Thoughts from seeing the game live

[LuCane]

I would give Manny a pass on the stuff “we didn’t see in film excuse.” Oklahoma gave us fits in the first half in the ‘85 Oklahoma game with Troy Aikman passing like crazy against us. Oklahoma was a traditional wishbone team and UM didn’t expect so much passing from a wishbone QB. As JJ was coming off the field for halftime, the network sideline reporter stopped him and he said they had not prepared for Oklahoma’s passing. (I remember the interview.) The staff made adjustments at halftime, Jerome Brown crushed Aikman’s ankle, and we won, in Norman.

I have to give Manny a pass at that one—a lot of good coaches would have had trouble with the crazy offense we faced. Especially when we have to play with so many young players at LB.

It’s been said for nearly every game this season. At some point, think it’s time to realize teams won’t play us with only what they’ve shown on film.

 

[Canemang]

You couldn’t be more wrong. I could give two ***** if Manny, Baker and James all got fired tomorrow if it helped us win.

What I don’t do is make up idiotic, childish nicknames or make preposterous assumptions based on a single moment after a sloppy, emotional game.

That I leave to you and your arm chair crew “who really know football” and “watch the film bro” !!

Lmao, you clowns are like a retarded circle jerk trying to outdo yourselves with your beta male proclamations and cashing check theories.

Sure thing Danny Boy

 

[DMoney]

- Few things would be more "Miami" than Phillips leaving early. He needs work and film. He may leave early to be someone's 3rd-4th round pick, or this staff can convince him the risk is worth the reward. We probably know how that will end up.

The issue with Phillips is that he is older (four years out of high school) and almost had to medically retire. That will play into his decision.

And even though Miami DL have slipped, I can see Phillips going higher than the 3rd/4th because he has a pretty unique combination-- elite physical traits and a legitimate non-stop motor. He may be thinking he's better off learning his craft in the pros. It worked for guys like Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon who had similar profiles coming out.

 

[Canes Device]

I think our concerns with this team is trying to figure out if this is another 2017 team, a team with double digit wins that was lucky and then the bottom falls out the next season and your shortcomings are exposed, Or if this team is a average team that is improving from the previous two awful years, but is still a work in progress

 

[TheMatador]

Agree on the defense more of a worry then any other group, can't set the edge, and mobile QB's continue to hurt us: UV just wanted to control the clock, and we couldn't get them off the field. King might be hurt, because it seems the DE aren't even playing him to keep the ball they are just collapsing on the RB:

People don’t remember—mobile QBs used to give JJ’s defenses problems. We could just tee off on the pro-style statues. I’m not talking about the wishbone QBs, but QBs like that guy Taylor who gave us fits in ‘88 at Michigan.

 

[TheMatador]

The issue with Phillips is that he is older (four years out of high school) and almost had to medically retire. That will play into his decision.

And even though Miami DL have slipped, I can see Phillips going higher than the 3rd/4th because he has a pretty unique combination-- elite physical traits and a legitimate non-stop motor. He may be thinking he's better off learning his craft in the pros. It worked for guys like Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon who had similar profiles coming out.

It’s not surprising he doesn’t have a full repertoire of techniques and moves. He has played very little since he got out of HS. He’s still learning.

 

[The Sphinx]

Really good post, DMoney. Very factual and objective with the right amount of criticism and praise given the realities of this team, staff and where the program was just a year ago.

Safe to say we have improved overall but not close to where Canes fans would like to see us. We are a low/high teens ranked team. Expecting more at this point is ludicrous.

Best thing Manny can do at this point is to finish the season strong, keep the class intact and continue to upgrade that staff because it really needs it. Because for Manny, next season is his true make or break season. ‘19 was such an unmitigated disaster that the bar this year is low - just get us out of the cellar and manage through COVID. But next year is his Year 3 and there will be absolutely no excuses for not going 11-1 and demonstrating dominance. Hope he is smart enough to realize this because I like the guy but I don’t see him as our answer at HC.

