Another loss and another set of questions in a season when most of us were expecting answers, as well as a better overall result.
This one goes beyond losing. Failure has become commonplace for the Canes, now 2-3 on the season and 7-10 in the Randy Shannon era. Some young talent has stepped up and given fans a glimmer of what could be for Miami in the future, which the morning after feels a lifetime from now.
Florida State fought their way to a 41-39 rainsoaked win Saturday afternoon at Dolphin Stadium. It wasn’t pretty, but it was consistent with what you’ve come to expect from Miami’s arch rival. Against the Canes, the Noles are consistent. Solid defense. Pressure on the quarterback. Special teams woes. All a given and for the for the third time in three shots against Miami, enough for a win.
Hard hitting, fundamental football is always the final ingredient. Whether bred from respect for the rivalry or simply a desire to win, you never question Florida State’s heart against The U. Even during down years where they tested some higher-ranked Canes teams this decade. FSU always came to play.
The Canes made a game of this one, down 24-3 after two and to within two with 8:30 to play. A then 29-10 second half rally made it 34-32 with 8:30 to go.
For a break, don’t bend defense that faltered all day, Miami allowed the game winning drive to amass 81 yards in just under five minutes, late in the fourth quarter, behind an effective Florida State attack.
In a game where the Noles’ offensive line was their supposed weakness, a solid offensive game plan neutralized the Canes front seven and turned a flaw into an asset.
Christian Ponder, running all over Miami in this meeting, saved his best for last – a 13-yard scamper on a 3rd and 11 from midfield. Six plays later, his partner-in-stride Antone Smith broke off a 20-yard touchdown, on 3rd and goal from the Miami twenty.
Ponder finished with 304 total yards, 144 of which were with his legs. Smith finished with 92 on the ground and four touchdowns. The Canes were simply finished.
Miami put together a scrappy final drive, covering 78 yards in just under four minutes, completing three 4th down attempts and converting a gimmicky tackle-as-an-eligible-receiver touchdown that would’ve made more sense when the Canes settled for three the previous 3rd and goal from the seven.
An onside kick attempt in the final minute proved unsuccessful and ended any comeback try.
With 9:03 to play, a botched FSU snap put Miami at the 4-yard line and a boneheaded penalty set Miami back five yards. Three tries from the nine and the game on the line, the Canes couldn’t find a way to get in, only mustering up a field goal and trailing by two instead of leading by two.
A stark contrast to the will of the Noles as Smith rumbled in from 20 yards out on third and goal a series later, pushing the lead to nine before the Canes final cosmetic touchdown.
The two-point loss might read well as a headline, but not in the box score. Florida State had 440 total yards to Miami’s 256. The Noles rushed for 281 yards while the Canes only put up 51. Both teams had their share of penalties in this sloppy affair, but FSU also won the time of possession battle, 39: 23 to 19:44, wearing out the Canes defense and killing the any offensive momentum.
Miami was a paltry 2 of 15 on third down on the day. Nine of those occasions, the Canes faced a 3rd and 9 or worse. Miami didn’t pick up their first third down until late in the second quarter, while the Noles didn’t attempt their first punt until midway through the third.
Mickey Andrews stayed his course, again bringing an aggressive and blitzing defense to town, yet Miami had no play to counter his D’s attack. With Noles in the backfield all day, not one screen or quick-developing pass to capitalize on some overpursuing or prove to Andrews that his scheme wasn’t foolproof.
The Canes looked best offensively late in the first quarter when Cooper rattled off three straight runs for 10, 6 and 13 yards. The first play of the second, Marve took a nine-yard sack, forcing Miami to attempt back-to-back passes, stalling another drive.
Cooper rushed five times by the end of the first quarter, yet only touched the ball twice more on Saturday afternoon – once on a third quarter touchdown strike to game MVP Travis Benjamin and another on a two-yard run late in the fourth.
