What a weekend for this lifelong Miami fan (yes, I'm also a big Dolphins fan) as the Miami Hurricanes came out and put on a statement performance against SEC foe Texas A&M (after the first quarter). I’m going to walk through some of the plays of the game and simply enjoy what Coach Cristobal is building with this program in this edition of
Upon Further Review.
As I said in the introduction, the game didn’t start well, so let’s acknowledge that Texas A&M did a good job coming out with energy and their coaching staff did a phenomenal job with their scripting. Often times, when you’re playing against an excellent X/O game planner (like Bobby Petrino is for AM) you’re hoping to just weather the storm on their first few drives until you can make adjustments and they get out of their scripted plays. That’s exactly what happened in this game.
Matt Lee trips over the leg of Cooper and that is really what messed this opening run up as it’s blocked well for him to get to second level and then the lead to come through. Easily would’ve been five to start the drive. Instead, it leaves a free Mike with a play right in front of him to fill the gap.
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On 2nd down, TVD gets to the checkdown too quickly as the crosser was there for a gain of 5+. Then on 3rd down TVD stands tall and delivers an excellent pass that Restrepo drops. Not pictured.
This will be talked about in the film room. Eeesh. You can’t let a guy split your double, while your other up-man doesn’t block anyone at all and just tries to grab a guy on the way past. Chantz Williams and Lichtenstein are the double and Gore is the single protector.
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If you read these, you know: don’t stop your feet on defense. There just aren’t many situations you should be stopping your feet as a defender. Couch stops his feet instead of driving upfield here.
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A lot of times when you stop your feet, you eat turf. Never want to be impersonating a dead bug on film day.
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Bissainthe takes the RB, which leads to an easy pull and TD for AM. Not exactly what you want from Mesidor here as he gives up his back easily. Probably not making many plays from this position.
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On a 3rd and 1 Mauigoa ducks his head on contact, which is something you see a lot from young OL. When you do that, the initial contact can get you off-balance, which then leads to grabbing. Miami had an easy 1st down even if he doesn’t even touch the defender again after the initial contact, but the hold kills another drive. Not pictured.
TAM gets a brutal personal foul call on a play that was whistled dead on a false start. No one could hear anything and the players are still playing. That’s on the officials to come running in and let the players know it’s dead. Not pictured.
Branson Deen defeats the AM blockers immediately, but the RG just tackles him from the side and the RB goes through that gap. Should’ve been called. You can’t grab a guy around the legs as a “block.” Deen was able to be heard screaming on the broadcast he was so mad.
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Kelly does a zone blitz and has to cover the 5-star RB on a wheel route and it’s no contest. That’s not a penalty on the receiver running into Kelly, but it of course created space for the RB. Deen is destroying the AM OL right now.
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That scripting from Petrino continued on this drive as he has isolated RB’s on DE’s, WR’s on MLB’s etc. and Mauigoa has to grab the WR on 3rd & 10. Not pictured.
Bad luck on this play, as Harvey accidentally steps on the foot of Bissainthe, which causes him to stumble and give up the edge. As Harvey disengages, they also pull his jersey off of him (not called). James Williams mashes the RB and then talks afterwards. Really need to tone that down just a tad, but thankfully, the officials did let them play/talk a bit.
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On 3rd down, they get Evan Stewart uncovered on a shallow cross. Bit of a coverage bust there. Luckily, he tries to dance and they are able to stop him before he scores a TD. FG. (Not pictured)
The foot quickness for Matt Lee is on-display in most games for Miami in the screen game. Restrepo big block helps get this 1st down and get the offense going.
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Two-way go. Restrepo on a S. He beats him immediately and throws that hand up to signal vertical open. TVD is releasing this ball right on-time and fits it into a window for a big play that really got the Canes back in the game at a time when they needed it. Look at the pocket they’re giving him as well.
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Anez Cooper at his size having the athleticism to get this seal on a pull is next level. Mauigoa actually gets his guy on a pull and turns him. That’s actually Fletcher out there lead blocking for Parrish in the 21-personnel. Parrish to the two-yard line. Cam McCormick taking their edge 1-on-1 is impressive.
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Colbie Young motions from field side to boundary into an H-back role. Defense assumes blocking, then at snap he comes formation as though he’s going to do a wham block on the edge in the run game so they give up on him. Runs into an opening and it’s an easy TD pass. Not pictured.
This is a really nice close and hit by Flagg after Davis hits the TE from the other side. Full stop. That said, you’d like to see Flagg make a play on the ball. He obviously knows the pass is en route as he eyes the TE and turns to hit him, so get your hands on the football!
