Let’s get it out there in the open; Miami put the “U” in ‘ugly’ in a lopsided 31-7 loss at Virginia Tech. A one-sided thumping with a few redeeming moments where the Canes showed a pulse. Outside of that, a train wreck of epic proportions. 1-of-11 on third down efficiency. A mere 59 rushing yards. Every type of turnover possible; fumble, interception and blocked punt for score.
All that said, it’s one game and it’s as much in the rearview mirror as wins over Florida State and Georgia Tech. 2-1 with Oklahoma looming, Miami needs to bury this loss and focus on the next game.
Amazing how quickly everything changed. A preseason that began unranked, with predictions of an 0-4 start – Miami surprised out the gate and took down two ranked foes in the Noles and Yellow Jackets. From there, the media blitz began, with The U the ultimate feel-good story this fall.
Miami’s “back”. Jacory Harris is Heisman-worthy. The Canes and Gators are on track to meet in Pasadena for the title game.
That wasn’t message board fodder or commentary from local beat writers. We’re talking ESPN, Sports Illustrated and anyone else who hopped on the bandwagon and made the Canes ‘the’ early story in college football. The same media who had their reasons for picking Miami fourth in the ACC Coastal was now rattling off their reasons why the Canes could win it all.
If there’s one good thing to come from this recent loss, the media spotlight will shift its focus. Back to business in Coral Gables. Address what went wrong, work to correct it and keep this new season on track. Randy Shannon is still in year three of what from day one looked to be a four or five-year rebuilding project – regardless of how the media or this fan base felt after two early season wins.
Until the depth is ‘back’, Miami will remain ‘almost back’.
A humbling loss should force everyone – most notably fans, media and rivals – to take inventory regarding the Canes. There are bright spots regarding this current Miami bunch, but there simply isn’t the depth and across-the-board talent that championship caliber teams possess.
That’s not to say this couldn’t be a Cinderella-type season if all the stars aligned, players stayed healthy and Miami got a few lucky bounces. It simply means you don’t bank on making the BCS when you’re so reliant on underclassmen and are one injury away from catastrophe. Until the depth returns, Shannon is reliant upon undeveloped freshman and sophomores.
As promising as Sean Spence looked last season, he wasn’t truly built to endure the wear and tear of a full college football season. Same to be said for a Marcus Robinson last year or an Oliver Vernon early this season. Programs with more depth are afforded the luxury of bringing top-fight talent along much more slowly.
Early playing time is one thing. Being expected to shoulder the burden of a twelve-game season and pulling a program out of lethargy is another.
Miami was swallowed up in a pitfall game at Virginia Tech. It doesn’t take away from the 2-0 start, nor does it foreshadow how the rest of this season will play out. Coaches and players refuse to blame the weather, taking the loss in stride and delivering their politically correct answers in the media room. It’s commendable, but let’s break some things down regarding a game where it simply wasn’t the Canes’ day:
– Inclement weather not suited to the aerial assault the Canes used in games one and two.
– An uncharacteristic Harris fumble on Miami’s first drive, setting up Tech at the 11-yard line for a quick 7-0 lead.
– A Tech fumble on a punt return, bouncing back into the arms of of Hokie.
– A 48-yard Tyrod Taylor touchdown pass where Miami’s Chavez Grant slipped and fell. The same Taylor who went 4-for-9 on the day and isn’t necessarily known for his arm.
– A blocked Canes punt for a Hokies touchdown – the first given up by Miami since 2002.
And that was all before halftime.
Down 21-0, Miami drove 54 yards in 1:43 to open the third quarter. 21-7, Hokies. The Canes defense stiffened, forcing a three-and-out and setting up the offense at the UM 35-yard line. A balanced attack allowed Miami to move the ball 41 yards over eight plays, but two crucial drops from first-year tight end Jimmy Graham killed all momentum. (Back to that depth thing, the Canes had to turn to a former basketball star for tight end depth.)
Graham dropped a pass for a large gain on 1st and 10 and two plays later let a sure first down bounce off his fingers on a 3rd and 13. The weather thwarted out any shot at a 50-yard field goal and a 4th and 13 attempt fell four yards short, forcing the turnover on downs.
Miami’s defense again hung tough, forcing Virginia Tech to settle for three on the ensuing drive — the first true offensive points earned in two and a half quarters of play — but the damage had been done and momentum was lost at 24-7.
