forums

Yes, this feels like 2017...

Advertisement
TheU1984 said:
I’m not dumb enough to say we’re elite or to think we are truly a top ten team. But whatever we are, I didn’t think we’d be here a year ago.

In your opinion, what would be a successful season? There seems to be no middle ground. Either complete domination like we’re on Bama’s level or another failure of a season like 2019?
Click to expand...
I always said a successful season would be showing major signs of improvement. It was fairly obvious that our record would improve from last year with the pickups of Lashlee and King. We’re literally relying on King to carry us to victory. But all of that is irrelevant to me because most importantly Manny Diaz is still the head coach. We are definitely in the top 10 of one of the most poorly coached teams in the whole country imo. Now I ask you this, when you watch us play do you see a good team? I sure as **** don’t. To be honest I still see a below average team mostly getting bailed out by their star QB. Those are not things you can build on because King will most likely be gone next year. Like I said in another thread, you have to give Manny credit for landing King but we would be 1-7 without him this year imo.. it’s bad.
 
Jedi Master Cane said:
This coaching staff needs to VASTLY improve in the area of self scouting. We're far enough into the season that it's clear what our strengths and weaknesses are.

- On offense, we should be pretty much in TWO TIGHT END sets ALL GAME LONG. There is ZERO justification for taking either Brevin or Mallory off the field for anything other than injury or a breather.

- One defense, we look a **** of a lot better and more organized when we play press man. This secondary lacks football IQ and just seems to struggle with zone. Compound that with the excessive blitzing and it's a recipe for disaster against good teams.

Will Manny adjust? Will he force Lashlee and Baker to adjust is the better way to phrase it.....let's see.
Click to expand...
We do indeed need to upgrade some coaches. When I see defensive players out of position and offensive players repeating the same bonehead mistakes it points to leadership.....coaching!
 
DMoney said:
..and that's better than the rest of the crap since 2004. Richt sputtered because he didn't make adjustments. Manny, for his faults, doesn't seem to have that problem. There is a lot of work to do.

- This is not a complete team, but it's winning games because it is a least competent in all three phases. "Winning the offseason" is starting to translate to winning on the field. Last week, it was the offense. This week, it was the defense's turn. They had 11 TFLs, 6 sacks, and held a legit Virginia Tech offense below all of their averages. D'Eriq King is the main reason we're winning, but he was 12-8 before he came here. These are team wins.

- With that said, three players stood above the pack. Jaelan Phillips might be on the verge of a true breakout. He is playing with a ton of confidence and is starting to add some slipperiness to his game. T'ecory Couch showed everything in his bag-- the footwork, the ball skills, blitzing and open-field tackling. He's our best corner right now. Gilbert Frierson picked up two sacks and now has 9 TFLs on the season. He dances too much, but that's his real personality. All three of these guys bring juice and energy that is needed.

- This might have been the worst game of the year from a playcalling standpoint. It seemed like we were playing left-handed. We have a great QB and a great kicker, so we run a kicker option. King is cooking, so we throw a screen to our LT. We have two RBs who can catch, so we throw it to the guy from the Wing-T. There were too many meaningful downs wasted with DOA playcalls. King is an elite decisionmaker. Let him work.

- Delone Scaife is still not a guard. He's not strong enough. This was a bad week to lose Campbell, Clark and Rivers. Scaife should've been benched. We aren't Wisconsin at center or tackle, but there is a clear gap between those positions and our guard play. Slide Campbell inside and get Donaldson on the treadmill.

- Salute to the wide receivers. They have gone from bad to average, with explosive traits. Likens has them playing tougher and more competitive every week. Still need to recruit better to go to the next level.

- Bubba Bolden is coming down to Earth. I was worried once I saw the Demolition Man haircut. He reminds me in several ways of Rayshawn Jenkins. I hope he comes back to prepare himself to be a legitimate NFL starter.

- The running game is still not there. It seemed like all three guys were pressing a bit. Virginia Tech isn't good up front. Georgia Tech (100th in rush defense) is even worse and a nice opportunity to get things back on track.

- The LBs played better than expected against a tough matchup. It hurts to say this about a loyal senior, but McCloud should have to earn his way back on the field.

We're halfway through November and it's still fun to watch Canes football. That's progress.
Click to expand...

Massive, massive difference is King is a top QB that can carry the team, Rosier was not. For example, Pitt tried to do the same thing with King they did with Rosier, but he was able to hit some huge throws to burn them. That was not possible with Rosier.

Having a top tier QB vs a game manager is no small difference.

Doesn't feel like 2017, because I'm not nearly as nervous when we fall behind.
 
Penalties and Self-Awareness are issues that this team suffers majorly. The biggest issue is they aren’t coming from young guys but from older players who should 100% know better.