Granted Miami started the second half in deep hole, it marked the second week in a row the Canes got away from either an effective running game or signs of one on the horizon. Talk of not wanting to ‘overwork’ Cooper has now turned until underutilizing him and having no other back on the team comfortably settling into a #2 role.
As frustrating as the lack of Coop, a steady diet of passes to undeserving receivers is spirit-breaking and game-changing. The Sam Shields era needs to go on hiatus, with either Benjamin, Thearon Collier or Davon Johnson getting the disappointing junior’s reps.
Shannon has oft stated that Shields has spent most of his career in the doghouse. #83 spent most of Saturday dropping more balls than he caught, with a 2 reception, 14 yard ‘effort’. Six balls were thrown Shields’ way, four weren’t reeled in and five came on first down. A rather risky way to start a drive, regarding an unreliable receiving option.
Khalil Jones proved ineffective as well on a 3rd and 19 when outworked by Myron Rolle, who broke up a would-be reception as Jones didn’t run a solid route and put himself in position to make the catch.
Four incompletions went the way of Leonard Hankerson in his 3 reception, 44-yard outing, digging this supposedly talented soph a deep hole to climb out of. Hankerson is looking more like the last guy to wear his #85 than the next great Miami receiver we were promised.
In a Leggett-like moment, Hankerson let a would-be, albeit mildly underthrown, touchdown pass get wrestled away from him by FSU’s Tony Carter, who picked off two Marve passes.
Like Kayne Farquharson last week, another Canes receiver had a chance to step up and change history. In both cases, each flinched in their big moment. Farquharson’s may be more forgivable, as the image of his outstreched, two-inches-too-short frame couldn’t reel in the game winner.
Hankerson’s continued drops and lack of mental toughness is looking more like a trend than a fluke, sadly. For a kid who spends his spare time working with NFL future Hall of Famer Cris Carter, Hankerson and coach need to get back to square one and basic fundamentals.
Shannon supposedly has placed all his faith in the future, focusing on recruiting and bringing the talent back to south Florida. If this is the case, then why rely on sophomores, juniors and seniors who aren’t getting the job done? Most would be in agreement that it’s easier to forgive a mistake-prone first-timer than a veteran who should know better.
In simpler terms, more passes to ‘glue hands’ Aldarius Johnson and less to the aforementioned receivers who can’t catch a cold.
Get the freshman wideouts in the rotation, bench any incompetent upperclassmen and get those ‘rookie’ mistakes out of the system this year so that this program can truly experience growth in 2009.
Brandon Harris took his lumps at cornerback, thrust into action thanks to a lack of depth at Miami’s most obvious weakest link; the secondary. Harris has an excuse as he was playing high school football a year ago this time – which can’t be said for blunders by guys like Chavez Grant, Lavon Ponder and Anthony Reddick, three experienced veterans oft playing fundamentally poor football.
Reddick’s final missed tackle on Smith’s go-ahead 20-yard scamper was indicative of the Canes’ defense the majority of this season; in the right place at the right time, but unable to break down and make the play.
With Colin McCarthy out for the game (and now the season), Miami leaned on true freshman Sean Spence – who came up with one of the game’s biggest plays, the Canes first interception for a touchdown since 2003.
Proving to have a nose for the ball, Spence was Miami’s leading tackler, with seven solo and ten total on the day. A natural born playmaker, the Canes need a handful more Spence-like kids on each side of the ball before this team finds its way ‘back’.
While Miami found an answer for McCarthy in Spence, the same will have to be done on the defensive line regarding Eric Moncur, who will also miss the rest of this season, most likely ending the senior’s career with the Canes.
Same for linebacker Romeo Davis, which means fans clamoring for top-rated linebacker Arthur Brown will finally see what the Kansas product can do. True freshman Jordan Futch is also expected to see increased playing time. Will the Canes benefit from addition by subtraction? Tune in the next seven games to find out.
What Spence did on defense, Benjamin did on special teams, with six returns for a total of 185 yards. Benjamin got four offensive touches and found the endzone twice, once on a 18-yard reverse and the other on a 51-yard reception from Cooper, where he juked a Nole out of his shimmery gold pants.