To their credit, Bud Foster and his defense continued their aggressive play and owned the Miami ground game. Graig Cooper and Javarris James combined for 90 yards on 25 carries and never got it going against a team where a solid rushing attack is a must.
Virginia Tech came to play. No doubt about that. After losing their season opener to Alabama – arguably one of the nation’s best squads – the Hokies beat up on a lesser Marshall bunch and survived a nailbitier with a decent Nebraska team. Sitting at 2-1, this was the type of game that could jumpstart a season that started on the wrong foot and the Hokies capitalized. Credit where credit is due.
Those wanting to blame the media hype for the loss, big heads in Coral Gables or crediting Tech for “wanting it more” – step back and quit with the armchair quarterbacking. Everyone on the field ‘wanted’ that game. One simply got their breaks, made some of their own and capitalized, while another ran into a buzzsaw and was unable to get out of their own way. It’s sports, people. It happens to the best of them. Don’t believe me? Look no further than the current state off college football this year.
Aside from No. 9 Miami getting worked by No. 11 Virginia Tech, two other top tens got dropped this past week; No. 4 Ole Miss to unranked South Carolina on Thursday night and No. 5 Penn State – falling at home to unranked Iowa. After one month of college football, ten teams ranked in the top ten have now lost. Eight fell to underdogs.
In other Sunshine State news, Florida State – fresh off their shellacking of then No. 7 BYU – came unglued at home against an unranked South Florida squad. Three time zones away No. 6 Cal gets their lunch handed to them 42-3 at Oregon; the same Ducks bunch who couldn’t buy a first down at Boise State in their opener and without star running back/fist-wielding LaGarrette Blount.
Week one Then-No. 3 Oklahoma falls to then-No. 18 BYU in their season opener. A few weeks later then-No. 3 USC loses to unranked Washington. It’s a trend for 2009; expect the unexpected and don’t get too comfortable with those ever-changing rankings.
Just as Virginia Tech rallied around a loss and prepared accordingly for a showdown with a top ten Miami team, the Canes now are afforded an even bigger opportunity with game four on deck.
Miami welcomes No. 8 Oklahoma this coming Saturday. A prime time, 8pm ET kickoff – under the lights at Land Shark Stadium. How will the Canes respond? The media will be quick to pile on The U, ending a two-week long love affair and stroke-fest.
Shannon and staff can again play up the ‘us against the world’ card, which in the past has worked in the Canes favor. How that plays out against a successful Oklahoma squad, time will tell.
Put Virginia Tech in the rearview. That’s a message for players, coaches, fans and media members. It’s one game in a topsy-turvy season where several good teams have gotten tagged out the gate.
A lot of football remains. Take it one game at a time. Worry about Oklahoma before thinking ACC or BCS. The Canes have a week to get game-ready. Regain any early-season swagger and refocus.
Nine big games remain. Get back to winning ways and no one will remember a late September loss at Virginia Tech come December.
Sure was a lot of woofing from you a week or so ago. You seem much humbler and more realistic about your 'Canes today.
You don't really want to find the Gators on your schedule out in Cali. Trust me on this.
Man are you joking? Virginia Tech wanted this game far more than we did. There was lethargy and poor attitude on that field, your "armchair quaterbacking" insult notwithstanding. Our heads were all up in ESPN's cameras and rankings, and it was brutally evident on the field. If Randy can't get a team prepped with the media knocking, he may as well resign right now.
JoePa, Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer… they can handle both the media and their teams… and that's what makes a real head coach. Until we can prove we can handle that, we'll never be back in any way.
My oh my was that game ugly, and I am not talking about strictly weather wise. We just could not get things going our way. While I am not going to blame the loss on Jimmy Graham, I will go so far as to say he is a MOMENTUM KILLER. We had came back out in the second half looking like a new team, moving the ball well, defense getting stops and looking like the Miami of the previous two weeks. Then Mr. Basketball had those critical drops. If he makes the first catch we are inside the 10 yard line, not going to assume but i will say in all likelihood we get a TD, the score is 21-14 and we are back in it. He even got a chance to redeem himself had he made that 3rd down catch and took it for a 1st. First year starter or not, you have to make those catches, hell I could have caught those passes.