Stop making excuses for Scaife. He’s playing like chiiit and it’s not just cuz he’s out of position.

I 100% that Lashlee waste too many downs. I understand at time he is setting plays up for down the line but it hurts the rhythm. For example, the 3rd down play before the half was a major waste.

Bolden looks like a guy with one foot out the door. He doesn’t have that same fire. On the play where he got called for PI, he didn’t even get his hands up or he could have had a pick.

We all know McCloud will go right back to starting
 
Advertisement
Advertisement
The only similarity is that both the 2017 team and this team are not as good as their records may indicate. I find this year’s team less fundamentally flawed than 2017, but 2017 was more fun to watch to this point 8 games in.
 
DMoney said:
..and that's better than the rest of the crap since 2004. Richt sputtered because he didn't make adjustments. Manny, for his faults, doesn't seem to have that problem. There is a lot of work to do.

- This is not a complete team, but it's winning games because it is a least competent in all three phases. "Winning the offseason" is starting to translate to winning on the field. Last week, it was the offense. This week, it was the defense's turn. They had 11 TFLs, 6 sacks, and held a legit Virginia Tech offense below all of their averages. D'Eriq King is the main reason we're winning, but he was 12-8 before he came here. These are team wins.

- With that said, three players stood above the pack. Jaelan Phillips might be on the verge of a true breakout. He is playing with a ton of confidence and is starting to add some slipperiness to his game. T'ecory Couch showed everything in his bag-- the footwork, the ball skills, blitzing and open-field tackling. He's our best corner right now. Gilbert Frierson picked up two sacks and now has 9 TFLs on the season. He dances too much, but that's his real personality. All three of these guys bring juice and energy that is needed.

- This might have been the worst game of the year from a playcalling standpoint. It seemed like we were playing left-handed. We have a great QB and a great kicker, so we run a kicker option. King is cooking, so we throw a screen to our LT. We have two RBs who can catch, so we throw it to the guy from the Wing-T. There were too many meaningful downs wasted with DOA playcalls. King is an elite decisionmaker. Let him work.

- Delone Scaife is still not a guard. He's not strong enough. This was a bad week to lose Campbell, Clark and Rivers. Scaife should've been benched. We aren't Wisconsin at center or tackle, but there is a clear gap between those positions and our guard play. Slide Campbell inside and get Donaldson on the treadmill.

- Salute to the wide receivers. They have gone from bad to average, with explosive traits. Likens has them playing tougher and more competitive every week. Still need to recruit better to go to the next level.

- Bubba Bolden is coming down to Earth. I was worried once I saw the Demolition Man haircut. He reminds me in several ways of Rayshawn Jenkins. I hope he comes back to prepare himself to be a legitimate NFL starter.

- The running game is still not there. It seemed like all three guys were pressing a bit. Virginia Tech isn't good up front. Georgia Tech (100th in rush defense) is even worse and a nice opportunity to get things back on track.

- The LBs played better than expected against a tough matchup. It hurts to say this about a loyal senior, but McCloud should have to earn his way back on the field.

We're halfway through November and it's still fun to watch Canes football. That's progress.
Click to expand...
The big differences with this team and the 2017 team are the following

1.). They haven’t taken it to the next level when playing really good teams like we did be VT and ND that year. In fairness Clemson has been our only really great team we’ve played

2.). We are winning close games which I similar but not in the same fashion. In 2017 we had 2 games GT and FSU where we where down to our last opportunity and Langham with a little luck came down with winning plays. This year games are super close but we win them by plying great D in the 4th and having legit scoring drives without luck
 
TLOC said:
I always said a successful season would be showing major signs of improvement. It was fairly obvious that our record would improve from last year with the pickups of Lashlee and King. We’re literally relying on King to carry us to victory. But all of that is irrelevant to me because most importantly Manny Diaz is still the head coach. We are definitely in the top 10 of one of the most poorly coached teams in the whole country imo. Now I ask you this, when you watch us play do you see a good team? I sure as **** don’t. To be honest I still see a below average team mostly getting bailed out by their star QB. Those are not things you can build on because King will most likely be gone next year. Like I said in another thread, you have to give Manny credit for landing King but we would be 1-7 without him this
Click to expand...
Fair points. I too am nervous to see what things would be like without King. But I am not going to say we suck or write this year off because of our star QB’s exceptional play. Plus, it’s going to give a boost with recruiting especially with the pandemic situation.
What makes me most nervous about Manny is not stubbornness or ****iness as it may have been with some others but it’s the lack of discipline. Some real headscratchers at times. Both before the whistle and after.
 