The ‘youth movement’ will have its setbacks, but it’s still a better option than watching players who should know better, not do better. Miami needs a handful of Spence and Benjamin-like players on both sides of the ball before this ‘resurgence’ talk can be taken seriously.
Shannon must rely on this youth and go with a full-fledged baptism by fire. Recent history has proven, in Miami at least, that there aren’t many ‘feel good’ stories regarding upperclassmen finally getting ‘it’ and turning things around. Three sub par years have generally been followed up by unsuccessful senior year campaigns.
Be it Lance Leggett, Kyle Wright, Ryan Moore or a slew of others, there was no glory in their collective swan songs. Too many recent careers have ended with a thud instead of a bang.
There look to be several similar storylines with this current squad and Shannon must get proactive instead of reactive. Forget who made plays in practice; go with your gut and figure out who can get on the field and make things happen.
The coaches are going to take the heat for the losses, but that doesn’t mean their players are blame-free. Playcalling has nothing to do with an inability to wrap up, make a play or execute.
Too many times Miami continued to self-implode and couldn’t remember the simple rules of Football: 101, be it dropped balls on offense or third-down penalties on both sides of the ball. The Canes proved unable to handle any prosperity that comes their way. Any chance to step up, Miami fell down.
Seven games remain and not a ‘gimmie’ remains. Not at 2-3, at least.
At 2-1, with the lone loss a defensive gem of a game (for three quarters, at least), the sky looked to be the limit for Miami. The offense seemed in sync after Texas A&M and off to a solid start in game four against North Carolina.
Last week a potential game-winner sailed off Farquharson’s fingertips and after this most recent loss to Florida State, it’s hard not to believe this 2008 season could fall from Shannon’s grip as well if the man doesn’t coach up this team and get them to refocus.
Road trips to Duke and Virginia look that much harder, with the Canes’ plight, as well as the recent improvement experienced by both squads.
Miami gets Central Florida, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech at home, then wrap the season with two road games at Georgia Tech and NC State. Forget making a run in the ACC, in a matter of seven days the Canes will be fighting for bowl eligibility (again) if it can’t fix things immediately.
The motto has been ‘finish’ and it’s still not clicking. Miami might’ve been able to finally finish, had it actually come out the gate with a stronger start. The 24-3 halftime deficit was eerily familiar and as one-sided as last year’s 27-0 halftime hole at North Carolina.
Young teams have a hard enough road. They don’t need the deck stacked against them to the tune of three touchdowns, or more.
In both cases the Canes rallied, but fell short and found yet new ways to self-implode – which is the the most bitter pill to swallow. A year later, those mistakes are inexcusable. Miami has essentially beaten itself two weeks in a row.
Miami’s 2007 comeback at Florida State was followed by four straight losses, but the season truly fell apart last October 6th at North Carolina – almost a year ago to the day. What has Shannon learned since then? Has this team grown? If so, how much? Time for it to show.
A few of my (supposed) ‘in the know’ amigos have stressed Shannon’s focus on the future, insinuating that coaches have almost given up on several current players. Shannon’s new breed of Hurricane seems to get ‘it’, be that Marve, Benjamin, Cooper, Spence, A. Johnson or everyone’s new Cane of the day, Gavin Hardin.
While Miami was on the receiving end of Florida State’s early beatdown, cameras caught Hardin on the sidelines in his game jersey and a pair of shorts, tears streaming down his face. Commentators talked of Hardin getting vocal with upperclassmen in an attempt to motivate.
While it’s not quite Ed Reed’s gutwrenching halftime speech at Tallahassee in 2001, it served as a reminder that ‘those’ type of players have been to few and far between as of late. In due time, Harvin will be making plays for the Canes defense and is already starting to show leadership skills that some seasoned veterans lack.