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Jaden Davis was an absolute baller in this game. Played physical. Played under control. It just seemed like he was ready for the moment and as an older player, that experience really seemed to help. Transfer from Oklahoma was a big addition. The kid who wanted to be a Cane out of HS getting to play like this in front of Miami home crowd is cool to see. Cover a TE last play, then fill the C-gap in run support the next play.
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Mesidor is such a huge part of the defense due to his smarts, motor, and toughness. He will play anywhere from 1T, 3T, 5T, 7T for your defense depending on the need. Here he plays the 1T and then sheds a blocker early knowing that the QB is going to try and break contain. It is something you see constantly from less instinctive players where they charge ahead on this and give up the edge. Mesidor with an underrated play here to stop the QB from having a cutback inside here.
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It’s something you’re taught in Pop Warner. Look the ball into your hands. George got way too casual here and simply didn’t look it in.
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Blown coverage here should’ve been a TD. Not sure if it was Williams who was supposed to carry the seam or if the LB was supposed to. I think it was Williams since he turned and sprinted after him into the end zone. QB simply missed the throw.
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This is something they’ll simply have to work on covering up all season long. Taylor gets whammed by C, who comes off into LB. RG slides down and easily moves Taylor out of the hole. You have to be able to take a simple half punch from a C and then root against a down blocking RG without being taken out completely. RB walks into the end zone following that lead blocker through the hole. I wrote last week about if I were a pro scout I’d worry about how often he shows his back and here’s another example.
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Alright, from this point in this article I’m the human embodiment of that old Shaq meme batting away anxiety, bad vibes, and stress. Canes roll from here, baby.
On 2nd down, Colbie Young drops a dart from TVD. But on 3rd down he makes up for it with the mesh concept. Air-Raid offenses loves the shallow cross (or drag) off of mesh concepts. It forces man-to-man coverage to follow through traffic and create natural separation. Want to know one of many reasons coaches love Parrish? He absolutely stones a blitzing LB/S here to give TVD time to let the route develop. You need time for George to run that clear out and get #28 out of there. Interesting wrinkle having Riley Williams also dragging across behind Restrepo as he blocks the defender chasing Young. Young catches the ball behind the LOS so you can block downfield before the catch. Taking advantage of college rules, oh be still my beating heart, Shannon Dawson! TAM fans went nuts on the timeline about the pick, but you can do that in college if it’s behind LOS! Big play and didn’t see the creativity on live watch.
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This was just an absolutely great catch and finish by a player I had some criticism for in the last game. Way to go Horton.
Miami has some dudes on that defensive line as well. Harvey carries this RB down the field like a S as the CB blitz comes free once again. JHH comes in to get pressure as well, leaving a C flailing his arms after him like a 3B coach sending home a runner.
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Such a big play by Jaden Davis here. Luckily, that WR didn’t block him here or they pick this play up with a great play by their QB to get out of a Flagg sack and get the ball to the RB. Gets him down a yard short.
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What a throw from TVD. Avoiding this kind of pressure to get the ball to Restrepo, who gets a first down. Francis Mauigoa gets all the way out there and blocks this LB. Wow, he’s going 1st round if he stays healthy.
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Their DT saved a TD to Restrepo. Had exactly what you wanted, but they Lee slipped. You have three OL there, you have to block this guy even if your C slips. You can see their CB came up as the force player and the S was supposed to sink, but he didn’t and this deep corner is going for a TD.
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OL played great in this game, but this wasn’t their best back-to-back plays. Cooper is beat immediately here, though I don’t know the line call to be 100% certain he was supposed to take him, rather than just reacting. Cooper is so strong he actually makes this block with one arm to give TVD time to get it to Young on a hitch.
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This entire series was the worst one for the OL in this game. Mauigoa gets beat here on a freakish bend from a 290-pound defender. TVD fumbles, but they get it back. Miss the long FG.
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It is a miracle that the QB didn’t get hurt here. I don’t think he was aiming knees, I think Jaden Davis got a little off-balance and sort of fell into him instead of going for the arm etc. Could’ve been bad and I’m glad he was ok. FG, 20-14 TAM.
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This ball was an absolute dot to Colbie Young as the clock runs down. Miami gets a TD on this drive and this was a huge throw to start it off.
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We went into this game talking about TAM having the best WR group in the nation and Miami’s WR’s clearly heard the chatter and responded. What a throw, what a catch.
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I read that TAM wanted OPI on this play. No. The CB grabs onto George’s hand and George rips through it so hard he throws him down. If anything, this was holding that George was tough enough to play through. Boom. TD.
