UM vs VT: Game Analysis

MIAMI HURRICANES (7-1, 3-1 ACC) vs. VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (6-3, 3-2 ACC)

Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 • 7 p.m. ET • ESPN • Sun Life Stadium (74,916)

SERIES HISTORY  

Miami leads series 18-12, is11-5 at home vs. Hokies and UM is 9-12 vs. VT in conference play.

FIVE THINGS U NEED TO KNOW:

1. Saturday is Miami’s 79th Homecoming game. The Hurricanes are 50-26-2 all-time on Homecoming, including a 2-2 mark vs. Virginia Tech.
2. Miami's 76th ESPN appearance is tied with Auburn for the most by any BCS program.
3. Sophomore RB Dallas Crawford is averaging a TD every 7.5 offensive touches.
4. Miami has 21 takeaways in 2013, one shy of matching its 2012 total (22).
5. Sophomore RB Duke Johnson will miss the rest of the season (fractured ankle).

Saturday is Miami’s 79th Homecoming game and it will be its 60th played in November. Miami is 37-21-1 all-time in Homecoming games played in the month of November.

Miami plays Virginia Tech for the fifth time on Homecoming – Miami’s second-most common HC opponent behind Florida (8).

SPREADING THE BALL

17 different Miami Hurricanes have recorded at least one reception in 2013, including senior QB Stephen Morris. Seven Hurricanes have recorded a TD reception, led by WR Allen Hurns’ team-high four TD receptions.

HERE’S THE KICKER PUNTER

Graduate P Pat O’Donnell is averaging 46.5 yards per punt through eight games for the Miami Hurricanes. However, O’Donnell doesn’t rank among the leaders in any NCAA statistical categories because he doesn’t meet the minimum 3.6 punts / game requirement.

O’Donnell’s 46.5 yards-per-punt clip would be tied for third among FBS punters.

HURRICANE HOTLINE

Sandbar Sports Grill (@SandbarGrove), located 3064 Grand Ave. in Coconut Grove, will be the new location for the Hurricane Hotline. Fans are encouraged to join third-year head coach Al Golden, various assistant coaches and players each week during the 2013 football season.

 

The Hurricane Hotline, hosted by Joe Zagacki and Don Bailey Jr., will air from 7-9 p.m. on WQAM – players from 7-7:30 p.m., Coach Golden from 7:30-8:30 p.m. and an assistant coach from 8:30-9 p.m.

Related articles

Golden Releases New Depth Chart

Miami's homecoming game to air at 7 pm

Florida State sinks Miami Hurricanes behind dominant second half

Miami Hurricanes Do The Hokie Pokey

Comments

[canezilla]

GO CANES!!!!!

[TJL]

two baby!!

[CGNC]

Tres!

I think the Quack attack drops to 10?

[raizecane]

Top 5????

[raizecane]

Is Baylor that good or Oklahoma that bad? When the announcer said throwing a 10 yard out was too much to ask for the Sooners QB, I damn near spilled my drink.....

I really enjoyed watching Stanford and that offensive line. They just punished the Ducks defense to the point they didnt want to tackle towards the end of the game. And did you see how the corners played bump and run instead of giving the Ducks receivers a 12 yard cushion?? Just saying...

[HawaiiCane]

Oregon will not drop below us even with an impressive win over VT.

[360Cane]

Yea, but you see the size of Stanford's D? All their DBs are 6' or above. They even have a 6'6" LB in the middle. They have also solidified that front and are all in the 3-4. We brought the full on 3-4 out against FSU and ran it most of the time. However, we lack the personnel.

Stanford has out recruited us the past years except last year. We finally had a stronger class.

In 2012, we had 11 more players in that class. 11 more players that couldn't get our class higher than one with less.

Sorry guys, I know we want to be great, but as Al Golden says, we ain't there yet so stop putting us up there. Geez.

[SOUP]

Key Largo...Fort Lauderdale.

C YA!

[dj moonbat]

Stanford has out recruited us the past years except last year. We finally had a stronger class.