Faith in the resurgence shouldn’t disappear, but a new time frame is in order. Miami isn’t back and Shannon needs more days in the lab to fiddle with this monster. Simply put, it’s going to take more talented recruits. More players from winning programs who buy into Shannon’s vision and are Miami-type players. If there’s an ounce of silver lining right now, it’s that Randy’s players seem to be in the mold of classic, all time Hurricanes.
Those who disagree, look no further than the kids on the field who are getting their jobs done. Underclassmen. Freshman who signed in February or sophomores who Shannon reeled in late, a few months on the job before the 2007 class was in the books.
We live in a fast food world where we wanted everything five minutes ago, or not at all. Rebuilding projects are difficult to deal with, especially after a slow and disappointing three year skid that got Larry Coker canned. In the end, Miami is going to endure at least a five year descent into mediocrity before better days truly surface.
The cancer that was Coker is proving to be much more aggressive and hazardous as time marches on. There are simply too many holes on this team and not enough depth to match the jaw dropping plays a handful of freshman are making week in and week out.
It’s too soon to write this season off. Not five games into it and after back-to-back losses by a combined total of seven points. As meaningless as this next sentence sounds, Miami is legitimately two plays from 4-1 right now and has more reason for hope than last year’s squad did at this time.
Of course a day after Florida State, no one wants the promise of hope or to be convinced things could get better. You simply want the gratification that comes along with a meaningful win – something Miami hasn’t seen in a year.
Now isn’t the time to give up on these Canes, though it is time to adjust expectations as this team simply isn’t as far along as most of us wanted to believe.
Fair assessment. Maybe you’re a little too hard on your guys, though. This is definitely a young team. They hung tough with the Gators for 3 quarters in the Swamp. They came within a hair of beating your former coach at UNC. They they came so, so, so close to pulling off a massive comeback against FSU after falling in a deep hole early. I know it’s a dreadful cliche, but this team is a half-dozen plays away from being 4-1 rather than 2-3. Not trying to help you rationalize, but let’s face it, this team has been getting better pretty steadily since Coker left.
gatorpilot – Yesterday was almost a comeback for the ages, sure, but you have to be critical of a team that comes out flat and is down 24-3 to an average Florida State team. That’s unacceptable.
Again, how is it 9-3 against Florida and 24-3 against Florida State. The other way around would’ve been more understandable.
There are glimmers of goodness, but as a whole there are too many fundamental blunders this team shouldn’t be making at this point. Rookie mistakes from upperclassmen are unacceptable….
hey allcanes. honestly, nix is not getting the job done, is it his time for the chopping block? this is unacceptable.
allcanes
i completely agree with what you said a few posts about cokers players and shannons players. jason fox is all talk and what ticks me off about him is he was smiling after the game then another player sam shields put him on the practice squad and leave him. shannons players are passionate and wantin to win. gavin hardin cryin on the sideline the look on all those young players face. brandon harris struggled yesterday but he still did better than the rest of the secondary. lovon ponder cannot tackle. you can tell the huge difference between cokers and shannons players. AJ can catch they need to throw his way more. benjamin byrd collier get them the ball too. its the young guys makin the plays on defense and offense. please reply back and tell me if you agree or disagree thanks
I’ve said all along this was going to take years but people allowed themselves to be clouded by the fact we wear the U on our helmet. I stated last year I thought we had 4-8 talent and we ended up 5-7: a credit to Shannon’s motivation of the guys early in the year.
This year as I said as recently as last week let’s just get bowl eligible and point this thing in the right direction. Our fans are so darn delusional I cannot take it anymore. In this day and age of scholarship restrictions, big budget public school programs, big TV money, etc you cannot simply flip a switch and go from 7-6, and 5-7 to 10-2. I cautioned people two weeks ago about talking about an ACC title when the truth is the ACC isn’t as bad as Miami fans seem to think and Miami has not proven we can beat anyone, and I mean anyone in this league consistently outside of Duke.
Shannon needs time. I’ve stated before, we can judge in 2010 or 2011. I stand by that.
