When U are getting older, but U are still completely in love with the Hurricanes and each other like Fran and his wife of over 40 years Jean (seen below with RandyCane at R at The Shark) you don't mind driving five hours from DeBary to get to the Stadium when the gates open four hours before kickoff. Hard core UM fans are like that, and to them losing really losing hurts. But even after the tough loss to Clemson they said that they will be back to see their team again soon, just as sure as they are married.
When U love your team more than life itself, it hurts so bad to lose. After the game was over we found the JSQ in tears and threatening suicide (we think she was kidding about running out into traffic?). Text message reports from her friends were that they had her on "close watch" and that it took "sight and sound supervision" to keep her away from the traffic flow headed out of The Shark. Not even the now infamous orange and green jello shots were going to wash away her pain on this night.
The word on the street is that the JSQ is scheduled to be released from the Crisis Stabilization Unit today at 4 PM with her new anti-depressant prescription. Please whatever U do, no more sharp objects around her at the tailgate party!
When you hate losing more than death like me (#86) and Lamar Thomas (#36) do, then losing, like love, stinks. Long time Canespacer Calvin can tell U that a few months ago when someone posted on the blog that the world was going to end on December 12 of 2012, I posted this comment: "As long as Miami wins one or two more national championships by then I'm cool with that." I meant it too; every word of it.
When U bleed orange and green like MiamiMike01 and RandyCane (seen above, front C and middle C with Fran, Mitch, Money, MoneyGirl and Jean) U do what U can to support your Hurricanes. They drove all the way from Jacksonville to attend the game only to see their U go down to the Tigers at the Shark. After the game when we were back on the patio by the pool at the lovely Hampton Inn in Plantation, Mike and I tried to drink away the pain of losing with a bottle of Tequilla (Patron of course). The remedy was only partially successful as we found out the next morning that the pain was still there, but had moved from our hearts to our heads.
When U follow the team with The U on their helmet for a living like AngryCane and Canechic do (seen above during happier times at the UCF tailgate party with daughter Nicole and friends), U have no problem making the four hour trip from Orlando for every UM home game since time began. And, U would rather take a sharp stick in the eye than lose another ACC game at home. Angry didn't get his name for nothing and after the loss he required a minimum safe distance of 6 feet. Anything within in striking distance is at risk of serious, and at times even life threatening, injury. Canespace is NOT responsible for any damages if U fail to follow safe handling instructions included with the blog.
But when U really love the Hurricanes, U will travel by air, water or even foot if U have to just to get to see them play. Original Canespacer HurricaneMitch (he hardly ever blogs now, but he's still around) flew in from Nebrsaka just to see the Canes play live at The Shark. Above U see him signing the famous Canespace banner at the tailgate party before the game. The banner has been signed by hundreds of Canes fans from all over the Country and a few former players like Lamar Thomas #36 and Russell Maryland #67 and others.
So to U lazy fans out there who live within driving distance to the stadium and choose to sit at home to watch the game instead of going to The Shark like the REAL fans seen here, U are pathetic. U simply don't love your team like we do. No, U don't. Get off the damn couch and get into the game.
If we don't see U at The Shark for the next game I will have no choice but to send my boys AngryCane and his partner in crime MoneyCane (seen below) after your sorry azzes. And it will NOT be pretty, trust me on this.
"Now, when we fought, you had that eye of the tiger, man; the edge! And now you gotta get it back, and the way to get it back is to go back to the beginning. You know what I mean?
See that look in their eyes, Rock? You gotta get that look back, Rock. Eye of the tiger, man.
Posted by: Gin & Tonic | October 26, 2009 at 10:18 AM"
LMFAO!
(Cue Rick Rude voice): PRODUCTION MONKEY IN THE BACK! Hit, the music.
