What I was happy to see and why my excitement is tempered

[Pentagon Cane]

That being said we did a much better job sealing the ends and our linebackers flowed better without getting caught up in the wash. We also tackled much better in the open field.

 

[WhatTheHell]

Well, we've run the same defense for two years now. Maybe Golden's master plan was to be atrocious on defense for two seasons all in anticipation for Coastal play in 2014. It's not like after a few games of playing a new defense teams would see it and adjust or anything. This theory might have legs guys. If you're a ******* lunatic.

 

[LuCane]

That being said we did a much better job sealing the ends and our linebackers flowed better without getting caught up in the wash. We also tackled much better in the open field.

I think we just looked better in those facets because Duke was not as good as people thought. They just weren't athletic enough or precise enough in the passing game.

 

[UMFarArcher]

I found it telling that Golden is really feeling the heat about being fired, when I saw Al Golden - frikkin' Mr. Ultra Conservative Al Golden going for it on fourth and seventeen.

Any other time, he'd have kicked. Any other time.

That, gentlemen, is desperation.

It worked, but he better not rely on going for it on fourth and seventeen working with any consistency.

 

[rsa coral gables]

That being said we did a much better job sealing the ends and our linebackers flowed better without getting caught up in the wash. We also tackled much better in the open field.

I think we just looked better in those facets because Duke was not as good as people thought. They just weren't athletic enough or precise enough in the passing game.

we got burned on seam routes on the outside 4-5 times in man to man coverage. if a few of them would have been caught, it would have been a different game.

our man to man coverage skills appear very vulnerable.

 

[rsa coral gables]

I found it telling that Golden is really feeling the heat about being fired, when I saw Al Golden - frikkin' Mr. Ultra Conservative Al Golden going for it on fourth and seventeen.

Any other time, he'd have kicked. Any other time.

That, gentlemen, is desperation.

It worked, but he better not rely on going for it on fourth and seventeen working with any consistency.

this is the stuff that drives me crazy. why criticize a good decision? he tries for a FG in a monsoon, and half the board would have gone crazy. he goes for it on fourth and 19 and he's getting criticized? i thought it was the right situational call and it took balls.

 

[Canesfan1899]

That being said we did a much better job sealing the ends and our linebackers flowed better without getting caught up in the wash. We also tackled much better in the open field.

I think we just looked better in those facets because Duke was not as good as people thought. They just weren't athletic enough or precise enough in the passing game.

Agree with you and am also being guarded in my optimism.

 

[capefearcane]

So you think a scenario exists where Golden intentionally ran a soft defense vs Nebraska (essentially forfeiting a game) because he wanted to save a certain defense for Coastal play?

Not beyond the realm of possibilities. Gotta be thinking at this point that if he doesn't win the Coastal this year it may be all over. Hard to imagine I know, but I just don't trust the guy anymore - to willing to throw his players under the bus. It's not all about the U - it's all about the me and my buddy. Should we win the Coastal he probably get's an extension. Not showing me anything yet - who here doesn't believe we should have had a much higher number of rush plays on first down?

 

[capefearcane]

Well, we've run the same defense for two years now. Maybe Golden's master plan was to be atrocious on defense for two seasons all in anticipation for Coastal play in 2014. It's not like after a few games of playing a new defense teams would see it and adjust or anything. This theory might have legs guys. If you're a ****ing lunatic.

No don't think he did it for 2 seasons on purpose but some thought that he might have lazed it for one game. We win the Coastal the dynamic duo will ride again in 2015. Certainly suckered in Duke.

 

[BigCaneAl]

That being said we did a much better job sealing the ends and our linebackers flowed better without getting caught up in the wash. We also tackled much better in the open field.

I think we just looked better in those facets because Duke was not as good as people thought. They just weren't athletic enough or precise enough in the passing game.

we got burned on seam routes on the outside 4-5 times in man to man coverage. if a few of them would have been caught, it would have been a different game.

our man to man coverage skills appear very vulnerable.

I think that's overstating it....look at a game film and most plays there is someone open somewhere. The defense just has to make it difficult to execute, and find that spot. That's why if you give any QB he's going to kill you.

 

[JerseyCanes]

The bottom line is that we showed some sort of Agressiveness and Assertiveness that we haven't really shown...

Whether it was a combo of Duke's play - Golden/D'No feeling heat or whatever - it made for the result on defense that we've been looking for.

Hopefully we can take this and translate this type of play going forward.