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Not sure why Bain is trying to flatten into a puller like this when he’s the force player on the edge. There’s no one to spill this run to and that’s not spill technique anyway. I think he just sort of tried to make a play, but you need to take two more steps up-the-field and set an edge on this play. Bad LB play as well, as three defenders are sort of in a bunch here with no one filling their specific gaps. You never want your outside 2nd-level defender to be inside of the RB, that’s begging to get gashed on the edge and that’s exactly what happened.
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Reminder: Miami is playing the entire second half of this game without Branson Deen and Mesidor, two of their best DL players. Rueben Bain, a true freshman, played a ton of NT in the second half of this game. Here he is on a 2nd-and-short at 1-technique NT. Leonard Taylor at Strongside DE, Lichtenstein at the other DE spot. Lichtenstein provided snaps on that DL that were invaluable to a team needing them in this game.
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I’m such a sucker for hand usage and line play on both sides of the ball (yeah, yeah “pause”). Bain moves back to SDE and absolutely forklifts this RT by getting his hands inside of the RT and punches before the RT can use his length. Bain and his versatility in the absence of Mesidor was a big reason this team won this game.
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Taylor shows his power and hands on this play as he initially shocks the G and then discards him to create a TFL. Big to get them behind the chains on 1st down in the red zone.
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Taylor wins again inside and forces the QB to scramble. There are things I learn every time in doing these that I didn’t notice live and some of the plays that Bain and Taylor made were not known live how they significant they were to the game. Not pictured.
There were two plays in this game where TAM had red zone 3rd down plays that you just ask yourself, “how in the world did they not pick up a 1st down on this play?” The one that is pretty famous where Evan Stewart tried to bounce one on a crossing route and this one. Jaden Davis gets all the way around this block and closes the ground to stop this RB from picking up the 1st. If you’re TAM, you point to those two plays as massive plays in this game that your offensive coordinator put you in a perfect spot to get TD’s and you simply didn’t execute to convert money downs. Awesome effort and range by Jaden Davis in a game that he was simply awesome.
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Brashard kickoff return. I highlight a lot of plays where there are missed calls that go against Miami, but this one had a call that absolutely went Miami’s way. They absolutely got away with a hold on their #12 special teams guy. I’m thinking of a specific Christopher Walken gif from Wedding Crashers where he succinctly says, “bleep em.” Great block, Popo.
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Malik Bryant makes a tackle on special teams short of the 20-yard line on the kickoff. To me, you want to see your young defenders making plays on special teams coverage units as a sign they can make plays when they’re in on actual defensive plays. Not pictured.
This was another really big play by the defense. Flagg splits a double team with strength and not hesitating coming downhill. This could’ve gone for a big play if he doesn’t get there as they had this blocked up into the secondary. You can see Kinchens is already pointing out the bounce and Bissainthe hits that gap hard. This goes from a possible 1st down to 3rd and 8.
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On the previous play the RT held Chantz Williams badly and got away with it as they converted a 3rd and long. The football gods made things right as their WR slips on a play that leads directly to a Kinchens interception.
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George drops the TD on a pass a tiny bit long. Both the QB and OC mentioned this in their postgame pressers, so we all know they feel it should’ve been caught. Not pictured.
In the spring game he took some grief, but this is a really strong play by Thomas Gore at DT. This is a 2nd-and-1 and they double him but he is strong and quick enough to split it and make the RB cutback inside to his help. This is mostly Miami’s third-string DL resetting the LOS against TAM in short yardage.
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TAM scores on the next play on a wonderful catch by their FB. Of course, their RG with a massive false start not called. Any guilt on that return TD call going our way has long since evaporated. TAM really got a lot more calls to go their way in this one. On the controversial two-point conversion where James Williams is clapping, he is clapping to get Couch’s attention and never even really engages back into the play because he was talking to Couch and not trying to “simulate the snap.” Anyone who tells you otherwise has no clue what they’re looking at. Not pictured.
Couch comes on a delayed blitz and pressures the QB who throws early and it’s tipped. Still lucky catch by their TE brings up a 3rd and 1. Jaden Davis with the hit of his life to get the ball out and Kinchens recovers. What you don’t see on this play and is Kinchens setting an edge, coming off that edge, fighting through a double-team, which forces the RB to bounce wide so Davis can make that hit. Bissainthe/Flagg replacing Kinchens when he splits to keep a force on the edge. Just beautiful team defense on this play.
Some players have a knack for YAC and our guy Restrepo certainly does. He catches this short of the sticks and spins to the sideline to get out of this tackle and pick up a huge play.