(Yeah, that was Hogan's in the 80's but still, this about sums it up for the Hurricane's right now)
Posted by: orange 'n green in the vein | October 26, 2009 at 07:11 PM
Greetings from Disneyland, folks! My youngest is napping so I got chance to read and post here, finally. 86- I represented Canespace all day Saturday, not many canes fans here, and I wish it brought the tmea more luck, but what can U do? I tivo'ed the game, got text updates all day through the park, and planned to watch it at night on ESPN 360 but couldn't do it, wouldn't have been fair to the kids to get worked up over this one. I'll watch it when I get home. Without seeing it, when I saw Clemple's scores on my phone I knew we had to have suffered a big injury for their O to move on us, please Spence be ok. As for fan disappointment with the game- that's the price for setting the bar high. Consider it a compliment to Shannon that an overtime loss gets people worked up. Everything will calm down when we win out, especially after we beat the living hell out of the Tar Schmeils.
86- I appreciate the shirt offer and can't have enough canespace gear, but since Solar was nice enough to let me have one when he won one of your contests, allow me to return the favor (and save you a couple of bucks in postage) :)- give the one you planned to mail to me to a well-deserving fan that you see at one of the upcoming games.
Anyway, I'm back to the park, hope to check in sometime tomorrow.
Posted by: j.w. | October 26, 2009 at 07:12 PM
Stumbled on a replay of the game by accident. For some reason I can't turn the channel.
On an related note, Sebastian is hiding the knives in the house and getting the tequila ready.
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 07:17 PM
I also thought the 40,000+ in Miami Gardens would have made more of a differnce in the reverb chamber that was the Orange Bowl than they did on Saturday, but the turnout and the lack of homefield advantage wasn't surprising to me. If we had beaten VT we might have topped 60,000-70,000 since we would have been top 5, but unless the number next to the U on the chyron is a single digit, 50,000 is about the max you're going to pull unless it's F$U, UF, or Notre Dame for a UM football game. Sad but true. 50,000 in the teal box isn't much of an advantage, but OU was loud, and wasn't capacity so I could be wrong about it.
Posted by: orange 'n green in the vein | October 26, 2009 at 07:18 PM
The Clemson OC said four days before the game he intended to rotate his offensive linemen against our D line.
He was confident we would wear down because of our lack of depth there.
With more and more guys getting nicked and banged up we could see more fatigue being an issue the rest of the way.
jmo
peace
Posted by: solarcane | October 26, 2009 at 03:52 PM
>>>>>
Very true but I don't think anyone has the talent to match the depth of Clemson. BUT if our offense had finished one of those drives with a TD or simply running off the clock, the D's fatigue wouldn't be an issue, kind of like the 2002 Fiesta.
Posted by: Captain Optimist aka Cavaleer | October 26, 2009 at 07:18 PM
Clemson was flying under the radar after the bomb they laid last year, they excell when the pressure is off. But to bottom line it:
The big story Saturday was your Miami Hurricanes losing an OT thriller behind a career day from CJ Spiller, and it was national news. When was the last time a close Miami loss "meant" anything nationally? 2003? Like Calvin pointed out, if The Randy were to leave today, there is absolutely NO ONE who could credibly say the program isn't in a better place due to his stewardship of it. That's the mark of a good coach, and if he continues to progress as a head coach, possibly a great one as well.
Posted by: orange 'n green in the vein | October 26, 2009 at 07:22 PM
Everyone keeps talking about all this talent RS has brought in. But besides 12, 31, 47, 3, and 2 where is all the talent?
So out of three so called great recruiting classes we have abut 5 or 6 guys who can make a difference.
Say what you want about the recruiting services and all the stars crap but the teams at the top of the BCS are the same teams who the last 5 years have been at the top of the recruting charts every signing day.
It seems like the 5 stars we do get are all duds (AB #11).. or our coaches just can't develop talent. i seem to think it's both.
And Rs has been here for how many years now? he was the DC and longest standing assistant while Coker was heer. Do you not think Rs had a lot to do with recruiting and who was signed? I do, maybe he is the real cancer and needs to be cut out.
You guys all come on here and say how much of a real fan you are bit it's cool we lost to 3-3 team because we;re still young, injured or whatever crap you want to say.
You are like our coach no killer instinct and just floating along and another 7-5 or oooh maybe a 9-3 season is fine.