Advertisement
@DMoney this is a small point but an important one for more than the obvious reason, I think. You said, "D'Eriq King is the main reason we're winning, but he was 12-8 before he came here. These are team wins." You could have stopped with the bold print.

QB is THE most important position in team sports. King played well enough at Houston to have options as to where he played his final years of eligibility. We did not have any options at QB that were as good as him. He chose us, and we're all glad he did, but the point is that he did enough at Houston in spite of his 12-8 record for UM to leap at the opportunity to bring him here. So who's leading whom?

Without King it's doubtful we are above .500. You can argue that receivers catch his passes and Lashlee has to make the correct play calls and that King benefits from that, but you can also argue King's had to overcome key drops, inconsistent OL play, running back play, and wide receiver play, a defense that can't stop even pedestrian offenses, an OC who made literally no adjustments in the biggest game of the season, and more penalties than 107 other college football programs. And it should go without saying that Lashlee can't make a single read or pass for us. He can't take a sack for us or be clutch or will us to victory with his grit and arm talent. All that's on King.

So, Manny, Lashlee, the team, and all of our hopes rest on King's shoulders. As he goes, so go the Miami Hurricanes.

In spite of what to me are obvious flaws in different areas of our team, I would rather be a 1 loss team than where we were last season, and I am so happy for Mike Harley for playing so well. I'm also happy to see that Pope has improved over the course of the season. He seems to have matured as a gameday player. Our kicking game is the most consistent positive aspect of our team, but without King, all of that amounts to is a bunch of close loses.

A final note, because QB play is so important to today's game, for us to get back on top of the college football world, we're going to have to get elite QBs to come to UM. D'Eriq, who has many areas he can still improve upon, is being an excellent example for young gunslingers to see themselves and what they could do, if they came to UM. King is key.
 
We 7-1 and that’s all that matters
 

Attachments

  • AF073ECC-14ED-4E77-808B-EEED65769B06.gif
    AF073ECC-14ED-4E77-808B-EEED65769B06.gif
    809.9 KB · Views: 5
Advertisement
A good QB leader when things get tough is huge and we have not had one in ages.

A really good punter and kicker changes the game.

No real excuse not to have a good qb and kicking game every year.
 
DMoney said:
..and that's better than the rest of the crap since 2004. Richt sputtered because he didn't make adjustments. Manny, for his faults, doesn't seem to have that problem. There is a lot of work to do.

- This is not a complete team, but it's winning games because it is a least competent in all three phases. "Winning the offseason" is starting to translate to winning on the field. Last week, it was the offense. This week, it was the defense's turn. They had 11 TFLs, 6 sacks, and held a legit Virginia Tech offense below all of their averages. D'Eriq King is the main reason we're winning, but he was 12-8 before he came here. These are team wins.

- With that said, three players stood above the pack. Jaelan Phillips might be on the verge of a true breakout. He is playing with a ton of confidence and is starting to add some slipperiness to his game. T'ecory Couch showed everything in his bag-- the footwork, the ball skills, blitzing and open-field tackling. He's our best corner right now. Gilbert Frierson picked up two sacks and now has 9 TFLs on the season. He dances too much, but that's his real personality. All three of these guys bring juice and energy that is needed.

- This might have been the worst game of the year from a playcalling standpoint. It seemed like we were playing left-handed. We have a great QB and a great kicker, so we run a kicker option. King is cooking, so we throw a screen to our LT. We have two RBs who can catch, so we throw it to the guy from the Wing-T. There were too many meaningful downs wasted with DOA playcalls. King is an elite decisionmaker. Let him work.

- Delone Scaife is still not a guard. He's not strong enough. This was a bad week to lose Campbell, Clark and Rivers. Scaife should've been benched. We aren't Wisconsin at center or tackle, but there is a clear gap between those positions and our guard play. Slide Campbell inside and get Donaldson on the treadmill.

- Salute to the wide receivers. They have gone from bad to average, with explosive traits. Likens has them playing tougher and more competitive every week. Still need to recruit better to go to the next level.

- Bubba Bolden is coming down to Earth. I was worried once I saw the Demolition Man haircut. He reminds me in several ways of Rayshawn Jenkins. I hope he comes back to prepare himself to be a legitimate NFL starter.

- The running game is still not there. It seemed like all three guys were pressing a bit. Virginia Tech isn't good up front. Georgia Tech (100th in rush defense) is even worse and a nice opportunity to get things back on track.

- The LBs played better than expected against a tough matchup. It hurts to say this about a loyal senior, but McCloud should have to earn his way back on the field.

We're halfway through November and it's still fun to watch Canes football. That's progress.
Click to expand...

"Manny, for his faults, doesn't seem to have that problem"

Respectfully...it remains to be seen if he is willing to make changes to the defense.
 
Advertisement
Back
Top