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VT - Post Game Thoughts and Observations

FL Cane said:
Here are some thoughts on today's complete rollercoaster of a game as we escape the Rock with a win and head into Cal week:

Offense
  • Nothing in the world is more frustrating than watching an offense beat itself, and Miami's offense did that routinely today. The fact of the matter is that we did not have a problem moving the ball down field. We just self destructed inside the VT 20 twice. We had one terrible unlucky pick that got bobbled inside the 20, and another pick that Cam just whiffed on. All in all, there are very few games that you'll win with 3 turnovers.
  • We spotted VT 14 points on offense. It's inexcusable. Could've been another blowout, but we helped them start quick (they've started slow all season).

  • The Run game is a problem. It got going more in the second half, but it is not reliable enough. Too much inside zone; ground and pound football. We're not opening up lanes, and Damian Martinez was unimpressive (for the most part) tonight. I don't understand why we don't try to bounce anything outside or run a counter every now and then.

  • Say what you will about our Sloppy O, but this was yet again another fantastic performance from our WRs and TEs. Our TE group won us this game.

  • Despite the mistakes Cam made, he had Heisman moments. Elite players find ways to win, and he is ELITE. This was Cam Ward on a bad day. That's how good he is.

  • Coming back down 10 is no small feat. Prior Miami teams would've mailed it in. Like last year, this team fights. We do not go down easy.

  • Our OL got manhandled. We need Jalen Rivers back ASAP. Markell Bell is going to be an excellent OL, but he was outmatched today and got beat multiple times. Cam got hit a lot (not many hard hits thankfully), and we gave up three sacks. Thankfully, VT has one of the more talented DLs in the conference, but we need to tighten the ship quickly.

  • All in all, this was a bad night on O, and we still scored 38.
Defense
  • I think on re-watch, our DL won't look as bad as perceived tonight. Yes, we missed too many tackles, but we had about 3-4 sacks that Drones saved himself from by heaving the ball at the last second. Most QBs can't do that or don't have the awareness to. Props to him, it was frustrating to see him do that.

  • I'd also add that VT was holding or committing a block in the back on just about every play. Hard to push back an OL when they can manhandle you like that.

  • Kiko Mauigoa had about his worst game as a cane. Bad in pass coverage, missed multiple tackles, and he absolutely whiffed on the first drive where VT scored.

  • Tackling was an issue most of the night. Lots of arm tackles and terrible angles.

  • The Secondary was bad tonight. We gave up so many chunk plays to an average WR group. They had us on the ropes all night and we couldn't get a stop.

  • We struggled and failed to contain their running game. We couldn't adapt to their misdirection and motion. We were out of position constantly.

  • Guidry has a lot of work to do with this defense.
Overall
  • Miami was extremely lucky to come out with this W. After watching the last play 40 times, I believe they made the wrong call on the field. No way anyone could've ruled that complete. The guy bobbled the ball all the way down and did not have possession. Should've been incomplete to begin with but the incompetent refs tried one more gimmick.

  • We have an elite, CFP caliber offense. This was a bad night for us, and we still scored 38. That's good enough to beat about any team in the country. Cam Ward had a bad game, and even then threw for 300+, 4 TDs, and made Heisman plays that kept our undefeated season alive.

  • We do not have an elite, CFP caliber defense. We got absolutely worked by VT today. Yes, there were terrible calls on our D and our offense gave them two short fields, but that's no excuse. They did come through on that second to last drive, but they came within a review of blowing this game on a hail mary. Guidry has a lot of work to do with the defense top to bottom. Any top Ten team would light us up on D with the performance we had tonight.

  • The officiating was god awful. It would've turned into a Miami boat race if not for the Markell Bell phantom holding call. That call completely swung the momentum of the game.

  • This team needs to use this game as a wakeup call. We travel to a very hostile environment next weekend against a team that has talent. Late game and our first long trip of the year.

  • Also, shout out to Brent Pry who corched away this game. Worst clock management I've ever seen in my life, and went for a fake FG instead of a kick that would've given his Lou Groza reincarnation of a kicker a chance to win the whole thing.
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Excellent analysis! Spot on!
 
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miamiphd said:
Let's be honest. When a team lets the refs determine the outcome at the end of the game, it is not a championship team. VT is no where full of talent like UM, but came close to winning on a desperate play at the end and the arbitrary, crazy definition of what constitutes a catch. (I hate the Hail Mary; it's just a desperation play by teams that are legitimately beat.) Championship teams don't let refs determine the outcomes. Teams that have risen to the elite of college football crush 2-2 teams like VT. This is not to say that UM is a bad team, or a team unworthy of national attention. But, Georgia and Ohio State don't let the likes of VT even sniff victory.