We should not have lost to Clemson and i won't be srprised one bit if we lose to NC and Butch. This has been our MO under Shannon and Choker.
This is getting ridiculous, how long does it take to turn around a program and we have been young for how many years now> I'm sorry don't most players only get 4 years in college how many do we need before the young excuse gets played out.
Our HC is the king of excuses and never manning up and taking the blame for a loss. we got three seniors on our O-line and except Fox all of them suck. been here five years and still can't play and weak and out of shape. No depth, the dudes behind them all suck if they can't beat these guys out.
Do we really have competition or is Rs just playing the most experienced rather then the typical quote " the best guys are going to play" Yeah right!
Posted by: real deal | October 26, 2009 at 07:22 PM
Soup, you have a typo in the second sentence....."losing" comes twice.
U and Jimmy make great points but I think the answer is a sort of staring Us in the face. Both of our Coordinators are still a little unsure of what to do when. They seem to outthink or hesitate too much in some ways.
Soup's point about Shields is perfect. I'd blitz him all game long and let Chavez or McGee pick up his man, or C-Mac as you said. I'd keep BH in coverage.
Our biggest plays on defense this year have come with blitzes. But I think Lovett's a bit of a worrier, (recall his speed after the OU game about how much he worried about us being in the right coverage), at this stage because he sees how many things can go wrong with this D, so he hedges his bets.
But I'd rather have Shields blitzing from all angles than running around in coverage. Send him on 1st down or something. He's a missile in a straight line.
But as Jimmy said, 4 TOs and two crucial unfinished drives will sink almost any defense, just as the 2002 D.
Posted by: Captain Optimist aka Cavaleer | October 26, 2009 at 07:25 PM
real deal, you're either a troll or else you have no point since you're already proclaiming recruiting classes who 2/3rds of which aren't upperclassmen yet busts or booms. It takes at least 3 years to even begin to get a sense of what you really got out of a recruiting class. So go look at the first class brought in under The Randy, which was under duress due to the coaching change to begin with and count the players from that. But really, you know you're going to please yourself to #15's proclamation that the earth is 8,000 years old while reciting his lockeroom speach after Ole' Miss last year, so go ahead and come on out of that particular closet right now and save us all the time and trouble.
Posted by: orange 'n green in the vein | October 26, 2009 at 07:26 PM
Bosher scores! GO 'CANES!
Perhaps I should stop watching now . . .
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 07:30 PM
86 nice blog from the heart, with pics.
Daytoncane: thing is its the lack of having a game plan to attack the weakness of the opposing offense that is getting old.
Fsu the D gave so much room to Ponder he was giggling.
One game the U adjusted ga tech. 10 days + part of fall and spring practice for that adjustment
OKLa has a weak o-line so the van. approach worked ok.
I had some hope after cfu, some dif. defensive calls but that all vanished against clemson, and we all know how the d played at va tech.
I have little hope that the defense will do much dif the rest of the yr. HOpe the offense wins.
I do not think it is the talent as much as the defensive schemes.
Posted by: dlu | October 26, 2009 at 07:34 PM
#26, #1, #4, #97(currently injured), #7, #35, #54 all have shown to be impact players
Im sure I missed some others
Posted by: Sebastian | October 26, 2009 at 07:37 PM
Everyone keeps talking about all this talent RS has brought in. But besides 12, 31, 47, 3, and 2 where is all the talent?
Posted by: real deal | October 26, 2009 at 07:22 PM
I've seen dumb things written here before and kind of chuckled.
But I feel the most idiotic thing ever written here should be acknowledged.
So everyone please take a look then continue on with your blogging.
Thank you.
Posted by: pb(CSROH10) | October 26, 2009 at 07:38 PM
Real Deal, how about #1, #35, #57, #47, #85, #4, #28, #54, #35, #56, #26, #7...off the top of my head. Or have you only seen the Clemson game this year?
Let's take a closer look.
The entire WR corps are Shannonites, as are 3/4 of the DL, with about four of them injured.
