken lightly. They will be fired up and if we beat FSU and UNC, I just hope we dont come sleep walking into this one. Those are two huge games right before and a short week with the game being on Thursday.

ND - our biggest test of the year right after a full marathon of a schedule in October. Good thing is that we have a long week to prepare but we will be traveling back form VT and going to ND so that advantage cancels out. If Kaaya is firing on all cylinders at this point, I dont see why we cant win this game. Good QB's carry teams. I see no reason he cant get the job done. Add a couple of turnovers and plays going our way with Manny's gambling D.

Now let's look at it from another POV

Georgia Tech - say we win.

FSU. - Two big things working against us: first, we play them right after Georgia tech....and you never want to play a tough game right after you play an option team. Reason for that is injuries - we're sure to be banged up on defense. Second thing is: they match up well against an aggressive defense like Manny Diaz likes to run. They have a lot of screens, delays, and misdirection son that offense and I see us giving up a lot of plays to them. They will score a lot of points in this one. On offense, we ran for 20 yards last year against their d line. Will the same group do better this year?

UNC - A well-coached and talented team. We will be coming off a disappointing loss to FSU. Our fans and players won't be confident and focused. We never get psyched up enough to play these guys, and this year, they will come in and beat us in a closer game than last year.

VT - I say we win

ND - They have recruited better than we have now for several years in a row. They will be at home. It might be cold. They will get all the ref calls. Everything favors them. I say they win.

yeah I would have agreed in spring time but Kool Aid tastes best in the summer time

 

[FrancisSawyer]

As a longtime Miami fan, these are the stretches of games that I have looked forward to. Big games are what the UM brand was built on. As a fan, I loved watching this team ahem Rise To The Occasion. These types of games are and have been an opportunity to defy odds, prove people wrong, make a statement etc. The past decade plus has changed that especially the last 5 years under that fat fraud Al Folden.

If this was still a Folden led team, I would still expect to win the first 2 with the game @ Appalachian State being a huge concern. As for October, under Folden I would know for a fact that 0-5 was a distinct possibility. Under that loser the last 4 games against Pitt, Virginia, NCSt and Dook would be murderers row.

Things are being run in quite a different manner right now in Coral Gables but Richt and the new staff haven't coached a single game yet. Obviously there is still plenty of work to do and more talent to be acquired but I am still extremely curious as to what kind of tangible impact this staff can have in year one. I think these kids are going to react very positively to the new atmosphere, culture, attitude and everything else The Grim Richter has installed post Folden. To make a long story very short, I think the team is going to enjoy playing football again and in turn we the fans will again have fun watching them play. I'm pumped!

Careful what you post. People will call you gloom and doom for insinuating "there is plenty of work to do". Then they will be butt-hurt and put you on ignore.

I miss the late 80' and early 90's too when the only teams that had more talent and attitude played on Sundays

Look Chris. None of this is personal. I'm not trying to be a douche for the sake of being a douche. I think you misunderstand some of the posters reaction to your posts. I think that as a fan base we are mostly on the same page with regards to the expectations of this year's team and our understanding that although we do some great talent, that we also have our share of roster holes and lack overall depth.

I think most here know that it will take Richt a little time to get us back to where we need to be. Maybe 2 years maybe 4 who knows. Despite knowing this the fan base is excited as they should be. Why should they be? Because for once in over a decade the UM administration has made it clear by their actions that they will support the program and give it the resources it needs to become viable once again. We hired an established and proven coach in Mark Richt and since he got here the entire organization has been functioning in a focused and competent manner.

The bottom line is that it is obvious that things are quite different in the Hecht and clear that the mediocrity of the past decade plus will not be tolerated. Does that mean we are going to make the playoffs this year? Heck no! People are excited because they believe and rightfully so that this team will be fun to watch again despite the fact that there is still plenty of work to be done. Sure there are a few who think 11 wins is very realistic but the majority are cautiously optimistic about what the first year under Richt will bring. So yes it most likely take a few years to be a perennial title contender but the difference is we can see the potential and realistic possibility of getting there which in turn makes it enjoyable to watch.

Nobody faults you for being guarded and wanting to see tangible results. It is your persistence in being a negative contrarian at a time when the future looks so bright that rubs some the wrong way.

 

[Chris91]

I wish your enjoyment of the season the best no matter the outcomes. We can agree the CMR is a step in the right direction.

 

[Hurracanes]

Miami wins 8-9 games. We finally win a bowl game. This team will go as far as the Defense takes them and that's my biggest concern. I'm not sold we have the depth and horses on D to compete seriously.

 

[Waterfall]

10-3 or better would be a decent start to Richt's tenure. I can't call 9-4 a success, considering that we were one snow pass away from possibly acheiving that record in 2015. With 7 games under Golden and 6 games under his assistant coaches.

 

[Cold Beer]

10-3 or better would be a decent start to Richt's tenure. I can't call 9-4 a success, considering that we were one snow pass away from possibly acheiving that record in 2015. With 7 games under Golden and 6 games under his assistant coaches.

10 - 11 regular seasons wins is a must!

 

[Golsen82]

@ GT - Very Winnable
Home FSU - Will be our first GUT check, but winnable. Better Coaching and we would have won the last 2 vs FSU.
Home UNC - this is NOT last years squad, and we should win at Home.
@ VT - I know they have a new system, but we handled them the last couple of years with BAD run defense; however Lane should NEVER be taken lightly.
@ ND - I think is the only tough fought loss.

7-1 Going into November, EVERYBODY should be excited!

I tend to agree with this view except for one additional concern that you left out - the Appalachian State game in Boone. I'm less worried about this game now than I was when Golden was still here. However, I still cant' believe we agreed to play in Boone against a team that is used to winning and sometimes competing with superior talent. I'm not ready to call it a "trap game", but I'm also unwilling to call it an automatic win.

The App St. game will be close in my opinion and I predict a 10 point win. As for ND, I truly believe we can win that one. As for october, 3-2 is probable.

 

[capefearcane]

scheduling a football game 5 days after having one is horrible. especially for college kids. and its a road game. that should never happen

Facing VT at Lane under Fuentes....after he's had some time to get adjusted also makes me think this will be a close game. If we have momentum all the better.