Posted by: 360Cane | November 08, 2013 at 08:10 AM

Also, lots of upperclassmen on Stanford. Those guys were obviously very thoroughly trained, in a way that you don't just pick up in the preseason.

[canezilla]

DO WE GET THE ORANGE BOWL IF WE MAKE IT TO THE ACCCG AND LOSE.OR DOES CLEMSON GET IT?

[Texascane]

Best part of the OU-Baylor game last evening was on the 4th and 1 stop for Baylor, #6, the safety, had his back to the play and was leading cheers when the ball was snapped. I thought Phil Bennett was going to blow a gasket chewing him out.

[Ohio_Cane]

DO WE GET THE ORANGE BOWL IF WE MAKE IT TO THE ACCCG AND LOSE.OR DOES CLEMSON GET IT?

Posted by: canezilla | November 08, 2013 at 09:47 AM
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Winner of ACCCG goes to Orange Bowl

[Ohio_Cane]

DO WE GET THE ORANGE BOWL IF WE MAKE IT TO THE ACCCG AND LOSE.OR DOES CLEMSON GET IT?

Posted by: canezilla | November 08, 2013 at 09:47 AM
---------------------------------------

Winner of ACCCG goes to Orange Bowl

Posted by: Ohio_Cane | November 08, 2013 at 10:13 AM
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Oh, did U mean if FSU is in the 'Ship?

Honestly don't know if that's what you're asking.

[trianglecane]

DO WE GET THE ORANGE BOWL IF WE MAKE IT TO THE ACCCG AND LOSE.OR DOES CLEMSON GET IT?

Posted by: canezilla | November 08, 2013 at 09:47 AM

I believe a one loss clemson will get in. If clemson looses to sc, and they are 10-2 and Miami is 11-2 with two losses to fswho, then i think we get in.

That being said 12-1 would feel so much better! GO CANES BEAT vt!

[VA Cane]

Stanford is laden with Jrs and Srs. That is a sign of depth and development, both Harbaugh and David Shaw are excellent coaches.

Why are they ranked 5? they lost to Utah a decent team....because they are consistent. Shaw will tell you they lost to Utah as they got sloppy, got behind, panicked and went to the pass too much...got away from the run.

They have had 1 holding penalty all year...yes they run the ball a lot, but hey they pass. They don't have to hold. Their line gets on that ball and beats your AZZ every play. They are very aggressive pass and run blockers. We want to finess with you. There is a place for finness but first things first.....screw passive get violent. Beat your oppenents ass every play. They took it right at them....big smart powerful but athletic linemen. We are a passive bunch a lot of the time. That must change.

Their D was really good. They were up on them in real live man...please do not say bump....I call it AB coverage not bump n run....you assault and blast their AZZ. Their lb steeped up, their line was on the line and ready (CR we have discussed this) and they came to play.

We have the talent but do we have the heart and desire? At times....not last Sat we got intimidated in the 2nd half....by size strength speed and most of all AGGRESSION.

We need to get bigger.....but we have got to stop playing passive on both sides of the ball. We got to get up on that ball, get physical with or LBs, corners stop being nice to people. You have to want to physically inflict pain on people. I admit, I love when my guys hit someone so hard they have to leave the game. Not glad they are hurt, but glad my guys hit hard over and over. I love a knockout hit...that sound....better than a TD. I would rather win 20-0 and have them talking about how hard my kids hit play after play....as opposed to how fast or shifty we are. My guys are disciplined assassins. I love it.

.

[Account Deleted]

Two games to get it done. Need to win VT and Duke. If we want to look into the crystal ball if that happens....assuming we win out

FSU right now will get the BCS title try.

Orange will probably take Clemson if they win out. Agree, two losses might put us in..

Peach (or whatever it is now..) - same flip, win out it's either us or Clemson. My guess is they'll push for Clemson, local team etc.

Champs - now it gets dicey. If we lose one more along the way then this is our best chance....my guess is we'll get left out and the winner of the division will wind up here.

and the other bowls....that leaves us here, or if we lose two. Real issue is ACC has very few tie ins to major bowl games.