I'll tell you what.. with the QB play in the ACC... I think you SHOULD force the QB to make plays rather than play that soft *** defense that lets teams runs for 500 per game. Not one QB other than Crab legs Winston Really makes me thinks they can beat us with his Arm. Even Brewer from VT makes ton a bad throws.

Force these ******** to throw...

JC

 

[bobbydigius]

That being said we did a much better job sealing the ends and our linebackers flowed better without getting caught up in the wash. We also tackled much better in the open field.

I think we just looked better in those facets because Duke was not as good as people thought. They just weren't athletic enough or precise enough in the passing game.

This this this. Some people have just gotten used to the lack of talent and execution, so when they finally see some, they confuse as improvement across the board on everything. This is year four, execution is supposed to be there, especially against an inferior opponent. Last year's Duke team was inferior talent wise compared to us, but they were still one of the better teams they had fielded against. We improved talent wise most importantly and they took a step back, more often than that, no matter what the scheme and coaching, talent will win out.

But that isnt the issue here as you pointed out. We are Miami and our ultimate goal is took look formidable against the best of the best, something that we are still unfortunately lacking in. Lets see how we look against teams that have equal or better talent than us, that is gonna be the proper way to judge whether or this defense is really improving. Our first major test was against the Huskers and we failed miserably.....

 

[Pentagon Cane]

That being said we did a much better job sealing the ends and our linebackers flowed better without getting caught up in the wash. We also tackled much better in the open field.

I think we just looked better in those facets because Duke was not as good as people thought. They just weren't athletic enough or precise enough in the passing game.

Yes, I hear you but this was pretty much the same kids as last year. Snead and Powell ran over us. Boone was precise and made plays on third down. Duke returned their starting tackles and center. The left tackle is a redshirt junior who played a lot last year. Crowder and McCaffrey are returning starters and Blakely started games for them last year.

We'll see if we've turned a corner, but it was more than a solid performance against most of the kids who destroyed us last year.

 

[LuCane]

That being said we did a much better job sealing the ends and our linebackers flowed better without getting caught up in the wash. We also tackled much better in the open field.

I think we just looked better in those facets because Duke was not as good as people thought. They just weren't athletic enough or precise enough in the passing game.

Yes, I hear you but this was pretty much the same kids as last year. Snead and Powell ran over us. Boone was precise and made plays on third down. Duke returned their starting tackles and center. The left tackle is a redshirt junior who played a lot last year. Crowder and McCaffrey are returning starters and Blakely started games for them last year.

We'll see if we've turned a corner, but it was more than a solid performance against most of the kids who destroyed us last year.

True. Their OLine is slightly different. I think it's worse. They lost Perry Simmons (their RT), no? Between him and their LG, they had a few All-Conference years. Their RG is their best player along the OL this year. Teams with strong, stout Tackles have a distinct advantage over us. We also played them a bit different, so naturally that has an effect. Like you said, we'll see if we turned the corner. I'm hopeful, but cautious.

 

[cane since birth]

these coming games will show if this was just a one game thing or he is really changing things up

 

[Awsi Dooger]

We got good inside pressure in the 2nd half. I am not real impressed with Hertelou, Jenkins seems like he's better right now. Kamalu brings the most pressure inside.

I agree with everything you wrote. I posted last week that Kamulu should be out there much more often. He's the most versatile and nastiest guy we have, at least among the ones with competent size.

Jenkins needs more playing time than Hertelou, who is a hard trying guy who simply gets into too many arm locked stalemates. That's fine against certain opponents but not the level we need to aspire to.

Duke had awful strategy last week, IMO. Once I saw we were in energized attack mode I loved that they were in wimpy finesse sets and throwing comical deep lobs down the sideline combined with pathetic sideline screens. We were the trump card team for a change in terms of asserting ourselves physically. If Cutcliffe had been sharp enough to rotate into more standard sets with 2 wide outs and high number of rushing attempts and play action, we would have been in a dogfight. Duke certainly would have managed far more than 10 points. Miami is still vulnerable to basic plays but Duke rarely attempted any of them. It was difficult not to laugh.

Overall I thought it was one of the worst called offensive games I've seen in decades from both sides combined. Neither defense was anywhere near as strong as the play calling made them appear. One Miami possession in particular infuriated me. I remember the specifics. I was screaming for power looks and straight ahead runs. That's what Whipple finally used to pull clear of Duke in 2009. This time we took over at our 16 yard line with 7:38 remaining in the second quarter. We ran power looks from under center all the way to Duke's 38 yard line. Easy as pie. Then for no reason at all we went back to the shotgun. I screamed so loud in disgust everybody in my section was looking at me. Sure enough, the possession stalled. That was when we begged for the call to be reversed in the end zone. I was almost glad it wasn't reversed. If we had merely remained in those standard sets and run from under center we already would have been in the end zone, no questions asked. Too often Coley is one of these guys who throws incomplete on first down, then runs an inside handoff from the shotgun on second down, and when the possession ends after a 3rd down failure he rationalizes that he attempted to run on second down.

