Thoughts from seeing the game live

[SpikeUM]

The good/bad news is we are the unhappiest fan base of a 5-1 team.

 

[Mandingo]

So we're average and the ACC is average but yet everyone goes nuts when we have battles like this.

Why are we an average team though?

Where are teams like UVA, UL, NCSt and VT on National Signing Day in comparison...?

 

[arizonacane]

If Manny is replaced I want Luke Fickell as HC!

 

[RVACane]

So we're average and the ACC is average but yet everyone goes nuts when we have battles like this.

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.

 

[88]

The only issue is how does Manny feel about this game. If he is thoroughly frustrated, angry and deeply unsatisfied, to the point of instituting changes in himself, the coaches, and the team/players and their approach, especially during the bye week, then at least that is the right approach.

If he’s relieved, and thinks he just needs a few tweaks, he’s who we thought he was.

If he’s just happy to have won, I’d fire him on the spot.

I’m hoping it’s the first thing.

Guess you haven’t seen the slip N slide pic

 

[Canesq]

I told people give Chaney time , the shoulder eliminated off season workouts, ehen he’s back he’s fully himself and got pass protection down he’s the best rb on the roster. He just needed time , he’s close , real close.

He was great reminds me of Gore for some reason.

Don’t know what’s up with Harris. Is he hurt? The oline did him no favors but there were a couple of runs he made worse.

 

[Unsider]

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

I have great respect for your analysis and takes on the U, and thank you for those. I won’t pretend I know everything about football, but I disagree with that last paragraph. I don’t think this staff is capable of a “clean up [of] what can be cleaned.” We’ve had since Clemson to do that. Pitt was a struggle, VA was an abomination. A win like that is nothing to be proud of. We all agree we got lucky. Is that how we want to be successful, where we won by luck? I’m sure your answer will be no. What’s worse, the D is Swiss cheese by design, have seen no improvements week over week. Lash makes no adjustments to capitalize on what opponents show on D. I have a feeling this season is going to get uglier with the bye, that is to be followed by teams that actually execute and are always up for us.

 

[Swampcity]

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 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 5-6 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.

Excellent Post. Unfortunately, now onto the bedazzling "BYE-WEEK"

 

[Coach Macho]

I told people give Chaney time , the shoulder eliminated off season workouts, ehen he’s back he’s fully himself and got pass protection down he’s the best rb on the roster. He just needed time , he’s close , real close.

He's awful at pass pro. So is Harris. They both got blown up versus Virginia.
Harris, for all his muscles, is a terrible blocker. I've seen him get obliterated quite a few times this season.

 

[SayWhat]

Guess you haven’t seen the slip N slide pic

Guess he should just mope around or get mad huh?

I don't have a problem with that. Sloppy game in sloppy conditions.

You think it's going to be roses and sunshine at practice and in the film room? Do you think he's telling they don't have work to do?

Having fun for a few seconds after a tight win, during a tough time, in a weird home setting, in a weird year. You know what his players will remember, the slide. They won't remember the score, but they'll remember that fun little moment their entire life. Sometimes life is about little moments like that.

 

[Insanecane]

You're not wrong and that's why he pointed to it as a chance to see if anything has changed.

If the goal is to have Dabo or Saban as your head coach, I am > 95% confidence level Manny is not that. Also, keep in mind you are talking two guys who will go down on the Mt. Rushmore of college football. Most likely, due to the nature of the school, program, alumni base, Miami will NEVER have one of those guys as the HC, or at least for very long.

For me, the goal is to have a guy who doesn't lose you games and continues to grow into his role. I hold onto the fact that Manny has grown from year one to year two. If he shows some signs of growth and the team goes 9-2, I don't see how we couldn't be happy with that. Then it resets in year three and you want to see growth in areas again. Isn't that what you would expect from any employee in any walk of life? I tell my analysts at their review that if they are the same person at this point next year, their review will be worse, not the same. The expectation is continued growth.

I see no reason why it would be different for Manny. He's learning and improving. Gotta see if he has the key aspect, which is the ability to make people better than they believe their best is. It is a rare skill, believe me. Outliers are outliers for a reason and Dabo and Saban and Urban are outliers, not the norms.

