A Measuring Stick

Brick by brick.  Brick by brick.  Brick by brick.

That saying is based on the theory that you don't try to build a whole big, beautiful wall all at once. The objective is just to lay one perfect brick at a time, put one solid brick in place each and every day, and eventually the wall will build itself.

That was the latest and most creative of all of the slogans that Coach Al Golden has used to try to paint a picture for his team as they try to regain the glory that once once Miami Hurricanes football.

On Saturday during the second game of the 2012 season and even before the second layer of bricks were set in place and the plaster was allowed to dry, the proverbial wall came tumbling down all around the 2012 version of the Miami Hurricanes football team.

In what amounted to an absolute engineering nightmare Golden's team laid and egg, not a brick, against Kansas State.  The wall first showed early signs of cracking as the Hurricanes trailed 14-0 in the first quarter for the second straight week and then it eventually crashed down on them in Manhattan as Miami was dominated and soundly beaten 52-13 by the Wildcats.

It was as though the Wildcats took one of those bricks, smashed it through the front window of the Hecht Athletic Center in Coral Gables, and ripped out the heart of the Hurricanes football program.

In his own words after the game the Hurricanes were out-coached, out-played and so thoroughly beaten by the #21 ranked Wildcats that even the eloquent and smooth talking Golden had difficulty finding the right words to describe or explain the embarrassing and devastating loss.

The bottom line is that things got ugly in Kansas on Saturday. All of the nice slogans and wise sayings and accomplishments allegedly made from the "UTough" conditioning program over the Summer seemed to be all but erased on the Bill Snyder Family Stadium in a matter of just over three hours.

What should have been a motivational revenge game for the Hurricanes, a team that barely lost to the Wildcats last year in Miami, turned out to be just another depressing beat down at the hands of what now clearly appears to be a vastly superior opponent.

On Saturday before the UM football team got off of the buses outside of the Wildcats' stadium they were given a yard stick.  It symbolized the three feet that separated Miami from beating Kansas State last year at Sun Life Stadium when UM QB Jacory Harris could not get into the end zone from one yard out in the last minute of the fourth quarter.

Three feet was all Miami needed last year to beat Kansas State at home. But this year on the road against the Wildcats the distance between victory and defeat was so much greater than that.

In fact, you probably could have taken all 65 yard sticks from the UM players who traveled all the way to Kansas and lined them up end to end and they still would not have measured the gulf that separated the performance of these two teams on the Saturday in September.

This game was more than just the second game of the young 2012 season. In many ways it was a measuring stick to evaluate where this Miami team stacks up against a top 25 ranked opponent.

And simply put, Al Golden and the 2012 Miami Hurricanes football team just did not measure up.

Comments

[j.w.]

I think I see what you are saying. You are saying that the X's and O's arent making a kid have better tools to play the game? I will say this: To win right now, Miami coaches need to fit their scheme to the players they do have rather than the players they wish they had.

Posted by: The Dude | September 09, 2012 at 09:18 PM
Good way to say it, Dude. There are no easy answers, but at this point there's little harm in trying something radically different this year.

[The Dude]

True, but at some point, the coaches are gonna have to hang their hat on SOMETHING! The more you switch it up, the LESS the players believe in you.

Posted by: CaneRock | September 09, 2012 at 09:38 PM

I think players believe in winning. I dont think they would care if they switched to anything that made them more competitive. Plus the more you lose the less likely you are to bring in talented kids that your team really needs now.

[WWIN]

The Dude,

u been killin it my man, keep it up

[WWIN]

Its funny to me how some people think that just bcuz a recruiting site had us ranked #15 and #16 that that truly reflects the talent level we have lol. I guess they think ed reed and santana moss were 5* players by these recruiting sites and how did they turn out?

[canesteeler]

I need my Steelers to take my mind off the Canes with a victory tonight!

