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What surprised you most about Miami's 2025 season?

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1. Elite Defense - So much fun to watch them this year. You just knew they were going to get stops.
2. Malachi - Not much to say. Have not seen a freshman like him in Miami history.
3. The CFP run - Thought we were playing with "house money" when we made the playoffs & the deeper we got the more I thought we didn't just sneak in. We belonged.
 
DMoney said:
I might start doing that. The truth is that I talk too much on the podcast. I like hearing what the board has to say.
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I like that, I think there have been a few times, maybe not with the general "favorite moment" posts but on some of the more intricate or technical questions I think the board would appreciate your insight towards the end/middle of the thread when it still has engagement but does not turn into everyone parroting you or talking about whatever you posted.
 
Getting as far as we did with a very limited QB. Especially through the playoffs.

That leads to #2, and the reason we could get that far. Dominant line play on both sides. I knew we'd be good, but to have possibly the best O and D lines? That was nuts.
 
I'd just say the way the season played out starting with the second week of November.

We began the month with another Nov loss and dropping 2 out of 3. It was the same ole ****.

Then all of a sudden we're playing for a national championship. Wild.
 
Most everything has been mentioned above so I'll go with the overarching positivity from this board. Who knew that all we needed was palatable growth and a few wins on the biggest stage.
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
A high school senior being the best player on the field in the first game of the year and sustaining it for the season to become arguably the best football player in America.

I heard a lot. I expected a lot. He blowtorched my ******* face off. And he’s barely 18.
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agreed but what would your 1b surprise be?
 
That we made it to the NC game after the SMU loss.

That loss hit me hard. As hard as any of late. It felt soul crushing because it felt like another year was down the drain, particularly after seeing what this team did the 1st 5 seasons and thinking we had a legit playoff contender.
 
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EudocimusAlbus said:
agreed but what would your 1b surprise be?
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This answer sucks, but it'd be the overall play of the defense for me. I expected it to be better because I thought a lot of Heatherman, I thought a healthy Bain would be a massive difference maker, and I thought we upgraded the talent. I was optimistic it could be a Top ~30 unit. It was far better than that.

If you want specifics within that, I would say Jakobe Thomas, Keionte Scott, and Akeem Mesidor.
The safeties were ABYSMAL last year. Poor angles, no communication, zero physicality. The only kid we had who could even cosplay as a football player was Meesh Powell, and he wasn't physical at all. Much more of a coverage kid. Jakobe Thomas blew me away this year with his physicality and intensity. What a massive upgrade. Keionte Scott, what more can you say? Both of these kids were almost afterthoughts at their previous schools and even when they hit the portal, it's not like they generated any national attention. All they did was go out and be leaders for arguably the best defense in America.

And then our homegrown boy, Mr. Mesidor. Good lord. We had entire threads in the summer here about who should be playing over him. The answer to those should've been "not a cot **** dude in America". I really liked him as a player to this point, but I'd be lying if I said I knew he had this in his bag. He is going to get some real first-round discussion in April, and him and 4 turned into the best Edge combo in the history of the school. Not bad for a kid many were trying to turn into a rotational player in camp.

So really, the defense shocked me. We went from the best offense in America last year, bar none, and a completely rudderless sieve of a defense, to very arguably the best defense in the country this year. At least the best defensive front, with perhaps 2 first-rounders, and Moten can very well turn himself into a high Day 2 pick with another solid year. And while I could point to **** near every kid as being part of the turnaround, the 3 I highlighted are the ones that really exceeded my expectations and surprised me the most. Sucks we have to replace all 3, but that's why Mario is here.
 
How quickly the defense came together

New DC. New secondary.

I knew they had the potential to be great but didn’t expect it to happen so quickly

Also Toney…I mean I heard he was good but cmon
 
Jankovich said:
Toney was the biggest surprise by far. I've never seen a true freshman perform like this kid at this U.
He was so reliable, I couldnt believe what I was seeing. Immediate game changer.
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The craziest part is how some fans were panicking in spring saying we needed to land Branch, Concepcion, etc. The biggest surprise to me about Toney is his maturity, preparation,etc. You’d think he was a Junior or Senior the way he plays.
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
This answer sucks, but it'd be the overall play of the defense for me. I expected it to be better because I thought a lot of Heatherman, I thought a healthy Bain would be a massive difference maker, and I thought we upgraded the talent. I was optimistic it could be a Top ~30 unit. It was far better than that.

If you want specifics within that, I would say Jakobe Thomas, Keionte Scott, and Akeem Mesidor.
The safeties were ABYSMAL last year. Poor angles, no communication, zero physicality. The only kid we had who could even cosplay as a football player was Meesh Powell, and he wasn't physical at all. Much more of a coverage kid. Jakobe Thomas blew me away this year with his physicality and intensity. What a massive upgrade. Keionte Scott, what more can you say? Both of these kids were almost afterthoughts at their previous schools and even when they hit the portal, it's not like they generated any national attention. All they did was go out and be leaders for arguably the best defense in America.

And then our homegrown boy, Mr. Mesidor. Good lord. We had entire threads in the summer here about who should be playing over him. The answer to those should've been "not a cot **** dude in America". I really liked him as a player to this point, but I'd be lying if I said I knew he had this in his bag. He is going to get some real first-round discussion in April, and him and 4 turned into the best Edge combo in the history of the school. Not bad for a kid many were trying to turn into a rotational player in camp.

So really, the defense shocked me. We went from the best offense in America last year, bar none, and a completely rudderless sieve of a defense, to very arguably the best defense in the country this year. At least the best defensive front, with perhaps 2 first-rounders, and Moten can very well turn himself into a high Day 2 pick with another solid year. And while I could point to **** near every kid as being part of the turnaround, the 3 I highlighted are the ones that really exceeded my expectations and surprised me the most. Sucks we have to replace all 3, but that's why Mario is here.
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well said, and I'd have a better response, but I need to bolt to the building department. But to your point, your answer does suck hahha. Malachi shocked us all, but it's hard to put your finger on one player along that defense. **** it was good! That TAMU game was a beauty.
 
I keep thinking how much of a long shot it was that the CFP committee picked us. Just imagine what this place would have been like. Nobody would have realized just how good this team really was. It would have been just another season with a disappointing end.
 
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JD08 said:
I keep thinking how much of a long shot it was that the CFP committee picked us. Just imagine what this place would have been like. Nobody would have realized just how good this team really was. It would have been just another season with a disappointing end.
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I haven't fully decompressed everything yet (I still haven't watched a second of the game back), but I think when this finally all sinks in when we're in April or May and there is just nothing but mind-numbing blackness in our lives as we look forward to camp, it'll click for me how incredibly stressful and fun that march was from #18 on the Tuesday after SMU, to #10 and in on Selection Sunday, to College Station, to Dallas, to Phoenix, and ultimately back home.

Not sure I'll ever totally get over the result at Hard Rock, but you're right it was a wild *** journey to just get into that dance, and I think we all knew what we could do if they just let us in the door.
 
Dr. House said:
Carson Beck banging a Latina weeks after officially coming (pause) here.

I mean, really, you couldn't keep your **** in your pants for more than two months? That was a surprise to say the least.
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you were surprised that a college starting QB couldnt' keep his **** in. his pants for more than two months?

Animated GIF
 
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