Did that really just happen? Did we really just go into Blacksburg thinking we were definitely going to win only to come out with a 31 – 7 defeat AGAIN. I thought this was 2009 not 2003. In case you blocked out the 2003 version of Saturday’s game let me refresh your memory. The Canes were ranked #2 had a 7-0 record and were riding a 39 game winning streak before getting dominated by Va Tech losing 31 – 7. You think Jimmy Graham dropping two consecutive passes was bad? How about Kevin Everett dropping a touchdown on a fake field goal with no one within 20 yards of him. I still feel like 9 times out of 10 Miami wins Saturday’s game and it seems like some of the Canes players feel that way as well. Miami falls to #17 in the AP poll while VT jumps to #6.
In case you missed it Gameday did a feature on Jacory Harris.
Saturday wasn’t all bad. Tim Tebow did get the pukeknocked out of him. Once again Urban Meyer shows his class by leaving his ill quarterback in the game with a 31 – 7 lead. That hit was karma.
The Heisman Trophy candidate and the No. 9 Hurricanes try to make it three wins in a row over ranked teams at No. 11 Virginia Tech.
Q: How does it feel getting the national respect back for Miami?
A: I don’t want it. I still want to fight for it.
Q: Both wins (over Florida State and Georgia Tech) were on national TV. Are you guys enjoying being the popular “hot” team?
A: We’re just trying to take care of business … I don’t like bandwagon jumpers. If you weren’t with us when everyone said we were going to start 0-4, I don’t want you now.
Q: You said you enjoy playing in hostile stadiums, like this week. Why?
A: I am not a cocky person, but I like playing away because I like to look in the crowd after the game and see the stunned faces of the fans. That’s my fuel.
Is The U back?
Is Miami for real?
Is Miami ready for a top ten ranking and all the national attention they are receiving?
It sure feels like it. Miami hasn’t seen an offense like this (college or pro) since the 2003 Hurricanes. It seems like the Canes have only scratched the surface of Whipple Ball early in the season. So far everything has worked so Whipple hasn’t had to dig too deep into his playbook.
The match-up against Virginia Tech tomorrow seems like a no-brainer. Va. Tech can’t score because their best running back is injured and their quarterback is awful. They are in the bottom 20 in the country in run defense. Neither FSU nor Georgia Tech were able to stop Miami from scoring; how is Va. Tech with their porous run defense supposed to stop them? The Miami defense played well last week but still gave up 17 points including a passing touchdown to one of the worst passing quarterbacks around. But when Miami scores 40 points on a team who is going to notice the defense giving up a few touchdowns? Yes I know Miami only scored 33 points but they could of easily tacked on a few more touchdowns. I see an easy win for Miami. The talking heads keep yapping about what a favorable match-up this game is for Miami and go on about why Miami is going to win. Then it seems like they try to protect themselves by tacking on something like ‘the atmosphere at Blacksburg makes it such a tough place to play.’ Granted they have a crazy crowd and are good at home, but if I remember correctly Miami went into a just as raucous stadium in Doak Campbell a few weeks back for a night game on national television and stayed composed. Particularly Jacory Harris who looks like he wouldn’t flinch if a bomb blew up next to him. If all you are banking on is your home field advantage you probably don’t have much of a chance.
If you have been keeping up with this blog for a little while you may have noticed the May 7th post which I plan on linking to all season long. Now it seems ESPN has taken a double take. Miami has been the network’s golden boy since last Thursday. Pundits are jumping on the Miami bandwagon left and right. All I got to say to the Lou Holtz’s of the world is:
Like the song says: “This ain’t a blast from the past it’s a boomer from the future.”
Miami is back in the top 10 in the polls for the first time since the 2005 season. The AP Poll came out Sunday morning and the Hurricanes are ranked number 9 in the country, one above Oklahoma and two above Virginia Tech. Miami’s blowout victory over Georgia Tech knocked the Yellow Jackets out of the rankings and the Canes were also helped by FSU’s shocking beat down of BYU surging the Noles up to 18 in the recent polls. It feels great to be back in the top ten but this is not the ultimate destination for the U. 8 more spots to climb by the end of the year! The nation has been put under a Hurricane warning. The U might be back.