[Alberto]

I am not buying Al Golden until he can prove he has what it takes to bring back an elite program. He is a great person and seems very organized, but in the end we need results. I have not seen improvement at all in any part of the team. We can blame his coordinators, players, NCAA, etc., butb in the end, he is CEO. Just think what Butch did with a team with a death sentence. He recruited average kids and developed them into NFL stars. For example J. Vilma. Butch built the best football team ever. Had great coordinators. Just look where they are now. Just my opinion. I don't buy into excuses or promises.

[The Dude]

Posted by: Willie Will in Nashville | September 09, 2012 at 09:55 PM

Thanks WWiN! But I'd rather shutup and watch these Canes compete for National Championships every year!

[WWIN]

^^^^^^^^

Dude we all, it jus gets frustrating at times and i hate when people blame the players and the players are constantly going to the league

[Jiggafras]

No talent until they reach the league. Give me a break, When every school in the SEC and ACC have been recruiting you...you have talent. Most of the player son our team was recrutied pretty heavily, including guys like Telemaque who was all ACC 2 seasons ago. And like i said before 2 season ago Miami was #1 in total offense in the ACC and #2 in total defense...does that sound like no talent? No excuses...until we lose. Bull shit No'D needs to take a hike

[orange 'n green in the vein]

Miami offered Schiano 2.2 million in 2006 to replace Larry.

He said no, would rather keep chopping wood at Rutgers.

He made the wrong decision but at least there's strip clubs close to his stadium in the NFL.

[4-Real]

Louisiana Monroe beat #8 Arkansas. Nuff said

[Zakkee]

Thanks solar, I hate being right about this mess.

Blog Rule: Do not use all caps in your posts if you are clearly wrong. It just looks ridiculous. Its ok to be wrong (we all have been many times over), but wrong with an attitude is reprehensible.

Passionately wrong lol!

[j.w.]

That was two years ago, Jiggafras. Two long years ago. Who on this D will be in the NFL next year? Telemaque? Maybe a practice squad, but I'd be stunned if he's drafted. Porter? He might get drafted, but I don't see him being more succesful than Fortson (practice squad if not out of a job). Robinson? Same thing as Porter. D'Nofrio has his flaws, but nobody is making All-ACC other than Perryman on this D.

[WWIN]

^^^^^^

you'll be surprised who goes to the league off of this d

[SJMPARMAN]

Who on the defense may be in the league in the future? Good question. Brandon McGee ran the 40 once in 4.23, slightly slowed than the 4.20 time Sam Shields ran. In the NFL that is ALL that matters. I predicted Shields would be an NFL player back in the day based on that alone. I think McGee will be as well. I think Chickillo will get a shot at the NFL as well. Perryman will be Ray Lewis one day, I really believe that. I can see Eddie Johnson making it as well. Although they are young I can see Bush and Howard developing into NFL players. Porter and Smith also have a chance. I could actually make a case for several others. This team is not devoid of talent on the defensive side of the ball. That is the problem, it is not being uitilized. It is scheme irrespective of talent.

[orange 'n green in the vein]

ULM's headcoach is . . . Todd Berry.

You know, Coker's protege, failure of a coach at Army, QB coach and pass game coordinator going into Coker's last year at UM who couldn't get anything out of Turf Face either?

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Arkansas got screwed this year by Petrino's infidelity and Smith's tendency to coach like John L. Smith in a BCS conference.

Hey, if Al Golden is really the smartest guy in the room he'll smartly come to the conclusion sometime in the next three weeks that the problem with his defense lies in a name that will live in infamy and his basic football philosophy molding at the hands of this name and then send this scheme philosophy to a corrections facility to rot till death like its namesake will soon as well.

I'll give you a clue if you don't know what I'm alluding to here, it relates to rhythmic slapping sounds and coached a really bad coordinator when he played the d-line in the late 80's/early 90's.

[WWIN]

Posted by: SJMPARMAN | September 10, 2012 at 12:49 AM

hit the nail on da head wit that one

[SJMPARMAN]

Petrino really committed the worst mistake a college coach could do hooking up with a student. The guy is a fabulous college coach ala Saban. In time he will resurrect his career. Like Mike Leach will do. I don't like either guy personally but I respect their abilities.