At best, even if we win out and win the ACC over FSU we would get the Orange. So that's the ceiling.

Go Canes tomorrow!

[VA Cane]

I love that brand of football, Stanford. I do a lot of what they do, but I pass more. I use my TEs a lot, and I got guys who can burn. I have a tough front 4, and I like the blitzes they used and that physical assault blast on the wides. I do run some 46 love it...and the old Dallas flex its cool. I was impressed with their discipline 1 hold all year....and coolness. Oregon had late hits flagrants, too many penalties....and talk way too much shit....just like a bunch of quacking ducks they got blasted from a shotgun called Stanford. Throw those loudmouths in with colors and unis designed by Liberace.....well what can you say. I enjoyed watching a real football team in Stanford. Oregon is good at their system. Not many people can stop it if they do not have the athletes. If you can stop that initial run, pressure the QB....knock him on his ass....man up on their tinkerbells...ram the ball down their throats.....you can beat them up front on O and D.

[VA Cane]

Right now we could not play with Oregon. That would be a disaster. We are too soft on D...up front, LBs would get lost and secondary would be a circus. We would score....but they might hang 50 on us. Our D is not ready for that kind of attack....it would be bad for our mental development at this point. We are not a physical team; fact. Until we do dare go there, we will be in the top 20 but never at the top. Cannot play with those teams right now. Change the culture its time. You can get all the recruits and stars you want....if you play passive football, if you are afraid to coach physical violent angry intense punishing football in all 3 phases you stay where you are. JMO

[herbieibis]

We play to win, not to lose. We play scared and our coaches do us no favor by having us play passively. Not guts no glory. Somebody stated that Stanford had a lot of 4TH & 5TH yr. Srs. but on both sides of the ball we have veterans playing. It just comes down to 2 things recruiting & coaching. Let the dogs out of the cage and let them, not like programmed robots but the talented athletes they are. Sure we still have a ways to go talent wise but does anyone think we couldn't play Dee like Stanford. It's not like they tear it up in recruiting, it's their mindset of seek and destroy, plus it helps, that you have to be a brainyact to get in their. Smart tough football.

[dj moonbat]

Sure we still have a ways to go talent wise but does anyone think we couldn't play Dee like Stanford. It's not like they tear it up in recruiting, it's their mindset of seek and destroy, plus it helps, that you have to be a brainyact to get in their. Smart tough football.

Posted by: herbieibis | November 08, 2013 at 10:41 AM

Yes. I think we would have trouble implementing Stanford's defense effectively.

[VA Cane]

We do not have the will, the discipline, the depth or development they have. They know their assignment and execute it. We are still struggling with the basics of fundamental football. We need to learn more, execute more, develop more.......coaches and players. Bottom line we have to develop an intelligent but controlled rage and anger in our games on O, D and ST and grow to develop flawless execution of fundamental football. We got pushed around by FSU....we were scared and our coaches must have been scared.

If you want to run with the big dogs, learn to piss in the tall weeds. If you don't, keep your pup ASS on the porch. JMO

[WWIN]

We've had the talent advantage every game this year except for the fsu game, so talent is not a excuse. Golden is too nice, no killa instinct, bottom line.

[WWIN]

What happened with recruiting since the fsu game? I guess they liked fsu cuz I haven't heard anything since the game????

[VA Cane]

We've had the talent advantage every game this year except for the fsu game, so talent is not a excuse. Golden is too nice, no killa instinct, bottom line.

Posted by: Willie Will in Nashville | November 08, 2013 at 11:37 AM

Willie you understand perfectly. I never want to be dirty cheap or loudmouthed...35 years coaching I never tolerate that stuff.....but I do want to destroy you on the field....beat you up physically, wear you out, frustrate you, make you quit....and do those things it gets into your psyche....in your mind you know you are beat and that you are afraid to get punished.

This is not a nice game; you have to really go after people. If you hit them over and over, clean, hard and by the rules...I emphasize that....and someone gets hurt....you are not at fault nor should you be sorry. You did your job. That's the world that's life. We have to find a way to develop that killer instinct its developed taught and coached. It assignment football, executed in a simple form in a highly aggressive manner. Its not dirty at all....its hard clean and non stop. JMO

[360Cane]

Yea, it also made me raise an eyebrow when Golden was so concerned about running the score up on SS. That he even went as far as to talk to the other HC about shortening the game because he's "been there before with Temple."