Jonathan Dwyer entered the game as an All-American Fullback, the center piece of a triple option attack that gashed the Canes for 472 yards last year, the 2008 ACC Offensive Player of the year and just 8 yards shy of 2,000 career rushing yards. Then Miami’s Defensive Line was let loose. They pounded him every play he touched the ball and even the plays he didn’t – the triple option was shut down from the get go. When players like Allen Bailey, Joe Joseph, Marcus Forston, and Josh Holmes were let free through the line of scrimmage it was Dwyer who was punished. Regardless of whether he kept the ball or not the Defensive Tackles harassed the star Fullback early and often and knocked him out of the game by halftime. Jonathan Dwyer left the game with just 5 carries for 7 yards, one shy of that 2,000 yard mark. The Canes interior line never gave him breathing room.
Georgia Tech ran several rocket sweeps early in the game where the wing back would motion from one side of the line to the other catching the ball running full speed while Miami’s outside linebackers were cut blocked on the perimeter. This was Tech’s lone play that was successful on a consistent basis through the first half. With three minutes left in the third quarter Roddy Jones got the ball on the sweep and Vaughn Telemaque came in like a heat seeking missile. Telemaque knocked Jones off his feet, flipped him in the air, knocked the ball loose, sent the crowd into a frenzy, and created even more swagger for the blood thirsty Defense that beat up Georgia Tech all night.
The Nebraska’s and the Oklahoma’s of College Football used to make a living off the option and would run the ball all over everyone on their way to championship after championship. That all changed when Miami arrived and used their speed to wipe out that style of football and change the game for good. That is the kind of speed and aggressiveness that Miami’s young Defense played with Thursday night.
The stats speak for themselves:
GT Rushing yards last year = 472 This year = 95
GT points last year = 41 This year = 17
GT yards per carry last year = 8.4 This year = 2.4
GT outcome last year = won by 18 This year = lost by 16
Jacory Harris and company were once again flawless on the Offensive side of the ball, but it is the Defense that should be the most proud after Thursday night’s blowout victory. The Offense was about as perfect as it gets with over 180 yards of rushing and a passing attack with an 80% completion percentage, 0 sacks, 270 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Whipple kept the Defense guessing all night and the Offense deserves all the credit in the world. But it was the Defense that was mocked and humiliated during last year’s debacle in Atlanta. They were challenged again but this year they rose to the occasion by punching Georgia Tech in the mouth for 60 minutes and never letting up.
Miami’s defense handled Georgia Tech’s option tonight and the offense wasn’t half bad either. The Canes won 33 – 17 in a game that really was never close. Some numbers from the game:
Georgia Tech rushing yards = 95
Georgia Tech average rush yards a carry = 2.4
Jonathan Dwyer rushing yards = 7
I guess we aren’t going to see Jacory Harris rock an afro anytime soon. Does Jacory owe Brandon McGee $50 for this cut? He went 20 – 25 for 270 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Stay Cool Jacory.
Randy Phillips: “Virginia Tech is the next of the big games everybody thought we would lose.”
Blacksburg here we come.
In the Flexbone / Wing Offense when you run the triple option you don’t block the Defensive Tackle. The quarterback either hands it off to the fullback or keeps it himself running to the outside. The Offensive Guard can either double team another player or block a linebacker, but by design the Defensive Tackle is let free. Defensive Tackles are typically the slowest Defensive players on the field and when facing the option can look silly. There is one problem for Georgia Tech.
Allen Bailey is not a typical Defensive Tackle. He ran a faster 40 time this spring than last year’s leading Wide Receiver Aldarius Johnson. That is not typical for a Defensive Tackle. He set a Hurricane power-clean record. It is not typical to be that big and that fast. When most people see an alligator they avoid it. As a young teenager Allen Bailey killed a full grown alligator by beating it over the head with a shovel so that he could eat it. He grew up on a secluded island off the coast of Georgia and ate wild animals. Boars, snakes, opossums, alligators, you name it he killed it and ate it. You’ve heard the saying you are what you eat. Allen Bailey did not grow up on McDonald’s or Wendy’s, he grew up eating wild animals. He weighs over 290 lbs but only has 7 % body fat. He has the size of a Lineman, the speed of a Wide Receiver, strength that can not be compared and Georgia Tech won’t block him.