 

[LuCane]

The issue with Phillips is that he is older (four years out of high school) and almost had to medically retire. That will play into his decision.

And even though Miami DL have slipped, I can see Phillips going higher than the 3rd/4th because he has a pretty unique combination-- elite physical traits and a legitimate non-stop motor. He may be thinking he's better off learning his craft in the pros. It worked for guys like Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon who had similar profiles coming out.

He’s behind where even Vernon was in terms of technique. If I had to bet, I’d lay $ that he bounces (for many reasons), but he has a bunch of work to do. No doubt already having been on the verge of never making a dollar as a professional will influence his decision, but i still call it ‘Miami’ because I don’t think we present enough value for guys to stick around, develop, and hit a higher gear.

 

[SWFLHurricane]

Has manny ever beat a bye?

He beat a hasty Good-bye at Texas....

 

[Brains]

At this point, I think our coaching underperforms our talent level. They also seem to out-recruit their performance level, assuming they can keep the class together.

Out-recruit on some high end guys, yes.

There is nothing overwhelming about our CB recruiting. In fact, there is nothing whelming about it either.

 

[Brains]

The issue with Phillips is that he is older (four years out of high school) and almost had to medically retire. That will play into his decision.

And even though Miami DL have slipped, I can see Phillips going higher than the 3rd/4th because he has a pretty unique combination-- elite physical traits and a legitimate non-stop motor. He may be thinking he's better off learning his craft in the pros. It worked for guys like Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon who had similar profiles coming out.

Wow. I'd probably fire a GM for picking him the 3rd round. That's insanity given his lack of film.

 

[DMoney]

Wow. I'd probably fire a GM for picking him the 3rd round. That's insanity given his lack of film.

Jason Pierre-Paul played one season at USF, had 6.5 sacks and went 15th overall.

Motor and tools will go a long way with GMs, and I tend to agree with that philosophy. You get burned when one of those two categories is missing.

 

[MDOcane]

Jason Pierre-Paul played one season at USF, had 6.5 sacks and went 15th overall.

Motor and tools will go a long way with GMs, and I tend to agree with that philosophy. You get burned when one of those two categories is missing.

Dion Jordan meet Miami Dolphins

 

[Brains]

Dion Jordan meet Miami Dolphins

Dion Jordan was an indescribably bad pick. The guy played half his snaps at Oregon his last year. I told people at the time it was as bad a pick as you'll ever see.

The NFL is not a babysitting service. You should always draft high floor guys.

 

[RVACane]

Out-recruit on some high end guys, yes.

There is nothing overwhelming about our CB recruiting. In fact, there is nothing whelming about it either.

RB, DL, WR, Safety and OL recruiting has gotten better.

 

[Canesfan1899]

I agree with most everything you wrote. It's important to be comfortable saying things are not good enough, without going the other way and saying everything is trash.

I hadn't seen my nephew in a while and he stopped by yesterday after getting out of the military. He asked how the Canes were doing and I said they've only lost once, and it was to Clemson. He replied, "that's a really good season for them after last year. I mean, everyone loses to Clemson so that's not a surprise."

To me, that was a good reminder that the team is where we could've hoped, it's just the natural roller coaster of being a fan. Gotta see if anything has actually changed by how we close the season. I think with tie breakers we would still miss the ACCCG even if we win out, if Notre Dame only loses to Clemson, or UNC only loses to us, but that has time to shake itself out.

For now, focus internally and try to clean up what can be cleaned up.

Agree with everything you said. Not sure what the practice rules are but I would love to see Manny get after these guys and run a mini-camp this week. Open some jobs up and get these guys competing.

 

[RedSquare]

It’s been said for nearly every game this season. At some point, think it’s time to realize teams won’t play us with only what they’ve shown on film.

The "haven't seen it on film" excuse just sucks. It is unacceptable and here is why .....

