Defense Saves The Day

In the greatest comeback in the long and storied history of this series, Miami beat Florida State 28-27 behind a ferocious defense that took over the game with a completely dominant second half. 

Miami's defensive performance was reminiscent of the glory days for the Hurricanes with the defensive line controlling the game, creating turnovers galore and with their opponent going backwards. The world famous turnover chain made several appearances during the second half onslaught that led to 21 points and the eventual victory over the arch rival Seminoles.

The Hurricane offense was able to overcome their typical slow start as new QB N'Kosi Perry showed some early game jitters in his first appearance in the always competitive and hotly contested rivalry game.

The Canes will need to greatly improve in the same familiar areas that have handicapped them all season: offensive line, offensive play calling and special teams. These well documented deficiencies have consistently caused Miami team to under-perform against inferior opponents. Mark Richt and his staff must get to work to correct these areas if Miami has any hope to reach the ACC title game again this year.

The Hurricanes will now hit the road for a couple of away games as the road stretch of the season has now arrived. Things will not be as easy as playing within the friendly confines of Hard Rock Stadium. Richt and his team will have to bring their "A Game" with them on the road. It is clearly obvious to all fans that falling behind 27-7 is not a smart, safe or healthy way to approach games on the road in a hostile environment.

Next up are games at Virginia on 10/13 and Boston College on Friday night 10/26. Both games are scheduled for 7 PM starts. If Miami can survive those two road contests they will come home to face Duke on 11/3 before traveling to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on 11/10 and Virginia Tech on 11/17.

The season finale will be against Pitt at home on Thanksgiving weekend. 

Comments

[86Cane]

Fair and balanced.

Both blogs I wrote were absolutely true.

This one is the politically correct and "fan friendly" version of yesterday's game. Hope you like it Go Canes!

[Go Canes!!]

CMR is a terrible OC.

Man you've gotten soft.

[raizecane]

top 5

[raizecane]

Is it me or did we lose a bunch of blog entries?

[solarcane]

Im still thinking we hardly move in the polls

[solarcane]

Raize
Me too

[TonyCane]

Solar, we probably go up 1-2 best case, fall 1 in worst case. Ultimately it's irrelevant. Winning out will have us in or near the conversation at the end.

[solarcane]

Good comparison article Soup
I could feel your frustration and passion yesterday. The bike ride was a good release. Try and catch a second half replay of the game,the defense played some inspired vintage Cane like
Football.

[solarcane]

I hear you Tony.
With our shedule even with only one loss all regular season we are not making the playoff with a loss to Clemson.
The only way we finish in the top 10 is too beat Clemson or upset a higher ranked bowl opponent,or both.

[canezilla]

I saved $400 by NOT going to the game to be made friggin miserable. I call that "a good investment".

Posted by: 86Cane | October 06, 2018 at 05:41 PM
ANY TIPS ON ANY STOCKS??? WOW

[86Cane]

Ultimately it's irrelevant. Winning out will have us in or near the conversation at the end.

Posted by: TonyCane | October 07, 2018 at 12:11 PM

There IT is right there.

[86Cane]

Try and catch a second half replay of the game,the defense played some inspired vintage Cane like
Football.

Posted by: solarcane | October 07, 2018 at 12:16 PM

I saw the highlights on ESPN this AM.

That's where I got the title for the blog: "Defense Saves The Day"

[86Cane]

1. CMR is a terrible OC.

2. Man you've gotten soft.

Posted by: Go Canes!! | October 07, 2018 at 11:46 AM

OK, I'll answer that:

1. True

2. True

[Canes4life]

Coaches poll Miami moves up two spots to 15.

[86Cane]

In the end we ALL love Richt because he is a former Cane and current head coach. But this was also absolutlely 100% true when Randy Shannon took over as well (go back and read the blog during that time). And we all know how that ended. Badly, very badly.

IMHO Richt's tenure will also end badly IF he does not replace his son as QB Coach and hire an OC and a new special teams coach. I doubt he will do any of these things and thus my long term prediction (3-5 more years) is that it will end badly UNLESS he is somehow able to simply outrecruit everybody but Bama and we get to play them in the National Championship Game in the same period.

[solarcane]

CANES 15 in coaches poll

[86Cane]

There is not a single honest person on this blog who can say the following with a straight face:

1. Our play calling is creative, imaginitive and takes full advantage of our personnel and talent.

2. Our game planning and scheming for each individual opponent we face emphasizes our strengths and attacks the opponents weaknesses.