LBs are 2/3 Cokerites, and DBs are a mix, with the most talented being the true SO and two FR, one RS and one true.
OL is entirely Cokerite except for Gunn, who came in despite Coker's departure.
So if you're talking about real talent it's almost entirely FR, SO, which explains why OL and LB are the two weakest links on the team, closely followed by DBs.
The rest have been whipped into shape by Shannon and of late Whipple, most of the juniors.
So I'm not sure what your point is. Clemson's coaches planned to exploit our lack of depth and to some degree it worked. Shannon can't make OL and LBs out of thin air, especially not OL. Sharpton, Fox, Pipho, Frank, Trump and Figs are all Cokerites.
The only Cokerite who I'd say is full scale baller is C-Mac.
You make the most of what you have, and given these guys performances 3 years ago, I'd say Team Shannon has dam near worked miracles. lol
The talent, the playmakers, the gamebreakers are all FR and SO, except for Hankerson. But he needed to be "motivated" before he really dug deep.
So again, what exactly is your point?
Posted by: Captain Optimist aka Cavaleer | October 26, 2009 at 07:39 PM
OGV, you got that right about the fair weather Florida fans. If we're not top-5 and the opponent isn't top ten, forget it. lol
People don't know who a 3-3 Clemson team is.
Posted by: Captain Optimist aka Cavaleer | October 26, 2009 at 07:42 PM
JSQ walk away from the TV put down the remote....serenity now serenity now.
Posted by: canechic | October 26, 2009 at 07:43 PM
Solar, the fact that Clemson's coaches were fully aware of our lack of depth shows just how much we're still feeling the effects of Medioker. It's disgusting to say it but it's true. The fact that CLEMSON has more able bodied, capable OL-DL says everything.
The key to the rest of the season is both offense and defense playing lights out from the beginning, so we can get a lead and coast.
#11 and the young OL MUST step up. It's that simple.
Posted by: Captain Optimist aka Cavaleer | October 26, 2009 at 07:45 PM
On an related note, Sebastian is hiding the knives in the house and getting the tequila ready.
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 07:17 PM
SMART DOG. I gotta meet this dog...LOL
Posted by: 86Cane | October 26, 2009 at 07:46 PM
Touchdown Berry!
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 07:49 PM
the Canes still has an outside shot of playing for the ACC champioship.
If the Canes win out and GT and VT gets one more loss, we will be right back in this.
I know some of you dont think GT and VT will loose again, but why not hope? Why not believe?
GT has 2 conf games left (WF and Duke) and VT has 3 (NC, Maryland and Virgina). Those teams are looking to do to GT and VT what Clemson did to Miami.
The Canes next 4 games are all in conf (WF, Virgina, Duke and NC) and has to go 4-0 to keeps its slime hopes alive for the ACC championship.
If they can go 3-1 against top ranked teams at the time, i believe they can go 4-0 in conference.
LETS DO THIS!!!!!
GO CANES!!!!!!!
Posted by: BahamaCane | October 26, 2009 at 07:49 PM
NO! NO! Don't kick it to Spiller! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 07:49 PM
....
Posted by: canesteeler | October 26, 2009 at 07:50 PM
JSQ it is like in Fever Pitch you must not rehash the bad memories...only the good ones, like the Rose Bowl!
Posted by: canechic | October 26, 2009 at 07:52 PM
If they can go 3-1 against top ranked teams at the time, i believe they can go 4-0 in conference.
LETS DO THIS!!!!!
GO CANES!!!!!!!
Posted by: BahamaCane | October 26, 2009 at 07:49 PM
I'm with you, Bahama. My new second favorite team is whomever is playing GT and VT. Kinda like last year when I became a huge Terps fan for 4 hours when they were playing GT in November.
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 07:52 PM
I'm with you, Bahama. My new second favorite team is whomever is playing GT and VT. Kinda like last year when I became a huge Terps fan for 4 hours when they were playing GT in November.
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 07:52 PM
I meant UNC. Thought of GT because that was who we played the next week after the UNC loss put us in the driver's seat in the ACC. We all know how that one went . . .