EVERY game, teams will throw at least something you haven't seen on film. Its true, generally, teams stick with what they do because it is tremendously difficult week to week to make wholesale changes. Sticking with what you practice, what you drill, teach, preach, and emphasize from day 1 of spring practice is what is referred to in the business as "good coaching." You don't make wholesale changes just to fool the opposition, because guaranteed you'll do more self inflicted harm than affect the opposition. If you walked into the meeting room and said: "hey i know we run a strong side pro-style offense, but this week we're switching to a veer option, because they haven't seen it before," someone would put you in a straight jacket and drop you off at the funny farm. Good teams stick with what they do, 90% of the game. That's what makes them good.

But, along with that, somewhere between 5 to 10 snaps a game you are likely to see something different, whether a new wrinkle in a coverage on defense, or a "key-breaker" on offense. Something. Anything. That's part of good coaching. You know what else is good coaching? Knowing that every game in the history of football has followed this pattern. It was this way when I was playing, when I was coaching, and has been that way long before and will be long after, as long as the game survives.

So that means, "good coaching" is knowing how to adjust for things you know will be different from what you have game planned and prepped during the week of practice. Great coaches are great at adjustments, and we've had our fair share in the history of South Florida football: Bill Arnsparger, Don Shula, Howard, Jimmy, ... those guys knew how to react to the "expected unknown." We've also had coaches who blew chunks at this necessary skill: Golden/D'Onofrio, Patrick Nix, just to name a notorious few.

The question is: are manny/baker/lashlee good at in game adjustments or not,? Because at the end of the day, it's the HC and his coordinators, (mostly the coordinators) that are charged with this task. ... with the input they get from the unit assistants.

And I can guarantee, "we haven't seen this before," is not an excuse if they don't do it well.

 

[Tinman64]

This team needs a lot of work. Tonight felt like the last two UVA slogs. We were lucky to win. UVA blew a pick-6 on a screen and committed several bailout penalties. Another performance like that is likely a loss.

But we aren't the 2002 Canes sleepwalking against Rutgers. This team isn’t good enough for fans to take wins for granted. There are four teams that should expect a blow out every game. We aren’t one of them.

I’ll take 5-1. Most teams would. Am I saying Manny’s the guy? Of course not. Last year was one of the worst seasons in Canes history. There’s a lot of ground to make up. But we asked for a modern offense and consistent wins against inferior ACC teams. So far, we’ve gotten what we’ve asked for.

The real test is November. That's where Miami seasons go to die. The first step is beating the bye week. That's been one of Manny's toughest opponents.

On to the specifics of the game.

- One of our problems on the OL is that we have three centers on the interior. Scaife lacks the anchor strength of a guard. He is someone who can play a solid T in college and is best long-term as a C. That was his evaluation out of high school and remains true today. Donaldson should be motivated to get his body right because he has a huge role waiting for him. Jalen Rivers also shuffled in on a 4th down play (it was aborted because of a bad sub) and may be more of a factor going forward.

- With that said, our OL was not that bad pass blocking. King had some nice pockets, even when Virginia brought pressure. Some of the busted plays were due to coverage or King not making quick enough decisions.

- The run game is a different story, as there is both a lack of push and a lack of imagination. This bye week is a good time to add some wrinkles there.

- Something is definitely up with King's running. He is either hurt or protecting himself. It's not only the read-option. From the stadium view, there was a ton of green grass on those scrambles if King takes off earlier. He's still an excellent college QB (322 yards, 70% in the air) but he's not going to win out without the running element of his game.

- Happy to see Harley step up. This is what I expected out of camp. He's nowhere near a #1 but he is the best receiver on this team. Pope is still not there but is moving in the right direction. Wiggins has no confidence and is a liability right now.

- This offense lacks a run-after-the-catch WR. Lashlee's offense works much better when he has a playmaker on those quick screens. Hopefully that is solved with the '21 class. When Brevin comes back, I would have him and Mallory running those plays on the same side. They are our two best RAC guys and our two best perimeter blockers.