3. Our QBs have improved greatly under the tutelage of the QB coach. The false rumors of Rosiers' alleged "improvement" support this arguement.

4. Our special teams are helping us win games and are superior to anything I see from opponents during any given Saturday of watching college football.

[TonyCane]

I hear you Tony.
With our shedule even with only one loss all regular season we are not making the playoff with a loss to Clemson.
The only way we finish in the top 10 is too beat Clemson or upset a higher ranked bowl opponent,or both.

Posted by: solarcane | October 07, 2018 at 12:24 PM

We'll need a bit of help, even with a Clemson win. I'd say:

Texas - Needs to be upset before the Big 12 Championship game. Then they can beat OU again

or conversely

Oklahoma - Needs to be upset before the Big 12 Championship game, where they then defeat Texas in a rematch

Also

Georgia - Needs to be upset before they face Alabama. Then they need to play their role and lose to Alabama

Notre Dame - Ideally USC knocks them off at the end of the season. I wouldn't mind FSU taking them out either, but I don't want any sort of edge given to the Seminoles in recruiting

[solarcane]

Butch Davis?

Do we trade an honest role model God fearing coach
for a
Lying,self serving, institution cheating, selfish coach

Hell yea we do

[solarcane]

Tony
Great post

[HillviewCane]

I honestly don't mind Richt as a head coach. He has done some great things with the team.We just need to bring in a great OC

[HillviewCane]

He needs to focus on the big picture regarding the team and delegate that role to someone good.

[BigWindyCane]

Canes4life
Coaches poll Miami moves up two spots to 15.

Posted by: Canes4life | October 07, 2018 at 12:35 PM

Good news. Like TonyCane and Soup said, just win out and everything else will take care of itself. The Canes are favored in every remaining regular season game on their schedule, but yesterday showed us that they Can’t take any of these games for granted.

VT whipped FSU at the beginning of the season, but that wasn’t the same FSU team the Canes played yesterday. I also don’t think the Canes are the same, and I think they will eventually get it together and play better on offense. I hope it starts next week in Charlottesville, but it might take a little longer.

[WWIN]

Posted by: 86Cane | October 07, 2018 at 12:45 PM

TRUE! -2 Chainz voice

[His Majesty The Dude on High]

I could see us being around #9 for the ACC CG, if we lose to lets say #4 Clemson close, the go to the OB at #15, then beat the hell out of the #10 team, we'd then finish in the top 10. I know that seems like a lot of IFs, but its really not in CF, we'd be 12-2 after all. Hopefully we just beat Clemson this year and dont catch Bama in the playoffs.

[solarcane]

Miami 16 ap

[solarcane]

Central Florida highest ranked college team in Florida.

[Go Canes!!]

Posted by: solarcane | October 07, 2018 at 12:52 PM

Yes sir.

[Go Canes!!]

Imo if Notre Dame wins out we are not going to make it to the final four, even if we beat Clemson.

No one is beating Bama, Ohio State will likely run the table and a one loss Georgia team gets in along with the Irish.

Jmo.

[solarcane]

Go Canes
I'm feeling we win the Coastal lose to Clemson, win a bowl and finish the season 10th

Have you read anything on what the recruits at the game are saying about the big comeback?

[BEERicane]

Our play calling is not just atrocious for D1 college football, it would be awful for high school ball.

But that was some of the most fun I’ve ever had at a game. The only thing that topped it for me was G5 of the WS last year in Houston vs the Dodgers. Now that was epic!

[His Majesty The Dude on High]

Posted by: Go Canes!! | October 07, 2018 at 02:29 PM

Georgia will have 2 losses and Notre Dame will have at least 1 IMO.

[solarcane]

ESPN Tells it like it is

ESPN Power Rankings

16. Miami (5-1, 2-0 ACC)

Week 6 result: Defeated Florida State 28-27
What's next: at Virginia (7 p.m. Saturday, ESPN2)

The worst Florida State team in recent memory pushed the Hurricanes to the limit, forcing them to pull off their biggest comeback ever in this rivalry. Credit the turnover chain: Down 27-7 in the third quarter, Miami clearly fed off the energy of the crowd following a Gerald Willis III fumble recovery that led to two touchdowns in a span of 42 seconds. Redshirt freshman N'Kosi Perry's second start left a lot to be desired despite his four touchdown passes. He completed only 13 of 32 pass attempts, and his slow start played no small role in Miami's big early hole. Perry will have to be much better if Miami is to maintain its role as the favorite in the Coastal Division.