What I am hearing is we hired a virgin-aka with no head coaching experience and we now have to hope he can learn on the job.

 

[Coach Macho]

- 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.

- I'm not sure people complained about the Rousseau-at-DT alignments when they were novel. Most of us noted that, once teams gameplanned for Rousseau lined up over the center, they became far, far less effective and, at some points, a liability. And, I think that's a bit of what we see overall on defense. We do something well. We fail to anticipate the opponent will change. We pay the consequences. Is it 6 weeks in a row where our head coach, who is also a former D-Coordinator, says "they're doing something we didn't see on film." Is the implication that we predominantly prepare for what teams show on film? We'll be forever ******* surprised, I guess.

- With you on Manny's demeanor and overall approach. The "too nice" thing is a common board thing because of some comments over the past couple weeks, but I've been saying this since last season: the substance/hype thing is far more concerning (see picture).

View attachment 134328

**** I never saw that old post. Spot on and it's been one of my biggest pet peeves with this Manny.

Fvckin' lispy nice guy who's more concerned with flash and promotion than actual substance. All the dancing on the sidelines during losses to GT and FIU. Like WTF kinda clown show are we running?

 

[bear]

Fair write up. We are much better than last year- November will tell just how much better. Team needs work and we have a great class coming in but team is nowhere near as “bad” as some posters make it seem. I also think UVA is much better than their record. Overall we have seen flashes of the running game work (first couple of games), flashes of passing game work (this game and FSU), and flashes of the D also work. So what that tells me is that the potential is there and while the team is not stacked (yet) we can put a solid product on the field. November is key but I will say that our fan base is overreacting and wanting a blowout every time we play is simply crazy.

 

[Cane passion]

He's awful at pass pro. So is Harris. They both got blown up versus Virginia.
Harris, for all his muscles, is a terrible blocker. I've seen him get obliterated quite a few times this season.

Coach macho with the no holds barred HOT TAKE!

 

[Cribby]

He's awful at pass pro. So is Harris. They both got blown up versus Virginia.
Harris, for all his muscles, is a terrible blocker. I've seen him get obliterated quite a few times this season.

Pass protection was the biggest issue I saw from playing in his hs offense. It’s already hard for a a fr rb to pick it up then mix in their offense in hs. None of the rb’s are particularly good at blitz pickup but he’s the freakiest. Physical kid that’s explosive , and he was out for awhile which set sc back. He’s the prototype Nfl back.

 

[Cane passion]

Has manny ever beat a bye?

The bye week is loaded with with 5 ️ And sick athletes.

 

[who]

“The first step is beating the bye week. That's been one of Manny's toughest opponents.”

What is it about bye weeks that are so tough for Manny and Company?

Zero film watching, zero game planning, zero preparation. Practice is useless because the coaches can’t actually teach. It’s just an extra week off from game speed for the players which is why they always look rusty. Lisp n slide has no clue what he’s doing.

 

[ajkreider]

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.

The NFL suggests this isn't true.

 

[NorthEastCane]

Guess he should just mope around or get mad huh?

I don't have a problem with that. Sloppy game in sloppy conditions.

You think it's going to be roses and sunshine at practice and in the film room? Do you think he's telling they don't have work to do?

Having fun for a few seconds after a tight win, during a tough time, in a weird home setting, in a weird year. You know what his players will remember, the slide. They won't remember the score, but they'll remember that fun little moment their entire life. Sometimes life is about little moments like that.

And that's the problem.

You'd think after this game they'd be better served if they had other things on their mind than a momentary chuckle following a near loss. They'd remember the satisfaction of having a successful season following the 6-7 abortion a lot longer.

 

[who]

Guess he should just mope around or get mad huh?

I don't have a problem with that. Sloppy game in sloppy conditions.

You think it's going to be roses and sunshine at practice and in the film room? Do you think he's telling they don't have work to do?

Having fun for a few seconds after a tight win, during a tough time, in a weird home setting, in a weird year. You know what his players will remember, the slide. They won't remember the score, but they'll remember that fun little moment their entire life. Sometimes life is about little moments like that.

Hah. Lisp n slide is no disciplinarian.

The fans will remember the slide also. Just like how we remember this.

Or this.