There's room for optimism-- but we still need to see more improvement

[atlCanesFan]

The OL has shown some improvement, but we still have a glaring weakness whenever we try to run outside. We rarely have positive gains and most of the time we end up with a 3-5 yard loss.
The D shows more intensity but we continue to give up 3 and long first downs. We also have a habit of giving up the "big play" as well. It's had to watch a 4th an 1 end up resulting in a TD, as it did against UL.
There is some measurable progress but we have a ways to go.

 

[dk72]

The OL may have only given up 3 sacks but Miami only had 208 total yards. 54 yards rushing on 27 attempts. Luckily Pitt had two more turnovers or Miami doesn't get a last minute touchdown to win the game. My point is I don't think they've improved very much at all and their play is more an indication of how bad FSU and Louisville DL's are. The Pitt win was way more because of the defense then the offense. I want the OL to be better but I'm not sure they really are.

Agree they still have a LOT of work to do on run blocking, they have been poor at it even in the most recent games except for occasional flashes. But their pass protection has absolutely gotten better.

 

[Dghustla]

You're getting too caught up in hoe *** recruiting rankings bro. We have bums all over the roster, and many of these kids should've never even been recruited. I'm not trying to blame the kids more than coaches, because I realize they didn't recruit themselves, but the bottom line is there are significant roster holes & depth concerns all over. I also want you to name me..how many 1st time P5 HCs end up winning 10-11 game their 1st yr? Not many, if any.

It’s football every team in the country has “holes” on their roster. You know what the coaches do? Scheme around them.

Now I’m not saying this is a championship caliber roster. But if PF fleck can get that roster he has to 9-0.

Then in our crummy Corstal division we have more than enough talent to be 8-1.

The interesting thing is. Even Manny said it was a quick turn around for this team because there was just a few things that needed to be changed.

 

[MainLineCane]

So after the 2 wins-- one against our most hated rivals and one where we put up 52 points and 3 turn-overs, the sh*t-flinging here has settled down somewhat....

Realistically these wins came against 2 crappy teams-- but they were crappy teams with huge potential to upset this still gelling Canes squad.

But there's clear signs of the following improvements with the team:

1) O-Line: can't say enough how rapidly this squad is starting to improve-- probably the most improved part of the team. And the wins and scores are the result of giving JW more time to find his WR and for the RB's to find lanes

2) Defensive intensity, sacks, TFL's and gang-tackling is starting to look like "Classic Canes Defense" -- this is the result of one of THE BEST DEFENSIVE COACHES in CFB getting back to the nitty-gritties of coaching his defense... Diaz is proven "defense whisperer" as he's proving again by revitalizing this squad. They went from 29 missed tackles at GT to now solid solo tackles in space.

3) Special teams stabilizing & improving-- what was once a complete liability for the team is now finally starting to do it's job-- gain field position and making FG's. The formula seems to finally be working with the current players. KJ returning kicks is already creating highlights whereas JT was imitation of a statue...

Canes are still a long ways from competing with a top 10 team but at least they seem to be climbing out of the lower 50s and may even be breaking the top 30's at this point. If they continue to score and play this kind of defense-- they should enter the top 20 after 2 more dominant wins....

As i've been saying all season:

• This is a Rebuild
• This year is about installing new Offensive systems
• It's about clearing out "loser culture" that existed with Richt (players like JT and his style)
• It's about using the year to continually improve in real-game experience

If this team continues to make progress-- we can be hopeful that 2020 will mean being competitive against any Top 10 team.

Championship caliber in 2020? I doubt it....

Maybe 2021 if the combo of recruiting, losses to the transfer portal and drafts don't majorly impact the team.

I agree with most of what you've said except for the "This was a rebuild" part.

NO ONE will disagree that this team ( Players and Coaches) has consistently underperformed. IF you feel that way, it implies that you accurately feel that ( with the exception of UF) we've had more talent versus our opposition.

I put the blame squarely on the coaching staff's short comings and failures to adjust to the talent that we have......notice that we've become more successful as they became more engaged and compensated for our weakness and played to our strengths....that is what good coaches do

Agree, but... I'm sick and tired of the "loser culture" excuse. Didn't Rich just clean that up? Matter of fact, he shouldn't have needed to because al got rid of it. Sht, now that I think of it Randy cleared that out, so it shouldn't have been a problem for al.

I'm done with this crap. You've got kids on the team who can win games, the only question is can you get their best out of them? You don't need to clear them out, you need to coach them. Now get to fcking work.

^^THIS!!^^

 

[Salt]

You sound like you copy and pasted Manny's script. I don't mean this as a criticism because it's pretty accurate what you wrote. TBH, I still haven't figured out Jeff T though.

neither has Jeff Thomas

 

[Salt]

Agree, but... I'm sick and tired of the "loser culture" excuse. Didn't Rich just clean that up? Matter of fact, he shouldn't have needed to because al got rid of it. Sht, now that I think of it Randy cleared that out, so it shouldn't have been a problem for al.