- Jaelen Phillips lacks a plan as a rusher. He is all effort and explosive power, like a young Olivier Vernon. The pass rush has been an overall disappointment and needs to get going down the stretch. We miss those Rousseau-at-DT alignments that everyone complained about. The team's sack percentage has dropped from 11.03% (2nd in nation) to 6.10%.

- Virginia is not good, but they are better than 1-4 with Armstrong at QB. This reminded me of the Clemson/UVA game with UVA's veteran OL slowing down a more athletic front. Clemson won by 13 more points, which reflects the current gap between the two programs.

- Gilbert Frierson is one of the smartest players we've had in a while. He made a key third-down stop early in the 3rd when UVA brought #99 across the formation and Frierson sniffed it out the whole way. He also played safety in the second half with zero college experience just to help the team. I would give him a gold star if not for his poor tackling on #13's long catch-and-run. He grabbed at the waist like a sixth-grade slow dance. Overall, we need to clean up our tackling technique when runs reach the third level. It hurt us against Clemson and UVA.

- Don Chaney's TD was an example of a superior talent imposing his will. People have been forecasting a Chaney growth spurt for years (his dad is 6'6, 350) and now we've seen it. He looks like Todd Gurley. This is the biggest reason for optimism: Miami is starting to land elite-tier physical talents like Chaney, James Williams and Leonard Taylor instead of letting them leave home.

- Charles Snowden was the best defensive player on the field. A lot of his plays were superior individual efforts. Glad he's gone.

- The defense made two inexcusable mental errors on the drive to make it 19-14. Steed was barely lined up for Armstrong's long 4th down run and got stuck in no-man's land. Blades fell asleep on the long TD, and from the stands you could see he lacked urgency before the snap. Virginia, on the other hand, was very aware in taking away plays (like the 2-point conversion) and generally had better energy.

- I didn't love Manny's demeanor after the game. Relief is fine because it is hard to win. But there was an effort issue in the first half and a focus issue on UVA's last TD drive. Those habits need to be called out and corrected. Is he just building up a 6-7’s team’s confidence, or is he too nice?

- The key drive was the 13-play drive that resulted in a FG. I think we pull away if that's a TD. Instead, it was a FG and the game was a struggle to the end. Lashlee had a tough decision: do you ride the hot hand with Chaney or use his threat to set something up? He's going to need to thoroughly evaluate his red zone offense during the bye week.

- Overall, it's a good week for a bye. Get guys back from COVID, make some adjustments offensively and heal up. It's a good thing us fans are still emotionally invested and frustrated. That means the games still matter.

Teams mirror their coach and play how they practice or so I have been told

 

[hoops156]

I think our concerns with this team is trying to figure out if this is another 2017 team, a team with double digit wins that was lucky and then the bottom falls out the next season and your shortcomings are exposed, Or if this team is a average team that is improving from the previous two awful years, but is still a work in progress

so far (5 games in), we've looked better and have won more comfortably than we did in that 17 year. UVA was the true ugly W we had (tho that offsides call as someone mentioned was BS, but its football and **** happens).

 

[Donsnaps]

This team needs a lot of work. Tonight felt like the last two UVA slogs. We were lucky to win. UVA blew a pick-6 on a screen and committed several bailout penalties. Another performance like that is likely a loss.

But we aren't the 2002 Canes sleepwalking against Rutgers. This team isn’t good enough for fans to take wins for granted. There are four teams that should expect a blow out every game. We aren’t one of them.

I’ll take 5-1. Most teams would. Am I saying Manny’s the guy? Of course not. Last year was one of the worst seasons in Canes history. There’s a lot of ground to make up. But we asked for a modern offense and consistent wins against inferior ACC teams. So far, we’ve gotten what we’ve asked for.

The real test is November. That's where Miami seasons go to die. The first step is beating the bye week. That's been one of Manny's toughest opponents.

On to the specifics of the game.