As a true Canes fan I am blaming myself for the loss. During the previous two weeks the day before the game I would always post the "Miami Hurricanes Football, A Game of Inches" youtube video on my facebook page(Keith Bush, add me). Well this week i simply forgot to do so and look at the result. This wont happen again and I know it's dumb superstition but dammit I believe in things like that(to a certain extent). I am glad the love fest is gone, bc I didn't particularly like it, maybe after the OU game it wouldve been ok, but my feeling was that of most CANES fanes, too much too soon. Now we can go back to having people doubt us, being the underdogs and playing with the chip on our shoulders as you mentioned ALLCanes. I'm really hoping we bounce back from that loss and play like the team we are. That game was just an aberration if you ask me. Murphy's Law was in full effect. Here is to a better showing next week.
Cane Always, Cane Forever.
ATL CANE FAN
I HAD THAT FEELING SATURDAY, IT JUST DIDN'T FEEL RIGHT, I KNEW THIS WAS THE GAME, THAT EITHER BROUGHT THEM BACK OR SET THEM BACK,WELL I DONT THINK IT SET THEM BACK TOO MUCH, THE FOCUS FROM THE MEDIA IS NOT GOING TO BE THERE UNTIL SATURDAY COMES AROUND AND MAYBE THE PLAYERS CAN NOW RELAX AND JUST PLAY MIAMI FOOTBALL. THIS GAME REMINDS ME ALOT OF THE WASHINGTON GAME WITH KEN DORSEY AT THE HELM,I BELIEVE THIS IS THE REAL TURNING POINT ON THIS TEAM, THEY SAW AND FELT HOW EASILY THE GLORY FROM THE OTHER GAMES CAN BE TAKEN AWAY ON A RAINY SATURDAY. KEEP YOUR HEADS UP HIGH CANES, WE HAVE NOT LOST ANYTHING LONG SEASON, WIN SATURDAY AND YOUR RIGHT IN THE MIX OF THINGS, GO CANES 4LIFE
YO JIMMY GRAHAM, I NEED YOU KEEP YOUR HEAD UP.
J12 ITS YOUR TEAM TAKE CONTROL, YOU ARE A WINNER.
Encouraging observations: Ray Ray Armstrong looked good, although he only played for one quarter. Had a sound open field tackle on Ryan Williams or the other back. Discouraging observations: Calling all cornerbacks opposite Brandon Harris; Shields lacks consistency and DVD is either hurt or playing poorly, it's hard to tell. Anyone have any thoughts about this?
Sure was a lot of woofing from you a week or so ago. You seem much humbler and more realistic about your 'Canes today.
… please. Only "woofing" being done here was in regards to Georgia Tech and their arrogant fans – and after putting them in check, everything I said there is still valid.
You don't really want to find the Gators on your schedule out in Cali. Trust me on this.
Oooh. Scary.
Please. Let Timmy T recover from his headache and beat LSU next weekend before you already start booking those tickets to Pasadena.
Have you learned nothing from the past three weeks of college football? Good teams are dropping like flies. What have the Gators and their one-dimensional offense done? Beat up on three nobodies and got in a dogfight with Tennessee?
UiF needs to find a running game as badly as Miami does. Got a ground attack before you start "woofing" about "back-to-back".
Great blog….thanks for putting things in perspective. It was a team effort (or lack thereof), and it does seem very unfair for all the sports writers to keep blaming Jimmy Graham. While his drops were key, JH did fumble, the running & defense could have been better…it is a TEAM effort.
Let's put this one behind us, and look forward to Oklahoma.
Also thanks for pointing out what the rest of the college teams are doing…south Florida has too many "fair-weather" fans.
Win or lose, I am a Canes fan forever!
@JohnsonCity
Once again a Gator fan comes on this board and talks mess. I bet you wont see many CANES fans on Gator message boards, we simply do not care to comment..If you arent a CANE then why come kicking sh*t over here…get a life.
Once again a Gator fan comes on this board and talks mess. I bet you wont see many CANES fans on Gator message boards, we simply do not care to comment..If you arent a CANE then why come kicking sh*t over here…get a life.
ATL, you should see the moronic USF fan comments I didn't approve this weekend. A bunch of 'anonymous' crap from delusional idiots who think they're hot sh*t because they beat Florida State. They couldn't get over here fast enough to puff out their chests, already counting down to November – as if there isn't a slew of football to be played between now and then.
Such Cane envy from the little piss-ant state schools who haven't cracked the big three.
News flash – Jacksonville State almost beat Florida State so the fact the Noles unraveled against the Bulls is hardly a shock. They're the biggest schizo team in college ball.