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 07:53 PM
JSQ it is like in Fever Pitch you must not rehash the bad memories...only the good ones, like the Rose Bowl!
Posted by: canechic | October 26, 2009 at 07:52 PM
I hear that. My Rose Bowl DVD is starting to skip from overplay. I guess I am watching because I keep going back to stage 1 of grieving: denial.
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 07:54 PM
serenity now serenity now.
Posted by: canechic | October 26, 2009 at 07:43 PM
Serenity is a place I haven't found...YET.
Posted by: 86Cane | October 26, 2009 at 07:55 PM
You know canesteeler I love you man but yesterday I had to think to myself who do I hate more the steelers or Brett Favre?
I had to root for the vikings only because it is better for the Ravens but must admit I love when the true Brett favre comes to surface. Fumble by Brett Favre, interception by Brett Favre, Brett Favre leads his team to the playoffs only to throw 5 picks. Love it!
Posted by: canechic | October 26, 2009 at 07:56 PM
I do not think it is the talent as much as the defensive schemes.
Posted by: dlu | October 26, 2009 at 07:34 PM
TOTALLY AGREE. U can't live in 2009 with a defense designed in the 80's anymore than U can live with the Wishbone.
Posted by: 86Cane | October 26, 2009 at 07:58 PM
NO! NO! Don't kick it to Spiller! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 07:49 PM
Let it go JSQ or you'll end up like "Norwood" from "Ace Ventura, Pet Detective"!
Go 'canes!
P.S. What about the "real deal" 86? Just happened to show up for the first time the Monday after the Clemson loss, with the exact same message as Swamp Donkey?
Child please!
Posted by: Sarasota 'cane | October 26, 2009 at 07:59 PM
Good news about Jacory as the only ACC QB that is an O'Brien finalist, and Bosher as a Groza award for the past week.
If the Canes can win out, they will be a top 10 team or higher in the final rankings. Although they will be favored in all their remaining games, winning out will not be easy.
Canes have too many injuries on D to be consistent on that side of the ball. Still, the Canes need to find a way to get better play out of the backups who fill in on D. I also think they must play their best players on D and let them make plays. If Buchanon and AB are not ready to make plays, put in Ray Ray in a (5 DB) nickel package and put Ray Ray down in the box and let him blitz. Our safeties need to emulate Clemson's McDaniel play and become the hunter instead of the hunted.
As for the Offense, the key is execution. Penalties and turnovers need to be reduced. Coop and JJ need to work on their blitz pickups, and Jacory needs to identify the coverages and the safeties. Our OL needs to handle their responsiblities. Again, our best players need to play, and I would go to Damian Berry and Travis Benjamin more.
A successful year is still possible, but the Canes have to take care of business.
Go Canes!
Posted by: Windy | October 26, 2009 at 07:59 PM
Serenity is a place I haven't found...YET.
Posted by: 86Cane | October 26, 2009 at 07:55 PM
I had WQAM on all day at work, trying to glean some sort of wisdom from those dudes and reconcile the loss. No answers.
From watching this horror movie/game again, all I can say is it is amazing we were still in a position to win this game after all the mistakes that were made. It was just a perfect storm for Clemson.
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 07:59 PM
JSQ I want to watch the game just to replay some of those great defensive hits but I am just not ready yet. I can't watch sportscenter cannot listen to sports radio....so HG tv it is or maybe Nick at Nite..I love to watch re-runs of the Nanny...How was that show on for so long?
Posted by: canechic | October 26, 2009 at 07:59 PM
Lovett is the Patrick Nix of defense!
Posted by: BahamaCane | October 26, 2009 at 08:00 PM
JSQ I want to watch the game just to replay some of those great defensive hits but I am just not ready yet. I can't watch sportscenter cannot listen to sports radio....so HG tv it is or maybe Nick at Nite..I love to watch re-runs of the Nanny...How was that show on for so long?
Posted by: canechic | October 26, 2009 at 07:59 PM
It is helping a bit. Seeing through sober eyes where we all went wrong instead of blaming myself for not straightening my hair that day or sitting in the "wrong" seciton during the second half.