Nice guys can win 'ships too though, right?

[THE MAN]

Last nights Oregon/Stanford game was a perfect example that you need a strong running game and good defense to make any noise. Stanford were sustaining drives all night and played good sound defense. That gimicky offense that Oregon runs looks good when it's rolling, but looks really bad when it doesn't work. They are off the field in 1 min. Miami needs to learn from this and sustain drives and keep the O on the field with short to intermediate passes on 1st and 2nd down with runs mixed in to stay away from the awful 3rd and long that they are accustomed too. Play hard nosed D with man and safeties eyeing the run and lower the boom on rb's. Miami's coordinators are way over thinking everything right now. IMO they need to get back to the basics and let the athletes handle themselves on the field...

[TGU_Cane]

I'm gonna say it before the game.
"Fire D'NO. Bench #17."

[The Dude]

Golden will get us there in the next few years, remember folks, we didn't go get an elite coach, we got a project coach that has high upside, but is still learning on the job. For instance, Gus not being our short yardage back is almost unforgivable at this point. While Gus is only a freshman, he can contribute much more. Please don't counter with "Well, Gus is only a freshman and he isn't ready." Then get him ready! Al is a football coach, that's what you do is get guys ready. That being said, the player development on this team is better than anything we've seen since Butch Davis.

I anticipate a lot of guys coming back and actually feel we could be better next year. If we had any kind of consistency at QB, tomorrows outcome would never be in doubt. That's on 3 people, Golden 1, Coley 2 and Stephen Morris 3. This team has not played to its potential this year. We've yet to see a complete effort or see Miami truly step on someone's throat. But I don't think that's because Al Golden lacks a killer instinct, but that Al Golden hasn't gotten the most out of his players. There is another level of coaching that Al needs to get to.

I've said in the past, Golden could be as good as Pete Carroll one day. I think they are similar in a lot of ways. We all just have to wait it out because I don't think he's going anywhere soon.

[360Cane]

I don't know man. We sure did have done fire against UF. Gang tackling and all. But that's the only time I've seen it all year. :-(

[360Cane]

^^^

some fire not done fire.

[The Dude]

Posted by: 360Cane | November 08, 2013 at 12:25 PM

Lots of "nice guys" win championships. Dick Vermeil, Tony Dungy, Pete Carroll, Mack Brown, Bill Walsh, John Wooden. Its not a matter of being "nice." Randy Shannon wasn't a "nice guy" all the time. Its a matter of being detail oriented, disciplined and accountable. Golden is all of those things. Again, its year 3. We didn't get Nick Saban or Jim Harbaugh. We got a project coach from Temple. Its going to take time and we just have to get used to it. Golden isn't there yet. Even he knows that.

[The Dude]

Posted by: 360Cane | November 08, 2013 at 12:41 PM

The D played well, but the O never finished it and put the nail in the coffin.

[The Dude]

Posted by: THE MAN | November 08, 2013 at 12:33 PM

I totally agree with one caveat, Stephen Morris is the reason we cant sustain drives. He is far too inaccurate and doesn't execute plays within the context of the game. For instance, his turnovers in the redzone are killers.

[j.w.]

I don't see any evidence that Golden lacks the killer instinct. We aren't blowing out ACC opponents because we're frankly not good enough to do it every week. Just because you have the front-line talent doesn't mean you have the depth, and any team starting Cornelius, Gaines and Highsmith lacks depth. 7-1. Top 11 in the BCS. We aren't top 3 material right now, we have tons of flaws, but we're winning.

[Texascane]

I can just see this thread if Miami put 8 6'6" 270-290 pound white guys on the line of scrimmage like Stanford and ran the lead power from the I formation 40 times a game. I guess we could move to the Big 10.