 

[Miami82]

As others, including LU I believe have said many times, I think what we have is several issues. Schematically/adjustment wise, I think Golden and NoD get a little TOO cute and overthink things. These guys get too smart for their own good. Instead of keeping things simple, playing to their strengths and taking what the offense gives them, they insist on trying to get overly complex, run exotic and complex stunts and coverages, and it ends up creating havoc on our defense. The players just want to know what to do and play. Asking them to think too much slows them down, and they get beat, wether its at the point of attack, hitting a gap, or in coverage.

I do think we got much better penetration at the LOS on Sat. night than we have all season. It was a combination of factors, but there is NO QUESTION we attacked and played aggressively to disrupt their backfield. We did not just sit and hold the line waiting for our LBs to react. I saw more aggressive schemes, formations, blitzes and playcalling in that game than we have showed all season, and probably long into last season. This looked like a different defense out there for the most part.

The big question then is WHY? Why did they wait til Duke to let this go. Was it fear? A "must win" panic? Was it a response to Nebraska? Was this always somewhat in the cards? I asked on Sat night and there was a lot of disagreement, but I wonder if AG isn't playing JUST for the ACC right now. Maybe they decided to save their best stuff for Coastal play, and against Nebraska they decided to just sit in a base defense and not show much of anything.

Granted that is giving Golden a lot of credit, and Im not sure he deserves it. But the guy is not a total moron despite what many here think. He may be stubborn as ****, he may be wrong, he may not be a good HC, but he's not a total moron. I think he does have a plan, wether or not it will work, or whether its a stupid plan is a different question, but I don't believe this guy just does things without thinking of them.

So did we play more aggressively and run some of these new formations, stunts, etc out of "panic mode" or was this always the plan in the hopes of winning the Coastal?

 

[Jedi Master Cane]

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. Yes
5. No

This.

 

[DiegoCane]

I was definitely happy that we finally got a little more aggressive on defense.

Like many others, I hope the next step is allowing our DL to get penetration on the line. Even on passing downs it seems like they are taught to engage initially. We only have 4 sacks from our DL this year, 0 from McCord. Of our 12 sacks (doesn't seem like we even have that many), I can't remember any that were blow bys or great individual moves.

Also, Armbrister has had a nice year but we have to have someone better then him to rush the passer on passing situations. In 3rd and longs we have gone to Armbrister, Chick, Kamalu, McCord w/ Grace and Perryman, 3CBs, 2 S.

 

[FrancisSawyer]

Like most here I was ecstatic about the aggression we showed on defense but I also noticed a few things that I found disturbing.

1) We dont seem to be as talented as I think we should be. Now hold on. I'm not excusing the staff for any issues on defense. Quite the contrary. For the record I think this scheme is an abomination and I think Golden and his staff need to go. What I am getting at is player development. Take the secondary for example. Look at all the talent on that unit. That group should be the strength of the defense. They were up against a rather pedestrian Duke offense and while they got the job done, they hardly stood out or dominated. Those kids should be much better than they looked Saturday. That falls under teaching part of coaching and it doesn't seem like these kids are getting much of it.


2) Functional strength and explosive power. We should have ragdolled that Duke team. We should have been able to physically dominate them and push them around but we didn't. I see all these great weight room numbers like bench press, squats and power cleans many of which I hear are new team records. All I hear in the off season is how much bigger and stronger we are yet I never see us physically dominate the trenches. This speaks to S&C. I'm no expert but to my eyes there seems to be something sorely lacking here.

These two things really popped out at me. Lack of player development and a lack of functional strength and explosive power. The fact that we are in year 4 of this regime makes these two things especially disturbing. Add to this the garbage scheme we have been running and now it's quite clear why we have fielded historically bad defenses the last couple of years. Unfortunately it also becomes quite clear that the ceiling for this years team isn't quite as high as we may have thought with or without this garbage scheme. We can borrow **** Lebeau's playbook, run cover 1 all day and install Buddy Ryan's 46 but at the end of the day you can't polish a **** and it all falls on this staff. They have failed in more ways than one.

Golden and staff need to go.