FYI: Grey's Anatomy is on Lifetime right now and Legally Blonde just started on Oxygen. I'm also a big HGTV fan. Never watched the Nanny. Can't stand that lady's voice!
btw, I think that whole thing with Whip and Randy was blown out of proportion. Heat of the moment type of thing.
Touchdown, Hank!
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 08:06 PM
Posted by: real deal | October 26, 2009 at 07:22 PM
Tread lightly, Croc.
So, 86, how did the Tampa 2 work for Kiffin and Bucs, just a short few years ago?
C'mon, man. Willie's and Joe's... RS isn't done...
Posted by: miamimike01 | October 26, 2009 at 08:06 PM
As for the Offense, the key is execution. Penalties and turnovers need to be reduced. Coop and JJ need to work on their blitz pickups, and Jacory needs to identify the coverages and the safeties. Our OL needs to handle their responsiblities. Again, our best players need to play, and I would go to Damian Berry and Travis Benjamin more.
A successful year is still possible, but the Canes have to take care of business.
Go Canes!
Posted by: Windy | October 26, 2009 at 07:59 PM
>>>>>>
JJ and Coop have been superb in their blitz pick-ups but they weren't. Also the loss of Pat Hill is bigger than a lot of us thought because Calhoun isn't ready to step in and step up yet.
Posted by: Captain Optimist aka Cavaleer | October 26, 2009 at 08:10 PM
Lovett is the Patrick Nix of defense!
Posted by: BahamaCane | October 26, 2009 at 08:00 PM
What? After seven games, let's fire Lovett.
Held GT to 95 YDS rushing; where's that talk then? The U is THE ONLY D to STOP the Flexbone. Nobody else has come close. NOBODY.
www.firelovett.com
People, this is still a work in progress.
Let's all calm down and evaluate WHAT REALLY is going on.
PROGRESS
Posted by: miamimike01 | October 26, 2009 at 08:11 PM
Bahama, Lovett will be fine. He's definitely NOT Nix. He's just playing it safe because he's not totally confident and secure with our personnel. We have some definite holes, especially after all the injuries.
But I think he'll mix things up more against our upcoming opponents.
Posted by: Captain Optimist aka Cavaleer | October 26, 2009 at 08:13 PM
there's really no reason for anyone else to respond to that guy. he most likely won't be back so there's no need to beat a dead horse.
dlu i think you're missing the point. how do you know that blitzing would've solved anything? what if we blitzed and got burned by it repeatedly? then you'd be saying the opposite.
saying that we didn't have a gameplan to attack the defense is basically saying that we're either incompetent (which we aren't) or the coaching staff doesn't even try to look at game film or practice. we had a gameplan, we just didn't execute.
i would bet that there some things that the staff thought they could've done better, but that can be said about every coaching staff in every single sport. im not saying they are without fault (because they aren't), im simply saying that it's up to the players to execute the plays. and Lovett runs the defense, not Randy so i don't know how he can directly be at fault for that.
again, i don't understand why everybody is suicidal about 2 losses. which is worse: a young Miami team upset by Clemson or a veteran LSU team losing their second game to Arkansas in 2007? let's put this in perspective.
Posted by: Daytoncane | October 26, 2009 at 08:15 PM
So, 86, how did the Tampa 2 work for Kiffin and Bucs, just a short few years ago?
C'mon, man. Willie's and Joe's... RS isn't done...
Posted by: miamimike01 | October 26, 2009 at 08:06 PM
BS ALERT, BS ALERT!!!
As a coach U gotta play with what U got and scheme it that way.
If U think for one minute that UM is going back to 1986 defense and winning a National Championship it ain't gonna heppen.
Posted by: 86Cane | October 26, 2009 at 08:15 PM
From watching this horror movie/game again, all I can say is it is amazing we were still in a position to win this game after all the mistakes that were made. It was just a perfect storm for Clemson.
