ItsAUThing.com — Formerly allCanesBlog.com — It's All About 'The U'!

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.

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