Another question. Were UM's best WRs defending on that final play? Watch a NFL team in a similar situation, and it has its best jumpers and hands WRs playing defense against a Hail Mary. Did UM do that?

I'm so glad UM got the call at the end. But honestly, should I be encouraged by this performance?
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I'm not. Now I know those losses are coming but the question is how many. Does 6-2 get us in the ACCCG, I say no it doesn't
 
SaiyaMan305 said:
Game was pretty simple:

Season Long Team issues:
-Years of bad recruiting and lack of depth in the Secondary
-Years of bad recruiting and lack of true Nose tackles. We have 3 techs playing NT we need more mass
-OL and DL is banged up
-Current LB are good north to south not east to west
-Non existent run game
-Sam Brown being dog****
-Poor end of game time management

Plays in the game that were detrimental:
-Alston going too fast and failing to sack Drones twice
-Cam Ward 3 turnovers
-VT scoring a 58 yd field goal while having 2 players of the same number out there
-Almost giving up a game winning crazy play
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Harris getting erased by Drones leading to a touchdown.
 
Miami is worse then people thought and VTech is better. They lost to Vanderbilt and Rutgers which sounds funny (I joked about it in the game thread) but Rutgers is actually pretty good and Vanderbilt almost beat a very solid Mizzou.

Miami's defense got pushed around though, and that's a problem.
 
As I stated previously, we need to figure out how we can run the football. If we don't, a couple losses are ahead.

Cam is a heck of a player, but he is not elite. I wish y'all would quit saying that. He can make accurate throws, but he isn't an accurate thrower. All that running around behind the line is going to cost us at some point when he makes a bad decision to throw a side arm knuckle ball. He is one **** of a playmaker though. Fun to watch and is a leader.

We still need a lot more good players. We have talent, but not enough.

Defense is average and played below average tonight.

Always happy for a win. The team showed a lot of heart tonight. We have some tough games ahead and we need to get better fast.
 
Kempo Cane said:
Going to be honest as much as it hurts me this is no championship team. The defense just isn't good enough.
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Anyone who seriously thought we were a championship team after beating 4 garbage teams is nuts. We are a much improved team. We are a top 10-15 team no doubt. We have some real players finally. We aren’t in the same stratosphere as UGA, BAMA, OSU,UT. We have work to do to get there. IMO it starts with getting the **** out of the ACC.
 
Kempo Cane said:
Going to be honest as much as it hurts me this is no championship team. The defense just isn't good enough.
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I'm afraid I agree with you. It hurts me to say that too. The pass defense I knew was going to be a struggle. I'm stunned at how poor the run defense was/is. #33 on VA Tech was bending our defense over like a diddy party.
 
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This team can still win the ACC and make the playoffs. But after that we'll have to have the game of our lives to win in the playoffs.
 
Next week will be another challenge in the trenches. Cal is reportedly a pretty physical team. I hope the team that works with the guys on recovery work overtime this week because we need everyone feelling good enough to give good effort next week.
 
Honestly watching the D in person last night was really discouraging. Idk how we don't drop 3-4 games in the coming week.

As usual, we get exposed when ACC play starts
 
Very good write up and agree with everything thing said but the King of Clock MISMANAGEMENT is Mario and he's prover that several times this season and last night is no exception. This team is going to use some games for sure. VT coach handed us the game on a silver platter
 
P-Tizzle said:
6.4 yards per rush isn’t exactly the secondary’s fault. The DL was getting gashed bro. You can’t say “DL wasn’t that bad” when the opposing team racked up over two hundred yards of offense.
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A lot of their runs were toss or off tackle stuff going right at our secondary.
 
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1-Our lines were pushed around by a smaller team
2-Ward won the game and had a heisman win.
Int’s were because of drops and reflections off receivers.
Jmo
 
nickster said:
He took two unecessary TO's in the beginning of the game. It's a common thread with him. Any great head coach values TO's but not Mario.
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What are you talking about? He had time outs that he used at the end of the game we had 3 of them lol.

Teams that have won national titles have had games like this and survived. Everyone knows we were lucky but so was FSU to block an extra point against LSU. Lots of stuff happened. We need Bain and Brown back asap
 
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