[Go Canes!!]

AR confirms his career is over:

Reynolds: Ahmmon Richards speaks out about his career-ending neck injury: "I plan to continue working towards my degree at UM and look forward to the next chapter in my life."

[His Majesty The Dude on High]

^^^ current personal stage: Anger.

[BigWindyCane]

Georgia will have 2 losses and Notre Dame will have at least 1 IMO.

Posted by: His Majesty The Dude on High | October 07, 2018 at 03:11 PM

I agree. Georgia has to win at LSU, Florida and Kentucky, and still has GT to finish the season before the SEC championship game.

Alabama still has Miss. St., Auburn and LSU on the schedule. Ohio St.’s schedule looks easy, but they still must play Michigan and then the Big 10 championship game. The Big 12 and PAC 12 all have teams playing each other, so there is a very good chance that an 11-1 Canes team could make the CF Playoffs with a win in the ACC championship game. A loss in the ACC championship game will likely not be enough, but a win in a major bowl would signal progress

[BigWindyCane]

Before the Canes can dream of making the ACC championship game, they must win the remaining games on their schedule. It would be great if they can go undefeated in the ACC. The Canes have never done that. I think an undefeated ACC regular season is rare.

But the Canes without Richards means one less high level playmaker on an uncreative offense. Perry must grow up very fast. He has to play a lot better next week. The Canes must show a lot more progress. We need to see the Perry we saw late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter, and we need to see less of the PERRY we saw in the first half.

Perry’s OL and WRs must help him out and play much better than they did this week. Cager had more drops than catches yesterday. And the penalties must stop.

[herbieibis]

Bama ain't getting beat
Georgia will lose 1 to Bama
N. Dame maybe will lose 1 but highly unlikely. UsC and FSU better get good in a hurry.
Ohio St. only has to navigate Michigan.
Clemson, as long as their QB don't get knocked out, will be waiting for us.
As it looks right now sitting at 15 after week 6 and with no top 25 teams to play, it will be tough for us to get past maybe 8. Even if we beat Clemson, we need some more help. Long way to go but our biggest issues is our offensive play calling and special teams, which aren't to special..
Can't flip a field with your punters averaging 37 yds. a punt and giving up big returns. Bubba ain't got no ice water running through his veins either.

[86Cane]

A loss in the ACC championship game will likely not be enough, but a win in a major bowl would signal progress

Posted by: BigWindyCane | October 07, 2018 at 03:56 PM

One favor: Can we NOT play Wisconisn please?

[Old Skool]

There is not a single honest person on this blog who can say the following with a straight face:

1. Our play calling is creative, imaginitive and takes full advantage of our personnel and talent.

2. Our game planning and scheming for each individual opponent we face emphasizes our strengths and attacks the opponents weaknesses.

3. Our QBs have improved greatly under the tutelage of the QB coach. The false rumors of Rosiers' alleged "improvement" support this arguement.

4. Our special teams are helping us win games and are superior to anything I see from opponents during any given Saturday of watching college football.

Posted by: 86Cane | October 07, 2018 at 12:45 PM

Excellent points Soup

[Sarasota 'cane]

First off I'm glad I went to the game. The defense never quit and beating FSU can never be marginalized. They don't marginalize their 7 straight wins over some of UM's worst teams in my lifetime, so they can F off over UM's 2-0 record the last 2 years while they're down. I asked one of my FSU buddies if this was their "Shannon Era" or their "Golden Era". He told me F U, which is like poetry coming from a nole fan.

I didn't see anything that would suggest to me that Miami will be undefeated in ACC regular season play. I hope I'm wrong, but I said after week 1 that the kicking game will eventually cost UM a game or two and I'm sticking to that guess. This is probably the easiest thing to fix in the off-season.

The play calling is unimaginative and predictable. You can cure some of this with better talent, but we will never win a ship in the playoff era with Richt drawing up and calling the plays. IMO this will eventually cost Richt his job if he doesn't pivot.

Our offensive line is offensive against good defenses.

Are we where we want to be? Nope.

Is UM better than they were before Richt got to Miami? IMO yes, with much room for improvement.

Am I still giving Richt a pass until 2019-2020? Yep. From the indoor training facility, to recruiting, to the defense, and now our new QB...UM is a better team across the board under Richt. These problems were 12 years in the making before he got here and that's the timeframe I felt he would need to turn it around. And if Richt isn't the guy to put us over he's definitely building the infrastructure for someone who can.

