Out Of Kilter

I have no idea what to make of the University of Miami’s football team, circa 2007. I mean, sure, based on results to date, the team isn’t that good.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the performance would have been better if the weak spots of the team on offense and defense hadn’t been further weakened by injuries. Losing the projected starters at the positions thought to be most important for the defense, Josh Holmes, Glenn Cook, and Glenn Sharpe, was a tough blow to take. On the offensive side of the ball, it’s impossible to know as an outsider whether Kirby won the starting quarterback’s job because Kyle was hurt or because of other reasons, but as it has turned out, no matter the reason, Kyle should’ve been the guy from day one, no matter what I wrote here last year.

I digress. Last year, Miami beat FIU 35-0. This year, the margin ended up being a mere two touchdowns. Have they moved forward, or have we moved back? Having A’Mod Ned gash the run defense was discomforting with A & M coming in. On the other hand, Kyle landed a deep ball with Lance, a connection that hadn’t been made since Wake Forest in 2005. On the first hand, Sam Shields has one (1) catch through three (3) games, for just seven (7) yards! On the other hand, Teraz McCray was able to collapse the pocket against FIU even while being triple-teamed.

I guess my figuring is that we basically stayed the same, and this iteration of UM-FIU was a much more unlucky individual outcome.  Yay?

Hopefully no one gets injured and there’s no reason for ESPN to spend three months bemoaning an outlaw culture at the program. Both of those things would be awesome. I’d like for Kyle to get some confidence going into the game with Texas A & M. I’d also appreciate not running the spread when our running game, the strength of the team, is neutralized by lining up in the shotgun, and instead we play to our nonexistant passing game’s strengths. All of these would be positive.

I realize I’m working with the loosest definition of “later tonight” possible, seeing as how it’s seven full days later, but it took that long for me to work up the courage to rewatch on TiVo. So, was the game as bad as 51-13 would indicate? Pretty much. But, with judicious application of my orange and green glasses, there are some positives to take away, along with the sorts of monumental negatives that are par for the course in a game decided by six touchdowns.

Positives:

• Tavares Gooden has been damned good. He’s an asset when it comes to passing downs, and though he still occasionally overruns the play, is much more frequently bringing ballcarriers down by himself.
• Teraz McCray looks sharp. He struggled at times against OU, but he did a good job of engaging his man and frequently a second, enabling Gooden to flow very well.
• Javarris James ran well, so long as you disregard minor things like his numbers. The long run that was called back due to an unnecessary bad block by a true freshman WR came after the game was out of reach, but it appeared OU still had most of their first-team defense on the field.
• Oklahoma didn’t really do anything surprising, but it was nice to see a Miami offensive line not piddle on itself when playing an upper-echelon defensive line. They provided time for bad throws, and while they got beat pretty bad while Graig Cooper was running the ball, it seemed more that they were in an impossible situation than that they were overmatched.
• Kyle Wright’s first drive, though clunky and out of step by the standards of any other major college program, still resulted in a touchdown, and was epic in scope:18 plays, 6 and a half minutes, converting three first downs and a fourth, though Kyle left the game for that fourth down conversion.

Negatives:

• Kyle Wright’s last drive, which highlighted the reasons OOK wanted to see Kirby last year- throwing short of the marker on third down, scrambling into a one-yard gain when pressure came, despite the blitz being picked up.
• Kirby’s whole game. He was terrible, and to play to his strengths, Coach Nix decided to avoid playing to Javarris and Cooper’s, strengths. This was pretty categorically a mistake, if for no other reason than that he’s lost the ability to throw the deep ball, which was the one asset he has.
• Eventually I just felt bad for Randy Phillips. Watching him get methodically taken advantage of, for four TDs given up, got to be sad. Unfortunately, he’s not quick enough, and since we for some reason weren’t going face to face with their receivers, he wasn’t able to make up for it by jamming people.
• Kenny Phillips had a vintage Greg Threat game, where despite 13 total tackles and a forced fumble, he was unable to either get to the quarterback or break up passing plays, and allowed himself to get into the no mans land where he made tackles following big gains.
• Oh, and about 5 of the 8 players in the defensive line rotation got hurt.

Expect more later tonight, but that was vicious. Cripes. Apparently Marshall was indeed the mirage of the dying man.

As we quickly approach the National Championship this year, I don’t really have any favorite. If, somehow, both teams got “Marshalled” on their way to the game, that would suit me just fine.

Why? Because Ohio State suckered the mighty Hurricanes out of a title four years ago and I have a pathological hatred of the Florida Gators.

If I had to pick a winner, I’d go with the Buckeyes. Not because everyone and their mother says they’re going to win, and not because they have a magical record, going wire-to-wire at #1 like some sort of ‘roided out Hannah Montana in football pads. I’m going with OSU because of Tressel, Coach Jimmy Tressel.

And, like the good man says; Ohio State 87, Florida 0.

“See you fools at the party after our big win.”

UM and FIU have agreed to play each other again at the Orange Bowl, October 6, 2007.

UM Athletic Director Paul Dee tells the Miami Herald;

“We have a game that’s scheduled and we’re going to play it. We have good people and I think everyone understands what happened can’t happen again. The game will be played.”

Seeing Jabba “Dee” Hutt reminds me; go out today and buy a Krispy Kreme doughnut, or two. They need your help, and your love.

Again, time is short. While I apparently didn’t have the juice last week for this to come true, I again hope no one else gets hurt in this execrable season. I also can’t say much about BC in any case- the only near-full game of theirs I’ve seen all year was against Western Michigan, where they didn’t look great. Except, here they stand, with a quality record against some decent teams, so I’ve obviously missed out.

What I’ve seen of Matt Ryan in the past, I’ve liked, and our corners can’t keep their legs underneath them, so… All we’re playing for is a modicum of pride and the defense. Calais Campbell needs two sacks to take second place in a single season, three to tie for first. The defense as a whole needs to hold BC under 61 yards to hold the record for fewest rushing yards per game in a season in Miami’s history. Obviously, it’d be great going forward if the offense showed a pulse, but BC under Tom O’Brien usually restrains them even when they’re decent, which they aren’t. I’d love for the seniors to go out on a win, but I really don’t think they will.

Edit as of leaving Thanksgiving lunch for the game: Oh, and the news that only Demitri Stewart and Darryl Sharpton are healthy? That gives me all kinds of confidence against a team that does a lot of power rushing.

There’s a lot of media talk saying Larry Coker may be looking for a new job soon, and while the man behind Miami may not “own this friggin’ town” like say, Jim Tressel, I’m not so quick to believe Shalala will fire the dude just because he can’t control his players, or gives lousy press conferences, or can’t bring home the wins… on second thought, listen to buzz:

Mike Farrell at SportingNews gets the ball rolling with this,

The worst-kept secret in college football is that a new head coach will soon take over the hallowed Miami program… But fret no more Miami fans, your proud program will be back among the recruiting elite before you know it.

Read more bad news for UM’s Gargamel after the jump.
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