Game One: Miami 45, Florida A&M 0

FAMU is now in the books and Miami can officially can their politically correctness, turning all their focus to Ohio State and next weekend’s road trip to Columbus.

As far as a season opener against such a lesser opponent is concerned, it’s tough to not give this one high marks. Guys got their feet wet, a shutout was pitched and no one was injured. Revel in the win today and come tomorrow, turn all focus towards preparing for those filthy Buckeyes.

Miami was strong out the gate. Lamar Miller, hyped in camp as the next great UM back, took the opening kickoff 34 yards to the Canes 37-yard line. Jacory Harris fired his first pass of the year to Leonard Hankerson, a 12-yard strike for a first down. Two plays later, back to Hank for 17 yards. A quick rush by Damien Berry. A perfectly placed pass to tight end Chase Ford, that slipped through his rookie mitts. A 12-yarder to Aldarius Johnson and another 19-yard shot to Hankerson for the score.

Harris’ alter ego J12 went 4-of-5 for 60 yards and a touchdown on his first drive of the season, while finding his go-to guy right out the gate.

Win or lose, the critics will still find something to bitch about. (Welcome to Miami, right?) It’s just FAMU. Harris almost threw a pick. Guys didn’t bring it every play. Defense wasn’t firing on all cylinders out the gate.

At day’s end, this was a scrimmage – or as close as you’ll see on the collegiate level. Four quarters of playing at game day speed; something you can never simulate at practice. It’s a whole different ball game when everything counts. Some highlights that stuck out from game one:

– Harris looked sharp, healthy and his precision was beyond impressive. The Canes have a quarterback with poise, confidence and one who both knows the game and sees the field. In one sense that seems so basic and obvious for anyone playing the position, but when you look as the past several years that hasn’t been the case. Harris is absolutely Miami’s most perfect storm under center since Ken Dorsey left town and as has been written here time and time again – this team will go as far as J12 takes them. If he remains healthy, that will be a very long way.

– In he same breath, A.J. Highsmith looked less than sharp – against an extremely inferior opponent, no less. Spencer Whipple doesn’t look like the second coming, but he clearly understand his father’s offense and looked the part. You never want to imagine a Harris-less scenario this season, but if you’re a betting man you have to like Whipple’s chances over Highsmith’s at securing that back-up spot.

Your second stringer needs to know the offense and see the field and Whipple did that much better than Highsmith. Whip never went downfield, but as far as being able to manage a game and not fall apart, you saw more composure with #16 than you did #11.

– Miami’s stable of running backs is downright scary and again, another reason to not follow preseason magazines. No one was hyping the unproven Cane backs, but once you seen Miller out there … Mike James … Damien Berry … Eduardo Clements. There is absolutely nothing to worry about regarding the position. The Canes are so loaded that (1) the return of Graig Cooper is less imminent and (2) Randy Shannon and staff can afford to redshirt the explosive Storm Johnson, despite the practice field legend he’s becoming.

Fans obviously want to see Johnson, but again this is the beauty of having depth. Guys are no longer thrown into the fire and expected to perform day one. This coaching staff now has the luxury of stockpiling. As great as Johnson might look this year, let’s revisit this on 2013 when he’s a junior, or 2014 if he’s still around as a senior. Give him a year to learn the playbook, to put on some man weight and remember what it’s like to let a boy become a man the proper way.

Again, as The Beast has oft pointed out, if the great Andre Johnson could redshirt – anyone can. Hopefully that’s what coaches are doing here with Johnson and hopefully Storm understands this would be in both his and the team’s best interest.

– While it was great to see Coop back from injury nine months after the fact, #2 definitely looked a step off and you have to wonder if the senior running back should be out there just yet. With so much talent ready to run and with so many guys available for kickoff and punt return, I wouldn’t imagine that he’ll see much (if any) action in Columbus next week.

Made sense for coaches to make a gameday evaluation against a lesser foe like FAMU, but you have to think they saw what the fans saw and will most likely sideline Coop next week against such a formidable foe. Ease him back in as the year goes on.

– Ray Ray Armstrong returning an interception for touchdown doesn’t seem like much on paper, but for a team that hasn’t seen many pick-sixes in recent memory, it was a great tone-setter. Any great Miami team, the bread and butter was a swarming defense that creating turnovers.

Furthermore, this was Armstrong’s first pick and a guy that’s more of a ‘feel’ player than a ‘technique’ guy, you need something like that to get the juices flowing. Something to remind you who you are, what type of game you play and to help loosen you up.

All the talk about Armstrong versus Jamal Reid at the safety position – it’s a battle of two different types of players. Reid has been gaining ground because of his technique and understanding of the playbook, where an Armstrong makes his career as being and ballhawk and while possibly unorthodox at times, simply knows where to be and finds a way to make plays.

It has to start with that one play, though and last night Armstrong got his feet wet. We’ll see what that means at Ohio State next week, but now that the ice has been broken I believe we see a looser, confident and ready to play #26 roaming around back there.

– The defensive line wasn’t getting pressure early, but seemed to settle in as the night went on. Miami totaled eight sacks on the evening, but there were also a handful of mishaps – defenders overpursuing, a few long third down conversions. Again, when you roll 45-0 you let some things slide but when you’re a week away from the game of the season (hell, the biggest game in seven years), you need to be a bit concerned.

Chalk some of it up to rust, nerves or an inferior opponent, but line play will be the difference-maker in Columbus. Period. Big Ten football is won or lost in the trenches and all the speed in the world will quickly be negated if Harris doesn’t have time to throw or the stable of backs can’t find a hole.

Shannon and staff know what they’re up against next week. Will Mark Whipple create a game plan that works with the line he has, allowing playmakers to make plays? Will John Lovett call a defense that keeps Terrelle Pryor from hurting the Canes with both his arm and his legs? How will Miami coaches exploit Ohio State’s weaknesses without having their own exploited?

If there’s one thing the world saw against Florida A&M it’s that Miami has the horses again. There is talent. There is depth. There are playmakers. The days of the NFL first round drought will come to an end next spring as guys like Hankerson, Allen Bailey and a few others are ready to jump to that next level.

There are still holes at some position and not as much depth as you’d like across the board – but there are enough ballers in Coral Gables to make a serious run this year … and if it all comes together next week, enough to leave the Horseshoe with a ‘W’.

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