With Howard, I loved the man. Dolphin heritage and a smooth talker. Jimmy also handled the media well. You pulled for him because of his passion. Erickson didn't bleed orange and green but he was likable in a weird way. Butch was honest. He told you what you needed to hear even though the results on the field weren't what we expected. Coker was just not honest. There was a disconnect between performance and what he said. Randy was a disaster from a PR point of view. But he had BAD coordinators during his tenure. Golden returned us to sounding good again.

But sounding good and performing good are different things. I know the Miami area. Although I don't live there anymore, there is alot of pride in Canes football. When the Dolphins suck, and it has been a decade or so now, the town needs something to believe in. In the past that has been the Canes.

I think Golden needs to win this year. I really do. Yes, he was put in an untenable position but the town doesn't care. They won't get it from the Dolphins this year, and they expect to be a winner. The Marlins aren't doing it. The Pathers didn't do it. And so they expect it from the Canes. For most Miami fans, you turn it around now. I am not saying that is right, or even fair, but that is how this town rolls. So either you correct the defensive problems or you will be done. It is just how it works.

[Jiggafras]

Posted by: j.w. | September 10, 2012 at 12:26 AM
you see my misguided friend. The good teams become great by how good their unheralded players develop. I bet you can't guess what rating the Honey badger had? UF has a team full of talented players but Muschamp is struggling to coach them up. I really don't want to hear the no NFL talent bull, schools like TCU and OK ST feed off OU and Texas left overs and develop them into great CFB players. All of our players are big and fast period bar a few. When is people going to man up and stop the bull. I brought up 2 years ago because Alot of those players are still year and Golden has recruited better than Shannon was in the last few years of his tenure. Excuses, man. South Carolina, Boise State, these teams never beat us in recruiting....ever. Why can they develop their players but we cant. We have become and team and a fan base of excuses. Lots of the excuses we hear now, they were the same ones at Bama before Saban took over and shut that shit down.

[Pre83]

Some great posts from Zakkee re conformity, the Dude, CoCane, SJM, and others.

I'm sorry, but, ok, we can say Miami needs more talent and that will get them on the right track again.

People just got all over RS's a$$ week after week and said that what amounted to the #1 recruiting class wasn't really that talented after all - really? What is it as you can't have it both ways.

Let's imagine that same class ended up in Bama, would we really be saying the same thing?

Nobody's mentioned what ranking KSU earned for its last 4-5 recruiting classes, but somehow they were big enough, fast enough and talented enough to be the 21st ranked team in the nation and having won the Cotton Bowl last season.

Does anyone remember just how bad it got in Manhattan before Coach Snyder returned? Now who's laughing?

How piss poor were Wisconsin, Oregon, Stanford and they have been highly ranked teams in recent years?

I hated the D scheme last season, last week and this week I thought I was going to go insane - thank God I DVR'd the game and couldn't watch it live.

I sure as hell hope that AG came to Coral Gables to unleash the emotion of the Miami players. RS tried to corral it and of all the people in the world, I would never have thought it. And look what it got him.

I am not calling for AG's head yet, but before he was selected as HC, I was calling for Butch Davis. Of course NC'S infractions timed with Miami's current investigation doesn't make that work so well.

However, I would think that Kehoe would be the link that could guide AG as to what was done to create the most dominant program in a generation.

AG needs talent, but what good is it if you don't use it.

Someone in CG needs to know how to unleash the beast. I don't care if you have to use your own funds and pay Schnelly and JJ for consulting, but if Miami could be dominant with four different coaches, then there is an answer.

It pisses me off and pleases me at the same time that players who played for mediCoker and RS make it to the NFL and succeed at high levels while the U has been average at best. Like I said, if you don't know how to drive the Porsche, then it's only as useful as a Malibu.

[Ryan Durkee]

No state school money & exposure = loser these days. Sad but true.

[RDurk4]

I had to watch the game with an FSU and ND fan. Nuff said.

