Whew!! Some thoughts on this FSU victory...

21 had so many yards when the OL was pushed into the backfield. He’s one of the few RB’s that’s better than his OL. Very rare talent.
He was incredible. Lyle did a bit of the same but in more predictable push/messy situations in gameplay and obviously not not nearly to the same degree. He didn't/doesn't have the same green grass ability but I thought it was telling how little we saw Pringle given the dictation of the game. Anyways, Mallory shining.
 
Fsu kicked our asses in the trenches most of the night.
Yep. We were spoiled to have the luxury of leaning on our lines last season. Makes crunch time much easier to stomach. We’ll have to cross our fingers if/when things get tight.

But we have stars of offense who change the game, so I’ll take it.
 
OK, I think I finally got my breath. Miami wins 43-35 in double OT versus an FSU team that many people thought couldn't roll over and play dead at this stage. I'm more relieved than euphoric.

It's alright to say it, Miami got away with one tonight at Hard Rock

With that said, Miami is the better team, but for much of the game tonight they were not. That's the reality. And quite frankly they played a very uneven game tonight. I still think their best football is ahead of them -- but am I just being a blind optimist? This team still has a lot to shore up.

But you know what they say about winning -- it beats losing. And now it's three straight versus the Noles, that always feels good regardless of the state of their programs. Rivarly wins matter, always

Some other thoughts on this game..

-- Darian Mensah had good numbers (24 for 24, 326 yards, 3 TD' and 1 INT) on paper, but in watching this game, I thought this was the worst of his UM career. Now, maybe it says something about the standard we have for him, or how well he played. But that interception on the 1st drive of the 2nd half was a killer(and he had room to run for about 6-10 yards). That was a bad decision.

Other times, it looked like he held the ball too long. But hey, he was steady later in the game when it counted.

-- Javion Mallory has become running back 1A. His vision and ability to run to daylight is rare. Tell me his overtime TD run didn't have you thinking of Frank Gore vs FSU in 2004 on that Friday night that was the game winner)

-- Malachi Toney, do I need to say all that much. Big time players make big time plays, in big time games. Honestly, I thought we should've fed him more as the offense bogged down at times. Call him Jerry West, he is 'Mr Clutch'. His impact, every game, goes beyond the numbers.

- OK, now, the bad. I think the world of our defensive coordinator, Corey Hetherman, but I still can't get over the defense/pressure he brought at 28-21 with about 2:40 left. As Duce Robinson was going down the sideline for the tying score, I had Chafie Fields flashbacks.

Im not a coordinator, Im just a fan (I realize that) but my view is that you rush four, drop seven and let Ashton Daniels make a few throws before dialing up anything to heat him up. To get beat like that on the first play was mind-boggling, when you had the whole field to defend was puzzling.

-- Then in the second OT, I realize our players and maybe our coaches are too young to know who Tom Jackson was. But what did he say about defending 'hail mary' throws? KNOCK IT DOWN!! Our guys, even on that last INT, we're not doing that.

I will say this, the Dline got really good pressure in the 2nd OT.

Also, earlier in the game, the screen game -- a Norvell specialty- was killing Miami. They looked totally unprepared for a facet of the FSU offense that you knew was coming.

So that's it. I need to sip a Coors Light (the Rocky Mountain sensation) and relax a bit.
The defense looked unprepared for every facet of the FSU offense… it was actually ridiculous coming off a bye week.

Disappearing Dawson and the staffs QB trust issues are a pattern…

You don’t pay Mensah, have the weapons we have and then disappear or go into a shell like we do… WTF

**** FSU, but that sleepy effort was dog****.
 
Relative to the material we have on this roster, it’s as bad as we’ve looked under Mario. Very concerning, especially coming off a Bye week, though that’s commonplace.

Equally concerning, was Dawson calling the game like we’re scared of FSU. We tested none of the run concepts UL ate them alive with last week. It’s the same old **** every week from him. His calls leading into and coming out of the half were mind boggling. I look forward to his sarcastic remarks at his presser.
 
We have a top5 talented roster but we don’t have elite trenches this year

I think not going for more olineman in the portal may cost us like not good for more dbs in 2024 did
 
OK, I think I finally got my breath. Miami wins 43-35 in double OT versus an FSU team that many people thought couldn't roll over and play dead at this stage. I'm more relieved than euphoric.

