Out Of Kilter

I have no idea how this’ll play out. The defense has to play better, as a whole. Maybe with the reduced workload last week, Calais, Teraz, and the rest of the d- line will be ready to take on a damned good offense. If not, or if people continue to go down with injuries, this might be a sequel to Oklahoma. Maybe the offense will show up. It’d be nice to see sustained fireworks against a decent team for the first time in three year. Otherwise, the last night game for Miami in the Orange Bowl will not be a pleasant one.

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.

Once again, reality has intruded with a handful of predicaments, so, without much ado, last week in bullet form.

• The running game was good. Scary Good. The o-line looked vicious for Javarris James, Graig Cooper, Derron Thomas, Kirby Freeman, Jerrell Mabry, and a guy who I think got on the team bus by accident at the depot. During the leaner of the Coker years, even weak opponents would manage to every so often man-handle their counterparts and just decimate runners or passers. It’s hard to figure how decent a training session Marshall was, missing their star DE, but there’s cause for hope that wasn’t there recently.
• Damn, that was terrible passing. It was befuddling, too, because while Kirby showed solid quality on his shorter passes, last year’s Achilles’ heel, he was unable to complete several available deep passes, which was the reason I thought he had the inside track on Kyle Wright. It was certainly nice to not have drives end on sacks on third downs, but Kirby threw the expected brainbender of an interception. He also wasn’t able to move the ball on long drives, needing short fields from turnovers that may not recur against Oklahoma.
• Did I mention Graig Cooper? The kid is lightning in the backfield, and really only needs a crease. He gets to the line so fast in person, that even on his seventh carry you’re gasping. Javarris showed great speed too, but an exceptional ability to keep going forward after contact, crystallizing in the run before his second touchdown, where he was wrapped by two guys and losing his balance until he spun towards another two Herdsmen, picking up three more yards after he seemed down.
• The wideouts were as expected: nothing special. Better observers than I thought Lance Leggett appeared unusually active, which is a plus going forward, but Khalil Jones and Darnell Jenkins were nonfactors. The tight ends looked better than expected as blockers, but didn’t do a whole lot of receiving, which was the concern that went unanswered.
• The defensive line was lights out. Teraz McCray set everything in motion. In some cases, he feasted on single coverage thanks to Calais, but it’s not his fault he took advantage. Eric Moncur was unblockable. Dwayne Hendricks, who saw extended playing time for the first time in his four years at Miami, looked as capable as Antonio Dixon did at times last year. Vegas was interesting. It might have been a mirage from playing a second tier team, but he looked faster and stronger than he did last year.
• Randy Phillips is kind of the defensive analogue to Kirby Freeman. He got beat, though Kenny Phillips should have been providing help, but apart from a misstep or two, was vital. DeMarcus Van Dyke is the absolute truth. I spent 25% of the game watching his matchup with his receiver. Speaking as an amateur, I spotted no real problems with his techniques. As a matter of fact, he played what looked to be flawlessly. The safeties, KP, Willie Cooper and Lovon Ponder, however, were nonfactors. KP stood out, as a matter of fact, because he didn’t stand out. He had a damned poor game by his lofty standards.
• Tavares Gooden surprised me. I thought his record gave reason for pause playing a spread-option heavy team, but he was generally great in committing to the pass or run as required. He got lucky on an interception that was pretty clearly, by the lights of replay, skimming the grass, but even without it he had a game that ranked as likely his best. Colin McCarthy also looked solid, though I’ll be more tempered in my praise than most out there have been. He looked good, and his tackling in space was textbook. Still and all, he made a lot of tackles in space… missing his assignment numbers of tackles in space. I didn’t notice it, but the sheer numbers make it a surprising possibility

I just don’t know what to expect this afternoon. Last week had some positives to work on and work towards (the burst Ty moss showed on his long run and his actually capably running out of the shotgun), as well as some negatives (Kyle and Kirby turning the ball over too much, not running the ball once after Moss’ big gainer).

I still believe this team has guys that are quality players. The performance hasn’t been there, but I think that’s due to a combination of Coach Coker’s ineptitude and some of the worst goddamned luck possible. I’m ashamed to say I haven’t watched one full Maryland game all year, so all I can go on is the less than impressive reputation.

I also don’t know what effect Kirby Freeman will have on the offense. There’s no doubt he’s looked sloppy at times and his numbers as an aggregate are less than impressive. However, Kyle Wright has looked downright bad this season. His late game turnovers have outright lost us one game and prevented us from doing anything in two more. I don’t know the exact reasons, whether it’s pathological fear of mistakes that end up paralyzing him into it, or whether he forces throws because by the end of games the offensive line no longer has any facsimile of his trust. All I know is Kyle is not where he needs to be.

This will be an ugly game. Not merely aesthetically, although that is certainly true, but as a fan of Miami football. The team that takes the field at the Orange Bowl tonight isn’t the team that miraculously blew out VT last year. That team had proven players and it had earlier bright spots in the season.

Virginia Tech is vulnerable, make no mistake. From what I’ve seen though, it’s not in such a way that the Hurricanes can exploit. We rarely get to the quarterback, which is how you mess up Sean Glennon. We can’t hit deep passes in stride, which VT has, surprisingly, appeared to be prone to giving up.

On the other hand, we can stop the run. Even there, we have weaknesses. I’m not revealing any secrets when I say that Brandon Ore makes the VT offense go. If Frank Beamer commits to running at Tavares Gooden, he will give up a play or two by missing a tackle.

Our running game will break one every so often, but Coach Olsen is all too willing to abandon the run.

It would be great if we pulled out the tricks and actually went against tendencies this game, but at this point it seems doubtful.

Needless to say, though, if we manage to repeat last year’s blowout at Lane Stadium, I reserve the right as a fan to say this was all a jinx.

A: When the University Of Miami needs a win to save the season.

For a look at the Miami defense vs. the Yellowjackets, check here…

Just another mediocre performance against a team playing out the string.

This staff no longer even elicits shock at their missteps. (more…)