[Panamacitycane]

Miami has had a habit the last few years of not truelly blowing the small teams out like fsu or Oregon or any of the big teams are supposed to do.. we seem to play the nice guy..but after this past weekend I hope golden and the team comes out and takes their anger out on Bethune. Sorry for them but we need to just demolish them into embarrasment. I'm done with this weak soft play..need to get back to the good ole days and accept our role as the bad guys. We don't need to play dirty or anything like that. But you get what I'm saying....I just hope this defense has it in them to pull through and move on! NEVER EVER LET UP

[Jiggafras]

we have the entire ACC season to look forward to. This will show our strength of character or lack thereof. If this doesnt change Golden will be on the hot seat and no one will care that he stayed when the Shapiro mess hit

[CaneRock]

Nobody's mentioned what ranking KSU earned for its last 4-5 recruiting classes,
Posted by: Pre83 | September 10, 2012 at 01:38 AM

That's because their classes are JUCO'd up.

[4-Real]

Better do something quick b4 we lose air play, which is the only real exposure we get.

[raizecane]

Al Golden on WQAM this morning -

http://wqam.com/

[BigTimeCane]

Panamacity revealed another problem. We keep trying to shy away from our past by not being allowed to play with attitude and passion. Shannon neutered his players. I think golden says he wants to relive the past be physical etc and yet this team plays soft. Sure some of it is the youth and some is the reactive scheme but we got bullied by ksu. I think I saw some of our players our players giving the good job tap to ksu players on their helmet or helping them up. Maybe that's nit picking and stupid but I want our players to hate their opponent like has been mentioned here. I said it before, why were our players watching Morris on the ground after an illegal hit. Why was there no jawing or pushing? Nothing. Golden can talk all his legacy physical talk fact is his words aren't translating on the field. So either he's full of it or I'm overblowing it am being impatient.

[BigTimeCane]

I feel like the guy in Plato's cave. I've been staring at the shadow images golden has been projecting on the wall. The ksu game was the guy that got me out of the cave and showed me a new reality.

I just want to win and am so tired of "rebuilding" being young,, being soft, and finally and mostly losing.

[BigTimeCane]

^^^^ I should have added - seeing the images on the wall and believing them all.

[UpNorthCane27]

Well guys finally, ive awaken from this self induced coma i put myself in after the loss..

Now im hearing Ramon Buchanon is out again for the year knee injury?? what a damn shame that means more of cornelius and gaines ooooo lawdddddd..

The canes will be back Fish and Golden need to make sure that they go all out this week in practice, lay it on B.Cookman and build some confidence.

[4-Real]

Remember how our players were walking around with yardsticks b4 the game 2 represent how close they came 2 a victory last year?? I heard after the game they combined all their sticks 2 measure how far they were from a victory this game lol

[4-Real]

Damn!! 1st time I didnt read the article first and look what happened lol

[UpNorthCane27]

FUnny line about that poor Penn St Kicker.

Penn State Kicker Sam Ficken Misses Wide Right, Wide Left, Too Short, Too High, And Pretty Much Every Which Way Possible

[TonyCane]

Canerock, exactly. It's hard to qualify K-State's recruiting classes because they are loaded with JUCOs. Every year.

I watched K-State manhandle Texas' offense last year in person, and I can tell you that Mack Brown has far, far, far outrecruited Larry Coker and Randy Shannon in the last decade.

[Ohio_Cane]

Canes have three true freshmen, one redshirt freshman, six sophomores & three redshirt sophomores at 1st team.

[TonyCane]

And remember, with this loss the number one goal is to become bowl eligible. So that we can take the second consecutive self-imposed ban. At that point the worst that the NCAA would impose would be one additional year (although I could see two).

[TonyCane]

OhioCane, how does our roster compare at this point to the 2008 squad?

[CaneRock]

I said it before, why were our players watching Morris on the ground after an illegal hit. Why was there no jawing or pushing?