Some examples:
The most obvious one is Miami Basketball where Perry Clark trashed our program and Haith deserved a full five years to turn it back around. Grassy and the Rivals affiliate site lit up with “fire haith now” after year two and three. Now Miami is a consensus top 25 national team. What did it cost us? Some patience.
How about Auburn under Tommy Tuberville, former UM assistant? They were 5-6 his first year, but in his fifth year they were undefeated and should have played for the national title. He after all also inherited a team rocked by mistakes Terry Bowden had made, like Coker.
Ed Orgeron and Ron Zook did not get to finish their jobs- they were fired after three seasons each. Let’s take Zook first. He inherited a team that had led by a coach who spent recruiting season on the gold course. In year five he was in Champaign but his players won a title.
Orgeron has left his successor in year four of his tenure a great amount of talent ironically much of it recruited by Art Kehoe and Dan Werner.
Do you think right now at Michigan they are screaming to fire Rich Rodriguez, who incidentally went 3-8 his first year at West Virginia but by his third year had tied us for the Big East title, and we needed a miracle from K2 on 4th and a mile to even get that?
I’ve said all along this was going to take years. I don’t know why anyone is surprised. Simply saying “we’re miami” means nothing today.
Have patience, people.
hey allcanes. honestly, nix is not getting the job done, is it his time for the chopping block? this is unacceptable.
canesincebirth – Nix has until the end of 2008, so I’m trying not to let myself even ‘go there’ regarding if he should be canned now or not. It’s pointless as he is here for now and has at least this season to turn things around.
That said…. if this team doesn’t make a bowl or show significant improvement, he better be shown the door.
In my heart of hearts, no, I don’t believe Nix is the guy who will get it done. He’s conservative by nature and he doesn’t scheme well. Jimbo Fisher, ups and downs aside, had a great game plan yesterday. He used Ponder’s feet instead of his arm, knowing Miami was vulnerable. He rushed for more yards than Charlie Ward in his heyday.
When it came down to that 20-yard Smith score on that 3rd and goal, Fisher said that was a special play they worked on in practice and what do you know, it proved to be the difference-maker.
Nix at times comes across like a kid playing Madden. Three straight runs. Three straight throws. No keeping opposing defenses off balance.
In all fairness, North Carolina and Florida State are proving to be two pretty decent teams and it’s hard to knock Nix when trying to crawl out of a 24-3 halftime hole. If any coordinator deserves to get trashed yesterday, it’s Bill Young, not Patrick Nix. Young’s defense has been a joke since the first three quarters against Florida.
This year as I said as recently as last week let’s just get bowl eligible and point this thing in the right direction. Our fans are so darn delusional I cannot take it anymore. In this day and age of scholarship restrictions, big budget public school programs, big TV money, etc you cannot simply flip a switch and go from 7-6, and 5-7 to 10-2. I cautioned people two weeks ago about talking about an ACC title when the truth is the ACC isn’t as bad as Miami fans seem to think and Miami has not proven we can beat anyone, and I mean anyone in this league consistently outside of Duke.
Shannon needs time. I’ve stated before, we can judge in 2010 or 2011. I stand by that.
Kartik, I actually had your commentary in mind when I was writing today. Since last year you preached this was a 3-4 year rebuilding process and a lot of us refused to believe that. Me included.
I thought 2-3 years, with a shot to make moves in the ACC if it was down this year. That said, since the aTm game, the conference has actually played better and looks tougher now than it did the last few years.
Shannon doesn’t deserve to be criticized until he proves he can’t get it done with his own allotment of players. Look how quick everyone was to blow Dennis Erickson after year one at ASU and they’re proving to be a joke this year, as well.
As I said in my piece, all of “Randy’s guys” look legit and the biggest problem spot are old veterans not getting it done, or the occasional newbie throw into the fire (a la Brandon Harris).