Imagine that you are Jonathan Dwyer. You are an All-ACC Fullback with size and speed. But there is someone lined up a few feet in front of you that out weighs you by 60 lbs, fears nothing, eats alligators, bench presses the world, has been instructed by his coaches to hit you as hard as he can every chance he gets, and the one player between you and him has been instructed by your coaches to not block him.
Now most times he will be blocked, but when they run triple options to either A-Gap (between the Center and either Guard) they choose to let the Defensive Tackle free. So how do you feel Jonathan Dwyer?
College Football hasn’t seen a Defensive Tackle with this much speed since Jerome Brown wiped out Oklahoma’s option in the 80’s (basically knocking the wishbone into extinction) just shortly after he broke Troy Aikman’s leg and sent him back to California. Allen Bailey has a while to go before he becomes a player of Jerome Brown’s caliber. But I will enjoy every play along the way. And there won’t be too many opportunities as inviting as Thursday night. I’m guessing they won’t run it his way too many times. But when they do- you will hear it and Jonathan Dwyer will feel it.
The Hurricanes kicked off the season in style going into the hated Seminoles house and escaping with a win.
The game came down to one play, FSU’s quarterback Christian Ponder threw a pass into the end zone and it came up
These teams were very evenly matched and either team could of came out with a victory. The Hurricanes defense, which had been carved up by Ponder all game, was able to deny him the winning touchdown when it counted the most. The Canes are 1-0 and are ranked #20 in the AP poll.
The snazzy dressed Hurricanes boarded their buses just before 1:30 pm today.
Jacory Harris was especially well-dressed.
Allen Bailey is still huge.
Travis Benjamin told me he was going to have a bigger game this year than last. I’m not sure if that’s possible after last year’s performance.
Please remove your children from Randy Shannon’s path.
There were more fans than usual to wish the players luck before they left. The players seemed very focused. Some were holding binders about 1 and a half inches thick. The one we got a clear look at said “Our Focus” and then had the UM helmet “vs” the FSU helmet.
In his column for Sporting News, Jason Fox talks about how the Canes have improved, how the team has bonded off the field and how he’s taking a leadership role.
‘We’re several wins better than we were last year’
By Jason Fox For SN Today
I was thinking about this the other day, thinking about what it takes to be a good team. And I don’t know what we don’t have. You can’t say we don’t have the athletes. We get top recruits every year. We have the athletes, we have speed—we have everything you need.
Break it down by position, and we have probably four or five legitimate running backs, we have an extremely talented quarterback and we’re very deep at wide receiver. We have a very talented offensive line—and that’s just on the offensive side of the ball.
If you break it down by position, coaches, whatever you want, we have all the pieces of the puzzle. We’ve just got to put them together. I look at this team after looking at last year’s team, and I think we’re several wins better than we were last year, so that’s exciting.
A huge advantage I think is our two new coordinators on both sides of the ball. Coach (Mark) Whipple is a really good offensive coordinator and a very creative play caller, and I’m excited as ever to have him call the plays for us. And playing against our defense, you can already tell that coach (John) Lovett knows what he’s talking about, too.
This team has become closer every year I’ve been here, and this year, guys are not only hanging out together at the athletic center, they’re coming over to my house or going out to eat together, things like that.
I live with three other players— Colin McCarthy, Tyler Horn and Lee Chambers—and we’ve got a house that’s pretty good sized and can have a bunch of people over. We’ve got a pool in our back yard, and guys are over here all the time swimming or playing video games or pool or pingpong.
In the spring, we always have a team fish fry at our house, and this year, the seniors got to talking and decided to get together as a group every two weeks. We took it upon ourselves not to be the disciplinarians, but we kind of took control and said, “You know what coaches, y’all don’t have to be babysitters because we’re going to make sure people are going to class, studying their playbooks, watching film—all the things on and off the field to be successful.
We’ve already seen a lot of positive results, and I think we’ll see a lot more once the season starts. We have a great senior class. A lot of the guys, such as Randy Phillips and Chavez Grant, we’re all the same type of leaders. We’re going to stay on those young guys and make sure they do the right things.
— As told to Jim Gilstrap
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