I'm done with this crap. You've got kids on the team who can win games, the only question is can you get their best out of them? You don't need to clear them out, you need to coach them. Now get to fcking work.

Apparently not. I recall Manny saying something about there still being a poison that needed rooting out during fall camp. So it's not just an excuse for losing. They hadn't even start the season yet.

 

[Dwinstitles]

You're getting too caught up in hoe *** recruiting rankings bro. We have bums all over the roster, and many of these kids should've never even been recruited. I'm not trying to blame the kids more than coaches, because I realize they didn't recruit themselves, but the bottom line is there are significant roster holes & depth concerns all over. I also want you to name me..how many 1st time P5 HCs end up winning 10-11 game their 1st yr? Not many, if any.

Did u call these kids bums when we got them to sign then? Or were u all over them regardless of ranking like everyone else?

 

[Home Slice]

neither has Jeff Thomas

True that

 

[ajkreider]

As bad as the O has looked at times, we've got two 50-point efforts on the board. We will almost certainly get one more against FIU or Duke. How long has it been since we've had 3 in a season? Two decades?

 

[Bipolarcane]

The OL may have only given up 3 sacks but Miami only had 208 total yards. 54 yards rushing on 27 attempts. Luckily Pitt had two more turnovers or Miami doesn't get a last minute touchdown to win the game. My point is I don't think they've improved very much at all and their play is more an indication of how bad FSU and Louisville DL's are. The Pitt win was way more because of the defense then the offense. I want the OL to be better but I'm not sure they really are.

How can you say this O-line has not improved. Do you people even watch games. ******* CMU was blowing up this oline earlier in the year. This Oline has been good since the VA game. They can do a lot better at run blocking but that has to do a lot with the most stubborn O Coord in the history of college football calling plays. Man Zion Nelson is even getting off the ball with the snap count, and even Campbell looks decent playing guard. This is night and day from the Earlier in the year.

 

[MovingZen]

How can you say this O-line has not improved. Do you people even watch games. ******* CMU was blowing up this oline earlier in the year. This Oline has been good since the VA game. They can do a lot better at run blocking but that has to do a lot with the most stubborn O Coord in the history of college football calling plays. Man Zion Nelson is even getting off the ball with the snap count, and even Campbell looks decent playing guard. This is night and day from the Earlier in the year.

Did you not read my other posts? I'm not ready to sing their praises just yet. Lets see if they can give the offense enough time to run against a decent defense. Pitt was a good defense and the win was more about Miami's defense than Miami's offense. The offense against Pitt was not good. FSU and Louisville have terrible defenses. Like bottom of the FBS bad. I'll feel a lot better if the offense can get over 300 yards against Duke. I'd rather see over 400 but I'll settle for 300. Then I'll pat the OL on the back.

 

[JD08]

The O line has clearly improved. I dont think anybody expected it would be as bad as it was to start the season. If you want to call that a total rebuild, then fine. But when the single most important aspect of both the run and pass game is clearly inferior, then naturally every other aspect will suffer.

 

[Bipolarcane]

Did you not read my other posts? I'm not ready to sing their praises just yet. Lets see if they can give the offense enough time to run against a decent defense. Pitt was a good defense and the win was more about Miami's defense than Miami's offense. The offense against Pitt was not good. FSU and Louisville have terrible defenses. Like bottom of the FBS bad. I'll feel a lot better if the offense can get over 300 yards against Duke. I'd rather see over 400 but I'll settle for 300. Then I'll pat the OL on the back.

Bro CMU is worst than both of those teams and are squad struggled then. Just because you admit they have improved doesn’t mean your crowning them. They were terrible and now they are serviceable.

 

[Trafficante]

Did u call these kids bums when we got them to sign then? Or were u all over them regardless of ranking like everyone else?

Yes I did..because I'm actually not a star ***** like the majority of clowns on this forum. The players that I am referring to are actually the higher ranked players not the lower ranked ones

 

[Dwinstitles]

Yes I did..because I'm actually not a star ***** like the majority of clowns on this forum. The players that I am referring to are actually the higher ranked players not the lower ranked ones

So u didn't like the high ranking class? Am I correct in this? So u hate Chaney I'm assuming

Not trying to be a dik but we never know what's going to happen some kids don't pan out but it doesn't mean they don't deserve the ranking. Duke Johnson balled......u wouldn't take a Falcon Cook or a Justin Flowe???

I would

 

[Trafficante]

Yeah and he was 4 for 8 and 50 yards with 32 coming on the touchdown with less than a minute left. Pitt's current rushing defense is ranked 7th and passing yardage defense is ranked 27th. Pass, louisville is 104 and fsu is 117. Rushing, fsu is 74 and louisville is 88. The difference is one defense is good (maybe better than Miami) and the offense didn't do **** (either qb), and the other two defenses blow goats. Total defense Pitt is 9, L is 101, and FSU is 103. The OL getting it done against two of the worst defenses in the FBS doesn't mean they've necessarily improved. I'll be at the Duke game, their total D is 46, rushing D is 66, and passing D is 38. Duke is also a lot better at TFL's than FSU and Louis. I'll wait till after that to say they've improved.