I still believe Shannon turns it around. We just need to realize that three good quarters against Florida and a nice offensive showing against aTm don’t mean this team is “back”. I get that now and at this point, I’d be thrilled with a 7-5 regular season.
Could’ve, should’ve, would’ve been 8-4 or 9-3, but when you’re now 2-4 and 0-2 in conference play, a 7-5 season with Wake and VT on the schedule would be a good one.
Show improvement, get to a bowl, bring in a top five class and we’ll see what 2009 holds.
amen get off nix he aint letting the other offense score
We all better hope Nix is the answer, because if he isnt, this team wont be “back” for a looong time. As good as Marve is, if the kid has to go through what Wright did, with multiple OC’s then hell just never develop into the player well need him to be.
Theres just too much damn youth on this team to get a good feel for where this team is. I mean we all see flashes of brilliance, but is that just it? Flashes?
What im afraid of is how many personnel moves are we going to have to make. I mean this team made little to NO adjustments coming out in the 2nd half. The majority of points we scored came off of FSU blunders and Miami just lucking out and being in the right place at the right time.
Im never going anywhere, im a Cane for life, but Corso stated the other day that he doesnt think we’ll ever be where we used to be, and after this past loss, which looked exactly like losses from a season ago, i hate to think that im begining to agree with him?
i wanna throw up when i read this blog,,,what happend to ” NO EXCUSSES”???
we’re a JOKE!
A disappointing game indeed. There are so many things that upset me while watching Miami get beat down and outplayed. One was Brandon Harris. Just a poor performance for a young guy who had a chance to step up and make a name for himself. I have never been so disappointed in a defense. How many years can we expect to see Miami defenders stand in place and wait for a play to develop further before they decide to go for a tackle? I lost count of the number of times I saw a Miami safety or DB wait for an FSU reciever to catch the ball and make their first move before committing to the tackle. One play in particular, (I apologize for not remembering who and when), had a Miami DB slowing up and giving the FSU receiver a chance to catch a ball in bounds rather than speeding up and trying to bat down the ball. We are getting some great recruits from winning programs, but maybe Shannon should recruit from programs that teach defenders how to run through tackles and wrap up the ball carrier. And Nix just needs to win us games on offense, not try to silence the critics by showing that he is capable of calling for more deep passes. Last but not least, I saw more heart from Hardin on the sideline than I saw from the rest of the Hurricanes squad put together. If the rest of this team has his heart and passion, the Canes would be undefeated and in the top 25.
Bottom line,,, Sam Shields needs to be escorted from the building. No reason for him to see the light of day during a game,,, ever. He and Lance Leggett can open a Churito stand somewhere.
Agree that Nix has not missed a tackle all season. The youth on the defensive side of the ball is most of the problem it seems. Tough sledding for an offense down 24 points that early. The three straight long pass attmepts to open the game by us though, was a bit curious.
Sucks the September optimism has vanished in the first week of October once again. No-one, myself included wanted to accept the fact that it was not going to come this easily, or this soon.
Now is the time for the players and staff to keep the faith and trust what they know. They are not so far away that they cannot still find themselves this season. Already too late this year to do anything meaningful on a major level, but they need to turn the corner at some point this season.
“Miami is legitimately two plays from 4-1 right now”.
Absolutely. I am proud of those guys. Guys like Benjamin played their hearts out and almost came up with an epic comeback. We are betting better every game and will finish this season on a very strong note.
Next year, watch out ACC and the nation.
2-3…”why the university of miami should drop football”
47- lee corso also said we’d never be back where we needed to be before we went our our little 3 year run from 2000 to 2003. so i take whatever lee “seminole” corso says with a giant grain of salt.
as far as the game goes. this hurts like hell, but it’s not the end of miami football as we have always known it. our defense got much younger on saturday with the loss of eric moncour and colin mccarthy. our db’s are our weakness, but that will be fixed with this year’s recruiting class.
no excuses, you are absolutely right. and we shouldn’t make any. we gave ourselves ample opportunity to win this game after not even showing up in the first half. we still aren’t finishing and the defense still needs to tighten up.