It's alright to say it, Miami got away with one tonight at Hard Rock

With that said, Miami is the better team, but for much of the game tonight they were not. That's the reality. And quite frankly they played a very uneven game tonight. I still think their best football is ahead of them -- but am I just being a blind optimist? This team still has a lot to shore up.

But you know what they say about winning -- it beats losing. And now it's three straight versus the Noles, that always feels good regardless of the state of their programs. Rivarly wins matter, always

Some other thoughts on this game..

-- Darian Mensah had good numbers (24 for 24, 326 yards, 3 TD' and 1 INT) on paper, but in watching this game, I thought this was the worst of his UM career. Now, maybe it says something about the standard we have for him, or how well he played. But that interception on the 1st drive of the 2nd half was a killer(and he had room to run for about 6-10 yards). That was a bad decision.

Other times, it looked like he held the ball too long. But hey, he was steady later in the game when it counted.

-- Javion Mallory has become running back 1A. His vision and ability to run to daylight is rare. Tell me his overtime TD run didn't have you thinking of Frank Gore vs FSU in 2004 on that Friday night that was the game winner)

-- Malachi Toney, do I need to say all that much. Big time players make big time plays, in big time games. Honestly, I thought we should've fed him more as the offense bogged down at times. Call him Jerry West, he is 'Mr Clutch'. His impact, every game, goes beyond the numbers.

- OK, now, the bad. I think the world of our defensive coordinator, Corey Hetherman, but I still can't get over the defense/pressure he brought at 28-21 with about 2:40 left. As Duce Robinson was going down the sideline for the tying score, I had Chafie Fields flashbacks.

Im not a coordinator, Im just a fan (I realize that) but my view is that you rush four, drop seven and let Ashton Daniels make a few throws before dialing up anything to heat him up. To get beat like that on the first play was mind-boggling, when you had the whole field to defend was puzzling.

-- Then in the second OT, I realize our players and maybe our coaches are too young to know who Tom Jackson was. But what did he say about defending 'hail mary' throws? KNOCK IT DOWN!! Our guys, even on that last INT, we're not doing that.

I will say this, the Dline got really good pressure in the 2nd OT.

Also, earlier in the game, the screen game -- a Norvell specialty- was killing Miami. They looked totally unprepared for a facet of the FSU offense that you knew was coming.

So that's it. I need to sip a Coors Light (the Rocky Mountain sensation) and relax a bit.

Great post.

This is a win that you have to treat as a loss, simply because the disfunction was so pervasive across the team and throughout all phases of the game.

We very often played poorly, coached poorly, and allowed our discipline to stay home for a lot of the evening. There’s a lot to clean up. We have more to fix than an Oklahoma handyman after a tornado. If we are ranked no. 1 tomorrow evening, we will be the worst midseason no. 1 college football team since Pitt during Dan Marino’s senior year when he was stoned for half the practices.

If anyone walked out of that stadium feeling anything other than maddening frustration over our play, and overwhelming relief and gratitude over our luck and good fortune, then they didn’t pay attention for all 4 hours.
 
Poyser makes all the calls in the secondary. Losing him as huge. That’s the first extended time we have had without him for 1.5 years. And boy did it show. Pretty sure he would have snuffed out atleast one of those screens. He is great at that.

All the talk about Thorton getting benched, well that looked to be the plan until Fitz got hurt. That changed things as well. Heatherman puts a high premium on tackling. And if you can’t tackle you aren’t playing.
 
We are an elite rushing defense.

We don’t do anything else even remotely close to good enough through 6 weeks coming off a bye.

The Magic fairies in this fanbase will say that can change. Maybe they are right. But I simply do not see it. It’s a personnel issue mixed with injuries. Maybe it’s all fixable but SJ playing every single snap at guard tonight is not a cause for optimism. Neither is a pass rush that was anemic until the last drive. Maybe the passing game finds a way to win 1 on 1’s outside of Toney?

hope and wish for the best. But let’s win our first acc title this year. That sounds really **** good right now through 6 weeks of film and coming off a bye. National championship contention is not realistic.
 
Sending Dunnigan and rotating Thornton single high leaving 6 on 0 and hoping Thornton closes is a ballsy call, I wont lie.
 
When things get uncomfortable Mensah is shaky. He has weird moments. Tonight he was off bad, there was horrible ball placement and his decision making was off . Toney and Mallory saved our asses.
From the very first play
 
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