- One of our problems on the OL is that we have three centers on the interior. Scaife lacks the anchor strength of a guard. He is someone who can play a solid T in college and is best long-term as a C. That was his evaluation out of high school and remains true today. Donaldson should be motivated to get his body right because he has a huge role waiting for him. Jalen Rivers also shuffled in on a 4th down play (it was aborted because of a bad sub) and may be more of a factor going forward.

- With that said, our OL was not that bad pass blocking. King had some nice pockets, even when Virginia brought pressure. Some of the busted plays were due to coverage or King not making quick enough decisions.

- The run game is a different story, as there is both a lack of push and a lack of imagination. This bye week is a good time to add some wrinkles there.

- Something is definitely up with King's running. He is either hurt or protecting himself. It's not only the read-option. From the stadium view, there was a ton of green grass on those scrambles if King takes off earlier. He's still an excellent college QB (322 yards, 70% in the air) but he's not going to win out without the running element of his game.

- Happy to see Harley step up. This is what I expected out of camp. He's nowhere near a #1 but he is the best receiver on this team. Pope is still not there but is moving in the right direction. Wiggins has no confidence and is a liability right now.

- This offense lacks a run-after-the-catch WR. Lashlee's offense works much better when he has a playmaker on those quick screens. Hopefully that is solved with the '21 class. When Brevin comes back, I would have him and Mallory running those plays on the same side. They are our two best RAC guys and our two best perimeter blockers.

- Jaelen Phillips lacks a plan as a rusher. He is all effort and explosive power, like a young Olivier Vernon. The pass rush has been an overall disappointment and needs to get going down the stretch. We miss those Rousseau-at-DT alignments that everyone complained about. The team's sack percentage has dropped from 11.03% (2nd in nation) to 6.10%.

- Virginia is not good, but they are better than 1-4 with Armstrong at QB. This reminded me of the Clemson/UVA game with UVA's veteran OL slowing down a more athletic front. Clemson won by 13 more points, which reflects the current gap between the two programs.

- Gilbert Frierson is one of the smartest players we've had in a while. He made a key third-down stop early in the 3rd when UVA brought #99 across the formation and Frierson sniffed it out the whole way. He also played safety in the second half with zero college experience just to help the team. I would give him a gold star if not for his poor tackling on #13's long catch-and-run. He grabbed at the waist like a sixth-grade slow dance. Overall, we need to clean up our tackling technique when runs reach the third level. It hurt us against Clemson and UVA.

- Don Chaney's TD was an example of a superior talent imposing his will. People have been forecasting a Chaney growth spurt for years (his dad is 6'6, 350) and now we've seen it. He looks like Todd Gurley. This is the biggest reason for optimism: Miami is starting to land elite-tier physical talents like Chaney, James Williams and Leonard Taylor instead of letting them leave home.

- Charles Snowden was the best defensive player on the field. A lot of his plays were superior individual efforts. Glad he's gone.

- The defense made two inexcusable mental errors on the drive to make it 19-14. Steed was barely lined up for Armstrong's long 4th down run and got stuck in no-man's land. Blades fell asleep on the long TD, and from the stands you could see he lacked urgency before the snap. Virginia, on the other hand, was very aware in taking away plays (like the 2-point conversion) and generally had better energy.

- I didn't love Manny's demeanor after the game. Relief is fine because it is hard to win. But there was an effort issue in the first half and a focus issue on UVA's last TD drive. Those habits need to be called out and corrected. Is he just building up a 6-7’s team’s confidence, or is he too nice?

- The key drive was the 13-play drive that resulted in a FG. I think we pull away if that's a TD. Instead, it was a FG and the game was a struggle to the end. Lashlee had a tough decision: do you ride the hot hand with Chaney or use his threat to set something up? He's going to need to thoroughly evaluate his red zone offense during the bye week.

- Overall, it's a good week for a bye. Get guys back from COVID, make some adjustments offensively and heal up. It's a good thing us fans are still emotionally invested and frustrated. That means the games still matter.

I think Cam has been a major part of the running issues as well. he's been missing holes and cut back lanes. you can just see that Chaney and Knighton are better running talents. Cams vision seems limited