NO EXCUSES!!! That’s damn right as the better (coached) team won. PERIOD! From the moment we came out with 3 long passes I lost hope of winning this game. I viewed that as Nix trying to make a statement. Problem with that is the predictable play calling to follow (conservative run plays on the 2nd series). I’m an armchair coach like most of you. But can you imagine how opposing coaches salivate when they game plan (and make adjustments) for us. Okay, that’s my Nix’s bashing for the day (No Excuses). As once I saw a half time score of 24-3, I said he has no choice now but to open up the play calls.
Young, he must have been listening to us (myself included) say too many good things about him. As outside of freshman errors, what the hell is going on with your defensive leaders. Seems like they’re doing a lot of tackling with their mouth rather than technique.
The Sam Shields era has to end now. Practice, at this point F—k practice. I don’t care which one of these upperclassmen idiots catch 100/100 passes. Five weeks in and 90% of every positive play are made by a freshman.
Shannon, we’re stuck with you (and Nix). If you’re goal is build for the future, start playing all your damn freshmen regardless of practice. As you can’t practice heart. Heart which only your young talent seems to have.
B. Harris took his lumps and got abused, but I saw no quit in him. He’ll be a better player for it. It sucks losing McCarthy and Moncur. But leaves room for some more freshmen to step up. Bailey needs to start showing signs of some brilliance as well.
The heart and passion (Gavin Hardin) is what I need to see on the field. No more ‘big talk’ Jason Fox. I mean come on. What was there to celebrate on his touchdown play! That made me so damn sick.
I can manage losing with the heart and will to succeed of these freshmen, than more of the same disappointing performances by failing upperclassmen.
Guys, just go out there, show some heart, and beat UCF. It is what it is, no excuses.
Currently I’m back to my start of the season prediction of 7-5. But that’s a stretch at this point.
PERIOD! From the moment we came out with 3 long passes I lost hope of winning this game. I viewed that as Nix trying to make a statement. Problem with that is the predictable play calling to follow (conservative run plays on the 2nd series). I’m an armchair coach like most of you. But can you imagine how opposing coaches salivate when they game plan (and make adjustments) for us.
Agreed, gamal.
I was already too long-winded with my piece to really ‘go there’ regarding Nix, specifically.
When Nessler/Griese said that Nix shut up his critics with those three passes to start the game, I wanted to punch the screen.
Good offensive coaching is about creativity and staying one step ahead of the opposing defense. It’s zigging when they think you’re zagging.
Any idiot can go out and throw deep three times. What does that prove?
Where were the short passes to negate Andrews’ blitz attack? What did he have in the tank on 2nd and long situations, outside of a short run or something to make a more managable 3rd and 9?
Nix didn’t have anything to help Miami in third down situations. I believe the stat was 2 of 15? That’s deplorable.
I had so much hope going into this which is not lost. Two close games, easily 4-1 or even 5-0, but we are 2-3 and it is what it is. I have no idea why we came out so flat, I dont get it. You’d think after UNC the week before they’d come out firing. I’m unsure of Nix, I think after the first deep shot, start running Coop. He certaintly wasnt used enough. Also remmber JJ has been out, we coulda used him in both games.
I see a bright future ahead in the next 2 or 3 years. Im afraid of personel changes as well cause Marve will be fuc ked. Its so disappointing and embarrassing. Id love to see just one or two more losses this season but WF, Va Tech, and Ga Tech dont help that cause. Lets go to a bowl, and do some damage next year. It sucks cause ive been waiting for this season for what seemed like forever and now it really seams like forever cause next season is tooooo far away.
Ill always ride and die for my canes. Go motha fuc kin canes. lets go pick it uppp.
hey canes fan’s…Duke is currently ahead of “u” in the acc standings…lol
Uh..Can I just say…if that Bowl in Boise calls, with that crappy blue carpet…Can we tell him, Thanks but no thanks on that bowl to nowhere!?