Posted by: BigTimeCane | September 10, 2012 at 08:29 AM

Maybe because they know Stephen ain't know option QB.

[j.w.]

Posted by: j.w. | September 10, 2012 at 12:26 AM
you see my misguided friend. The good teams become great by how good their unheralded players develop. I bet you can't guess what rating the Honey badger had? UF has a team full of talented players but Muschamp is struggling to coach them up. I really don't want to hear the no NFL talent bull, schools like TCU and OK ST feed off OU and Texas left overs and develop them into great CFB players. All of our players are big and fast period bar a few. When is people going to man up and stop the bull. I brought up 2 years ago because Alot of those players are still year and Golden has recruited better than Shannon was in the last few years of his tenure. Excuses, man. South Carolina, Boise State, these teams never beat us in recruiting....ever. Why can they develop their players but we cant. We have become and team and a fan base of excuses. Lots of the excuses we hear now, they were the same ones at Bama before Saban took over and shut that shit down.

Posted by: Jiggafras | September 10, 2012 at 01:37 AM
Amigo, you're missing a few points- Boise doesn't look as good without their Senior QB, K State is led by Seniors and Ju Co transfers who are as big and talented as their Seniors; South Carolina was mediocrea at best until their best players became Juniors, and Seniors. Seeing a trend here? :)
UCLA is the better comparison for you on this issue- why are they being successful with 6 freshmen starting on O? They beat Rice in Houston, then followed up by beating NEb. at home. They struggled for more than a half with Houston, though, and playing Nebraska in L.A. is a lot different than on the road for a back to back. Nonetheless, we should have played better, and coaching needs to improve a lot in the next few weeks. We'll see what the staff is made out of now that they have few options left but to play a ton of kids.

[CGNC]

Good morning! Taking a vacay day here and it is beautiful!

TOnycane - LOL K-State may just wind up very highly ranked by season's end.

A belated Happy Birthday to LB!

[86Cane]

Miami head coach Al Golden released the latest regular season depth chart following the Hurricanes' non-conference road loss at Kansas State. Miami returns to Sun Life Stadium this weekend for its first home game of the 2012 season against Bethune-Cookman (12 p.m. EDT, ESPN3).

The latest depth chart is without WR Allen Hurns, S Vaughn Telemaque and LB Ramon Buchanan. Buchanan suffered a season-ending injury at Kansas State.

Miami's receiving corps is led by three underclassmen at the No. 1 receiver positions - sophomore Rashawn Scott, freshman Malcolm Lewis and sophomore Phillip Dorsett. On the defensive side, junior Jimmy Gaines takes over at OLB for Buchanan, while freshman Deon Bush and redshirt junior A.J. Highsmith are listed as the No. 1 safeties.

Season and single-game tickets for the 2012 football season are available online, by phone at 1-800-GO-CANES (1-305-284-2263) or in-person at the Miami Athletics Ticket Office, now located on the first level at BankUnited Center.

For the latest information on Miami Hurricanes Football, follow @HurricaneSports on Twitter and the official blog for Hurricanes Football, www.theufootball.com.

[86Cane]

NOTICE FROM THE MANAGEMENT:

Let me just say that I have never been as POSITIVELY impressed with the people here on this blog as I have been over the last few days. People, and by people I mean everybody in general here, have expressed their opinions in an open and fair manner without direct attacks at each other.

Sure there has been some really good back and forth arguements but people have stuck to their opinions and pretty much have avoided attacking each other and instead have attacked the issues and the problems that face OUR Miami Hurricanes.

It shows thast even in the most difficult of times the bloggers here take the high road and are solution focused not problem oriented. Just look around and U will find that Canespace is by far the best, safest and most productive place on the Internet for Hurricane fans to talk UM spports.

Of that I am most appreciative and VERY proud!

[Old Skool]

Somehow Golden got the cliche' wrong this weekend. He had he players walk softly and carry a short stick.

[86Cane]

^^^^^ There IT is right there. ^^^^^

[86Cane]

DPETH CHART: OFFENSE

WR 80 RASHAWN SCOTT 6-2, 190, So.
86 Herb Waters 6-2, 185, Fr.