[herbieibis]

Yeah Stanford has a 220 RB, they can use when they need a yd or 2, and instead of us using Hagens at 250 we use Duke who is maybe a 190 soaking wet or Crawford who is maybe 195. That extra beef should be worth one stinking yd. or it was for Stanford.

[The Dude]

Posted by: j.w. | November 08, 2013 at 12:51 PM

BAM!!!

[The Dude]

Posted by: herbieibis | November 08, 2013 at 12:56 PM

Exactly why I lament Edwards not playing more.

[VA Cane]

Nice guys as in people. Yet Bill Russell was not a nice guy on the court, he was hard. tony is a nice guy but he still got teams to be aggressive. You got to be aggressive in this game. We may develop that over time don't know. Even the teams with the SWAG I call it being a loudmouth...Irvin Sapp,Thomas....great players but hated their mouths....they were tough as shit.....Irvin was a physical go get them guy....we need to ramp it up a notch....I do not want to be a finess team...I want to be a tough fundamental smart finess team....

[VA Cane]

JW can you imagine when we get more depth, get tougher, correct the flaws, win the big games.....WHEW!!!! Then we will be unstoppable. We do have a lot of up side, we just need to keep working hard, get smarter, tougher stronger....and build that quiet aggressive pads talking confidence I saw in Stanford......not that BS yap yap SWAG talk shit crap from the past!!!!!

[RCCF]

sorry rankings mean NOTHING in this case HELLO I hate OU but cmon son.. OU is NOT EVER an underdog to Baylor be real with yourselves... DaU is NEVER an underdog to Duke and I dont care who they beat all year long... so to answer YES Im VERY Happy and even Happier Oregon Lost..

12% On my CANE Friends... Bus Keeps Rolling!!

[VA Cane]

I think Oregon was full of that BS talk last night. I do not see us doing that at all.....I am glad. I did not mean we do that.....I am very proud of the conduct....its impressive. I am saying lets not get back to physical with all the BS from the past....the showoff talk trash crap....keep getting leaner and meaner let that rage burn deep....keep the fire burning always destroy people and never say a word....Assassin style....never feel sorry or apologize for your destruction as it is always clean hard and constant!!!!

[RCCF]

I'm gonna say it before the game.
"Fire D'NO. Bench #17."

^^^^^^^^WE DONT SPEAK TROLL BUDDY^^^^^^^^

12%APPROVED
RCCF

[Brevardcane]

What game was it where Gus had two or more tries on the goal line and then they put Dallas in and he scored the very next play.

[j.w.]

Agreed, Va. We are still in the building phase, and are ahead of schedule in some areas, but we were 7-5 and 6-6 the past two years for a reason (or reasons). We're a good "team" because we play as a team, but we're not going to dominate like we did in the 80's without more stars. Give it time and enjoy the ride.

[VA Cane]

Agreed brother, we are a good team and its been much better this year. We are about where we belong somewhere in that top 11-25, perhaps nearer the up-per echelon. I think the recruiting is much better, will be even better and the staff will with the talent be able to develop a deeper, stronger more talented team. They will see that these kids can and will develop better skills, be able to line up and compete.....and be very aggressive.

[CaneRock]

SMDH! and LMAO! at wanting to be like Stanford.

Nobody wanted to be like Stanford when they lost to Utah, huh?...yeah, I thought so.

[CaneRock]

When Stanford wins, some Hurricane fans be like..."I wanna be like Stanford!"

When Alabama wins, some Hurricane fans be like..."I wanna be like Alabama!"

Well you know what, WE CAN'T BE LIKE THEM!

We're gonna be 7-1, and we're gonna LOVE IT! OK!

[WWIN]

Posted by: j.w. | November 08, 2013 at 12:51 PM

So you telling me that we didn't have a advantage talent wise over ga tech, unc, and wake top to bottom?

We are going to kill these team by 20+ or its going to be a long hard fought game, which one do you think our mindsets wuz those games??????

[Ohio_Cane]

We're gonna be 7-1, and we're gonna LOVE IT! OK!

Posted by: CaneRock | November 08, 2013 at 02:44 PM
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We already are 7-1 lol