It's relative tho. Name one roster in the coastal you'd rather have? How can you call it a rebuild when you have more talent then 10 of the 12 teams on your schedule? I didn't expect Miami to beat a Clemson this year but I **** sure expect them to beat sorry *** GT and UNC. No excuse to lose to those two teams. None. GT is what a rebuild looks like.

1.) If Jarren gets all of the 1st team reps during the wk leading up to the Pitt game, and starts, we end up beating them convincingly. Also..you can't just look at defensive stats, because football is game of matchups.

2.) Looking at the talent disparity between teams on paper, or at the recruiting rankings, doesn't tell the entire story, and is a very shallow way of looking at things. For example inexperience/immaturity is a huge component in how well a player plays. If you lack experience & maturity it is not out of the norm to lose to inferior opponents. It happens in CFB every Sat. Yr 1 of new system all plays a part in this. While it is true that UNC is also in yr 1 of new system, they are transitioning from a Fedora spread to an Air Raid. We are going from a prehistoRICHT offense to one that is NFL caliber. As for the GT loss..thats probably as much of a fluke as you're ever going to see in CFB. Just look at all of the things that happened in that game..fake punt TD, kicking woes, etc. If we played GT 10 times, we probably beat them 9 times

 

[Trafficante]

So u didn't like the high ranking class? Am I correct in this? So u hate Chaney I'm assuming

Not trying to be a dik but we never know what's going to happen some kids don't pan out but it doesn't mean they don't deserve the ranking. Duke Johnson balled......u wouldn't take a Falcon Cook or a Justin Flowe???

I would

Nah..i'm saying you have to look at the players on a case by case basis, and can't just look at stars. We've recruited a lot of o-lineman over the yrs that were overrated, and many are on the roster currently. Many times the high rankings are justified, and sometimes they're not. Thats why evals & assessments are key. This is the only way MIA is going to be able to take the next step. Trying to steal 5 star recruits from Clemson is not the right strategy..though I do think we have a good shot @ Flowe

 

[Dwinstitles]

Nah..i'm saying you have to look at the players on a case by case basis, and can't just look at stars. We've recruited a lot of o-lineman over the yrs that were overrated, and many are on the roster currently. Many times the high rankings are justified, and sometimes they're not. Thats why evals & assessments are key. This is the only way MIA is going to be able to take the next step. Trying to steal 5 star recruits from Clemson is not the right strategy..though I do think we have a good shot @ Flowe

I want Hyppo I think Flowe ain't trying to play here.....too many bags to compete with a player like that. That would be like Sean Taylor in HS today he would fetch a high price and Flowe is no different

 

[MovingZen]

Bro CMU is worst than both of those teams and are squad struggled then. Just because you admit they have improved doesn’t mean your crowning them. They were terrible and now they are serviceable.

I can go with that. I still saw a lot of defensive guys deep in the back field pretty quick in both the fsu and louis games. I think Jarren is processing and releasing quicker also which might be helping the OL out some. I'm definitely hoping the progress continues and they are at least serviceable against Duke. We need that W to keep moving forward.

 

[MovingZen]

1.) If Jarren gets all of the 1st team reps during the wk leading up to the Pitt game, and starts, we end up beating them convincingly. Also..you can't just look at defensive stats, because football is game of matchups.

2.) Looking at the talent disparity between teams on paper, or at the recruiting rankings, doesn't tell the entire story, and is a very shallow way of looking at things. For example inexperience/immaturity is a huge component in how well a player plays. If you lack experience & maturity it is not out of the norm to lose to inferior opponents. It happens in CFB every Sat. Yr 1 of new system all plays a part in this. While it is true that UNC is also in yr 1 of new system, they are transitioning from a Fedora spread to an Air Raid. We are going from a prehistoRICHT offense to one that is NFL caliber. As for the GT loss..thats probably as much of a fluke as you're ever going to see in CFB. Just look at all of the things that happened in that game..fake punt TD, kicking woes, etc. If we played GT 10 times, we probably beat them 9 times

1.) You might be right, I think Jarren is playing a lot better. I'm looking at defensive stats to show that one teams defense is good at certain things while the other isn't. For example- Miami's D is #3 in tackles for loss, Pitt #12, Louis tied at #63, and FSU is at #76. I think those ranking are an example of how good a DL is at getting after the ball. Pitt held Miami's offense down pretty well and Miami stomped fsu and louis. Those two defenses were considerably easier to face than Pitt's defense. I'll give the OL some credit but lets see what they can do against Duke who is #46 in TFL. I think that'll give us an idea of OL progress.

2) No doubt what you're saying is true. I still think Miami has more talent than any other team in the corstal and wouldn't switch rosters with any team in the ACC other than Clemson. The losses to UNC and GT are inexcusable and unacceptable. The team needs to be coached better and the players need to play better.