Go 'canes!

[mi@mic@ne]

The pass to number 9 that put us on top was thrown on a line. Perry had to throw it on a dime because the safety was in pursuit...Perry made it look easy

[canezilla]

Canes -7.5 vs uva

[herbieibis]

Richt is a good recruiter but he tends to neglect a position or two each cycle. If u know we need O-Tackles, then why are u bringing in 3 Guards. If u know we need D-Tackles, why bring in one or take a reach. Same could be said for the corner back position.
We have talent but we have to have depth of it. We have several big fish on the line, so hopefully we can close this time and not watch them hop a wave out of Miami.
The one thing Richt does right, is put a fullback out there in short yardage situations. I hate to see a team hand the ball off 5 yds. behind the line of scrimmage to try and get a yard. He however doesn't call plays to win, he calls them not to lose. U get the ball near midfield, nows not the time to run 2 straight running plays and get 3 yds. then throw a 5 yd. out route.

[His Majesty The Dude on High]

Posted by: canezilla | October 07, 2018 at 05:54 PM

We will beat UVA by more than 7.5.

[His Majesty The Dude on High]

Posted by: herbieibis | October 07, 2018 at 06:14 PM

If you follow recruiting, and not just signing day, you'd he's trying to, he just keeps getting beat. He wanted the OT out of GA (Goss) right up to the very end, didnt get him, so now we are playing Scaife as a RT. He wanted another DT (Briggs) to play with Netsa, didnt get him and instead we took Miller as a redshirt for next year, we would have taken 3 DTs last year, Nesta, Briggs and Miller, perhaps even Chatman from GA, he just didnt get them. CB is another position dealing with depth issues, but last year was the 1st year we got the right numbers for the class, 3 or 4. With this class things are going to look really good numbers-wise. Rebuilding this roster is going to take time. Time to rebuild our reputation and time to bring in talented kids.

Next year at CB

1. **** (JR) Bandy
2. **** (SO) Ivey
3. **** (SO) Blades or Frierson
4. *** (*FR) Bethel
5. **** (FR) Couch
6. *** (FR) Brownlee
7. *** (FR) Good

Of course we could see ***** Dent join that group also, but we'll see. We are suffering currently from missing on CBs in Rumphs 1st and 2nd year. We could/should have had:

1. **** (SR) Byrd (bailed for Tenn)
2. *** (SR) Young (injury)
3. **** (JR) Bandy
4. **** (JR) Henderson/Edwards (both FU)
5. **** (SO) Ivey
6. **** (SO) Blades or Frierson
7. **** (FR) Couch
8. *** (FR) Brownlee

[BigWindyCane1]

We will beat UVA by more than 7.5.

Posted by: His Majesty The Dude on High | October 07, 2018 at 06:23 PM

From your post to God’s ears 🤞

[His Majesty The Dude on High]

Posted by: BigWindyCane1 | October 07, 2018 at 06:56 PM

I think I have a good feel for this team right now. Im gonna say we have about 5 TDs in us for VA, perhaps a FG also, VA has maybe 2 TDs and a FG.

Miami 38, UVA 17.

[His Majesty The Dude on High]

Floor is probably 24 for Miami's O, ceiling is probably 52. Floor for VA is probably 6, ceiling is probably 24.

[His Majesty The Dude on High]

Think about next year at CB and fielding a national championship level team and you'll see exactly how we are banking on younger guys to either play like ELITE talents or upper classmen. We just arent there yet imo.

1. JR Trajan Bandy. Proven stud.

2. SO Al Blades Jr. Mature, leadership skills, but I dont think he has world class athletic ability, perhaps he can be play like an upperclassman early.

3. SO D.J. Ivey. Is a better athlete than Blades, but has room for improvement. Doesnt have burner speed right now. Could develop into our next Mike Jack though.

4. SO or *FR Gilbert Frierson. Has the most speed of the '18 class kids. If he really hunkers down and works like a guy that wants to achieve his NFL dreams, hes a guy that could jump early to the NFL. Seems to be the furthest behind (except Bethel).

5. From here on we are going with recruits and redshirt FR Bethel. We really dont know much about any of those guys yet.

To me, the only way its a championship CB roster, is if all of the top 4 are the real deal and there's no injuries, or the rest of the team does enough to help them along. I guess thats where I think we are as a program, some groups are really strong and are helping the others along. AND we have a defensive SCHEME that is really difficult for other teams to handle.