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You get your cool play designs and coaches will steal that. Chiefs did it in the Super Bowl. Washington State did it against Wisconsin. Miami did it against TAM. Miami used a little wrinkle because they had a lead blocker, but still the same concept. It’s meant to mess with man coverage. Often times when you motion in the red zone the outside defenders in man will switch, which causes a delay. TAM defended it straight up without switching, but the motion caused #7 to lose leverage and get blocked. Easy TD. The wrinkle here is that George faked as though he was going to ORBIT motion (behind QB), rather than jet motion (front of QB). When he faked Orbit, defender thought he was continuing and lost leverage. Rivers gets the second-level here and blocks the DB, making it so 84 didn’t have to block anyone. Thrown behind LOS so you CAN BLOCK DOWNFIELD! I’m falling in love with Shannon Dawson a little bit.
Evan Stewart drops this pass, but if you want to see some of why I thought their QB was excellent, here is another example. He releases this long before the WR breaks, after he’d been hit all game, with a defender bearing down on him again and hitting him again (Harvey). TAM is legitimately a good team and will win a bunch of games to my eyes.
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Borregales drills a 50-yard FG after some tough throws and plays by the Miami offense gets them into range. Miami was the better team all the way around. Not pictured.
Setting up the Van Dagger.
Overall:
I’ve mentioned it a few times, but it is true that Miami was simply the better team all day. We came into this game with some assumptions:
- TAM with their 5-star DL was going to be able to make plays rushing the passer, but TVD was able to stand in the pocket all game long
- The best WR group in the country belonged to TAM and Miami was weak in the secondary
- TAM made some plays in the passing game, but it was Young, Restrepo, George who consistently made plays deep and looked a real unit. Throw in Horton who had a massive catch for a TD and it was not the lopsided affair expected at those spots
- At CB, Miami had two transfers play outstanding games in Daryl Porter Jr. and Jaden Davis. In this one, Davis was obviously the standout, but do not overlook the game that Porter played. He tackled well, covered well, and even had a few strong blitzes in this one. The Brown brothers are going to have to work to overtake the starting spots at this point. Couch was Couch, but is a feisty player who gives his all.
- Bobby Petrino at OC would change the way TAM plays and that turned out to be true. TAM was dynamic at times on offense and had strong play calls to pick up big 3rd downs in the red zone twice, only to see their receivers not cut upfield to pick up first downs. Both turned out to be huge plays, along with an Evan Stewart 3rd down drop. Miami battled all second half with a depleted DL and several players stepped up their games.
- Shannon Dawson as OC…this man passed my test with several wrinkles to plays and how creative he was in the red zone. Not only the red zone, Dawson demonstrated a willingness to keep attacking with a lead and took deep shots when they were there. What a game he called.
- Guidry as DC. The Miami special teams didn’t help put his defense in good spots early in the game, but they still gave up some TD’s pretty easily in those spots. After that start, you could see they moved to more games up front to confuse their DL. In his press conference, Guidry mentioned they “stemmed” the TAM OL 80% of the time. What stemming is, is basically making after the offense breaks the huddle, the MLB will call a stem after offense sets protection. This changes where defenders come from and can confuse blockers. Lots of stunting or regapping. Most of the time the alert is “Move” or something like that and the call side DE/DT will stunt or loop, or both sides stunt. You saw this happen flawlessly many times on re-watch. As I’m watching it after hearing him say that, you see not only the loopers executing the game plan, but also the OLB’s who will changing responsibilities based on the stem call. Guidry is the real deal.
- Shoutout to Napper the Snapper. Way to go Mason.
By the Numbers:
- Miami outgained TAM 447-433
- TAM had more first downs 26-16 (because Miami had more explosive plays, leading to shorter drives)
- Miami scored on 8/12 drives (67%) to TAM 6/14 (43%)
- Line yards, Miami averaged 2.1 yards per rush, while TAM was at 2.8
- Second-level Miami was at 0.9 yards per rush, to TAM at 1.0
- The front-7 had a havoc rate of 1.2% to TAM 7.5%
- Last week, Miami had 0% havoc from DB’s and this week the gameplan involved blitzing DB’s to account for a 4.9% havoc rate
- Success rate, Miami was at 37.7% to TAM at 39.5%
- Success rate can watered down if there are several explosive plays as a big play is still 1-of-1 if it’s a 4-yard first down or a 40-yard first down
- This game was won by the passing game, as Miami averaged 12.5 yards per pass to TAM at 6.3 and Miami being successful 36.4% of the time on passing downs to TAM at only 28.1%
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