Look, I know that everyone, including myself, are upset about this loss, but, I still do not think we need to panic. We have not lost to any team that is bad such as the loss to NC State last year. We have also been extremely competitive in all our losses. Do not think that teams like Wake Forrest, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech are any better than UNC or FSU. Going 8-4 is still, in my opinion, very likely. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year and it looks like people expected this team to win the national championship. Hopefully this year we will win the close games we could not at the beginning of the year. One last parting thought, if were 4-1 instead of 2-3, everyone would have a different opinion about this team, but very little would have changed from what the canes did on the field. Try not to let the emotions of losing get in the way of what your opinion of the canes is.
Duing the Shannon era Miami has lost games that they had no business losing.If the Canes lose to UCF will that result in any immediate terminations?
Duing the Shannon era Miami has lost games that they had no business losing.If the Canes lose to UCF will that result in any immediate terminations?
Nobody is going anywhere. Bank on that.
People forget that Shannon was really the only legit candidate who wanted this job and was affordable.
Tough to even talk about firing a second-year coach who is in the process of bringing in another top-notch recruiting class.
Shannon deserves a shot to coach with his kids underneath and less kids like Sam Shields. He truly deserves at least through 2010 to get this thing on track.
If the offense continues to look generic, Nix might need to start looking for work after 2008, but Shannon has a few more years to right the ship.
“Shannon deserves a shot to coach with his kids underneath and less kids like Sam Shields”
Sam Shields is a baller and can still be a great WR! He get’s open,,right? It’s Shannon’s obligation as the head coach to put back some confidence in that kid. Maybe the coaching staff is just ride’n that kid to much…
Greg Cote in today’s Herald had an awesome Shannon article…
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We’re with you Coach!
I have never seen anything like it!! I was at the game, standing in 4 inches of water, with wind and rain tearing holes in my poncho!! This fan base is starving for something good to happen!! It kills me to hear all of these fans jumping off the ship and losing faith!! The sad part is that for all the crap we take, this fanbase is just as loyal as any!! You could feel it in the stadium, the fans were trying to will this team to victory!! I almost wish that the Florida game never happened! It was fools gold!! Anyways, I just hope that all the Cane fans out there hold on just a little longer, we are going to get where we want to be, but it’s gonna be an ugly and bumpy road to glory!! GO CANES!!!!!!!!!
Children..Children..gather round.
Read. What did we expect. I wanted to beat FSU too. I did. But at halftime I kept telling my family they are gonna come back. And they did. But it just wasn’t enough. I would take losing by 2 any day that being stomped by FSU. Credit Sean Spence and Travis Benjamin for their efforts. But its a team so the team didn’t preform well. Somebody wake up Bill Young and tell him this ain’t Florida anymore. The question is that what will happen the rest of the season. I just wanna see more freshman get the ball. And I dont think Nix should get fired this year next year if its the same yes. Get that man out of here. But I really like Marve,Spence,dont go rough on B.Harris. He was matched up against a 6’6” senior reciever. But yeah go Canes. Im get on here often!
I will die a Cane and all fans Miami has right now are the true ones! I am very bitter with our performance but know we will turn it qround one of these games. I guess this year will be getting lumps and on the job training. BUT…many of those plays we gave up were inexcusable. You can give up a TD on 3rd and goal from the 20 when they’re pretty much settling for a FG, and you can’t let Ponder run for 140+ when he’s not even that type of QB. That tells me the D Line didn’t stay disciplined at all. And I have no idea where the LB’s were. I hope I’m wrong but looking at our schedule, and how we’re playing I see 6-6. If we gave up 140 to Ponder, how will we handle WF’s Skinner who runs by design? Both coordinators need to get it together. I guess I was expecting too much, but we really had a chance this year in a wide open ACC, and let it slip away. Now it’s about getting experience, focusing on what your assignment is and showing dedication and pride. I love The U, so let’s right the ship.
-Columbus Cane