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 07:59 PM
>>>>>
Honestly, I'd rather lose a game because of mental mistakes than just getting flat out beat because mistakes can be corrected next week, from coaches and players. Being flat out beat takes years to change, just look at the difference between OU 2007 and 2009.
Posted by: Captain Optimist aka Cavaleer | October 26, 2009 at 08:17 PM
From watching this horror movie/game again, all I can say is it is amazing we were still in a position to win this game after all the mistakes that were made. It was just a perfect storm for Clemson.
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 07:59 PM
>>>>>
Honestly, I'd rather lose a game because of mental mistakes than just getting flat out beat because mistakes can be corrected next week, from coaches and players. Being flat out beat takes years to change, just look at the difference between OU 2007 and 2009.
Posted by: Captain Optimist aka Cavaleer | October 26, 2009 at 08:17 PM
I agree as far as looking forward in the season and having hope for what we can do any given Saturday, but I think losing like this makes it more heartbreaking. I don't think we can say here that the more talented/better team won. I think a L like that is easier to accept. When you have something in your grasp and you throw it away, it is more tragic.
JMO.
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 08:22 PM
#40 from Clemson flashes the U to my friends in the field club seats. What a tool.
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 08:27 PM
JSQ, true but if these kids are the young champions we think they are, they'll turn the heart-ache into anger and fuel because of how close they were. Hopefully that's what the coaches and former players are telling them. That's how I would feel. PIZZED to the highest levels of PIZZTIVITY!
Posted by: Captain Optimist aka Cavaleer | October 26, 2009 at 08:28 PM
The DL depth has been ravaged by injuries. The front four isn't getting consistent pressure unless Bailey tears through the double team he's getting hit with, and yet somehow, Lovett isn't making the right calls because he won't blitz Sam Shields from the edge? Look, I'm glad #9 has found a way to contribute consistently on something other than special teams, but I'm not so sold on his ability to zero in on a QB at top speed in 2 seconds or less just yet. Right now, I'm more than happy to let him do his inline deep coverage thing on the other team's best deep threat. Just run fast Sam and make it look like the guy isn't open. Let Brandon Harris do the QB harassment from the corner spot. Besides, this game was lost by the turnovers on offense. Even with the fumble return for a TD, even with Uribe disobeying orders to squib the kick, the D didn't lose this game, they just couldn't pull the O's azz out of the fire they continued to put themselves in on Saturday. Plus, Clemson got away with a lot of holding, especially of Vernon, kid gets held almost every play because his first step gets him into the backfield before the tackle can flinch most snaps.
Posted by: orange 'n green in the vein | October 26, 2009 at 08:28 PM
PIZZTIVITY! I'm writing that one into the dictionary because it really should be there. Ben Franklin and Co. would have approved if they had such insight into human nature available to them in the 1700's.
Posted by: orange 'n green in the vein | October 26, 2009 at 08:30 PM
JSQ, true but if these kids are the young champions we think they are, they'll turn the heart-ache into anger and fuel because of how close they were. Hopefully that's what the coaches and former players are telling them. That's how I would feel. PIZZED to the highest levels of PIZZTIVITY!
Posted by: Captain Optimist aka Cavaleer | October 26, 2009 at 08:28 PM
You just summed up the thought that is keeping me going. In total agreement.
Posted by: JSQ | October 26, 2009 at 08:30 PM
daytoncane, No I would not be saying the opposite if the U got burned blitzing at all, not true. some other ex.'s
What did va.tech's defense do to JH all kinds of dif. blitzes, pretty good DC at va.tech.
What about okla pretty good dc at OU brings the heat all the time.
I think the U has plenty of defensive talent example: when they had time and game planned for ga tech the U shut ga tech down, you do not do that without talent , but talent must be directed to take away the offensive strength to be effective.
Posted by: dlu | October 26, 2009 at 08:35 PM
86, I agree about the 1986 post.
I wasn't in-love with the D playcalling.
I think its soft, but OBVIOUSLY the coaches aren't confident in the secondary to blitz more often.
If they were, they would.
Posted by: miamimike01 | October 26, 2009 at 08:38 PM