LT 79 MALCOLM BUNCHE 6-7, 325, RSo.
55 Ben Jones 6-5, 310, Sr.

LG 70 JONATHAN FELICIANO 6-5, 314, RSo.
68 Jeremy Lewis 6-4, 316, RSr.

C 62 SHANE MCDERMOTT 6-4, 295, RSo.
75 Jared Wheeler 6-5, 314, RJr.

RG 65 BRANDON LINDER 6-6, 308, Jr.
78 Jermaine Johnson –OR– 6-6, 316, RJr.
63 Daniel Isidora 6-4, 320, Fr.

RT 74 ERECK FLOWERS 6-6, 314, Fr.
77 Seantrel Henderson 6-8, 340, Jr.

TE 49 DYRON DYE 6-5, 255, RJr.
46 Clive Walford 6-4, 250, RSo.
82 Asante Cleveland 6-5, 263, Jr.

FB 33 MAURICE HAGENS 5-11, 240, Jr.
43 Sean Harvey 6-4, 262, RSo.

QB 17 STEPHEN MORRIS 6-2, 214, Jr.
11 Ryan Williams 6-5, 221, RSo.

RB 5 MIKE JAMES 5-11, 220, Sr.
8 Duke Johnson 5-9, 188, Fr.
23 Eduardo Clements 5-9, 195, Jr.

WR 9 MALCOLM LEWIS 6-0, 192, Fr.
83 Kendal Thompkins 5-10, 182, RSr.

WR 4 PHILLIP DORSETT 5-10, 185, So.
24 Davon Johnson 6-0, 188, Sr.

[86Cane]

DEPTH CHART: DEFENSE

DE 71 ANTHONY CHICKILLO 6-4, 262, So.
99 Jelani Hamilton 6-5, 271, Fr.

DT 98 DARIUS SMITH 6-2, 315, Sr.
72 Earl Moore 6-1, 300, Fr.
92 Jalen Grimble 6-2, 295, So.

DT 91 OLSEN PIERRE 6-4, 300, So.
67 Corey King 6-1, 295, RFr.

DE 51 SHAYON GREEN 6-3, 260, RJr.
94 Kelvin Cain –OR– 6-3, 245, So.
17 Tyriq McCord 6-3, 236, Fr.

OLB 44 EDDIE JOHNSON 6-1, 238, RFr.
34 Thurston Armbrister 6-3, 222, So.
58 Gabe Terry 6-3, 215, Fr.

MLB 52 DENZEL PERRYMAN 6-0, 229, So.
36 Gionni Paul 6-1, 230, So.

OLB 59 JIMMY GAINES 6-3, 230, Jr.
31 Tyrone Cornileus 6-2, 210, Jr.

CB 20 THOMAS FINNIE 5-10, 183, So.
3 Tracy Howard 5-11, 185, Fr.

S 2 DEON BUSH 6-1, 190, Fr.
22 Kacy Rodgers II 6-2, 210, Jr.

S 30 A.J. HIGHSMITH 6-0, 202, RJr.
29 Rayshawn Jenins 6-1, 203, Fr.

CB 21 BRANDON McGEE 6-0, 194, Sr.
39 Antonio Crawford 5-11, 188, Fr.

[86Cane]

The Hurricanes are a perfect 4-0 in home openers at Sun Life Stadium. Miami has defeated Charleston Southern (2008), Georgia Tech (2009), Florida A&M (2010) and Ohio State (2011) since it left the Orange Bowl following the 2007 season.

[Ohio_Cane]

No black jerseys for anyone on defense today. Rightfully so.

[CGNC]

Just listened to AG's WQAM interview - I did not realize that we are playing so many frosh on the two-deep on Defense. I think the only seniors are McGee and Telemaque and the only senior on offense is Mike James. I know everyone is tired of the word "rebuilding" but that is what we are doing.

This young team has my support.

GO CANES