Miami got beat in every phase of the game! Tip your hat and move on. Lets take it out on OU, where the weather will have an effect on the Sooners. Its starting to get cold here in the midwest. A couple of things that I see had impact on the game. The Vaughn Telemaque of pass interference on Boone. VT got a fresh set of downs instead of kicking a field goal. 2nd Moncur was held/tackled to the ground when Taylor ran to the left finding a wide open reciever after Grant fell down. Also can we change the punt formation back to the pro style. The spread out with 3 guys before the punter, says come and block the punt. I said to myself Va Tech is going to block this punt. They did and returned it for a touchdown.
I think Whipple kind of went soft in this game. Miami was down and Graham did drop two passes, but I think they could of use a tight end crossing route or a reverse in those sloppy conditions. Another play that I would like to see is play action. Va Tech wanted to stop the run, I think you give the 8 in the box play action and throw over the top who knows.
No matter the Canes have to move forward and take it out on their next opponent. Miami will rebound and this could be the best thing to happen at Miami. One game at a time and remain focus and hungry go Canes!
I can't lie, this is the most disgusted that I have felt since we got blown off the field in the last game at the OB! I was at the game freezing my balls off and listening to the Chokies fans bash the Canes. I'll admit, I was ready to preach doom and gloom after the game and even yesterday, but I have come to my senses. It was bad Saturday! EVERYTHING that could go wrong went wrong! Fumbles, dropped passes, poor pass protection, blocked punts, interceptions etc…but in perspective, we still were in it in the 3rd quarter. If Jimmy Graham catches the ball, it's almost a lock that we are in a 7 point game early in the third. Instead we come up short on 4th down and lose our momentum. From there it was over! Bottom line: We made every mistake in the book and made VT look like the greatest team in the history of college football. So here is what I take from the game: VT is good, but not that good, Miami looked bad, but this is not a bad team, we are still a young team! Now the football gods shine down upon us with the mother of all opportunities…a showdown in prime time against OU. This is HUGE for the Canes…we have a chance to atone for the sins of this weekend and exercise the mistake demons of Saturday in Blacksburg. I honestly don't know if we can beat OU right now, but I do feel that the Canes will come out with something to prove on Saturday! See you in the 305!!!
Disappointed, but not shocked by the loss. Did I see a beat down coming, hell no. Again I predicted a 2-2 start, with hopes the two wins would be coastal opponents Gtech and Vtech.
I’m just so happy the media hype is over. But I agree, if we want to be big time again, Randy needs to prepare this team to embrace and handle the attention. We can't play the underdog role forever. And the players need to realize media hype is exactly that, HYPE.
Anyway, my bigger concern is has anyone seen Sean Spence lately because I believe someone else is wearing his jersey. I love him to death, but let's be honest he and so many of our guys are so undersized it's not funny. Vtech looked like men among boys. I see more of the same to come when OU rolls into town.
Hopefully a big heart will overcome the size issue.
Just keep it competitive guys and let's all support them on Saturday. GO CANES!!!
OU…..
Back up QB…
8pm kickoff….
Chance to go 3-1 & get back in the top 10….
A packed house at "The Shark"…
'us against the world' mentality again…
THE SOONERS ARE IN TROUBLE!!!!!!!
WELL SAID … Most importantly is that we played like a team, sometimes (hopefully most times) we win, sometimes we don't. We have no time to think whose what-ifs, but have to look ahead and focus the challenges ahead of us. Let's learn from this and keep forward. Saturday (vs. OU) is another game and hopefully another story.
GO CANES!
All in all, just a bad effort by the whole team. Even Colin McCarthy had missed tackles. I'll chalk the loss up to just a bad game against a VT team that knows how to win the big game. I do wish we would stop using that idiotic punt formation. It's just so easy for 4 defenders to shoot those wide gaps and then have one guy be unblocked by the 3 backs. I would love to see some numbers on it, but I swear that 3/4 of the blocked punts are from that stupid formation.
Now that I'm done ranting, for anyone still thinking doom and gloom, just look at Georgia Tech. They got blown out by us about as bad as VT blew us out. That shellacking helped them buckle down in practice all week and come out and dominate at home against a good UNC defense.
Just as GT wasn't as bad as they played against us, we aren't as bad as we played against VT. Hopefully, we can get back on track this week and come out ready to play against Oklahoma.
The way I see it, there are only two possible outcomes on Saturday:
1. This young Miami team is devistated by the humiliating VT loss and mentally beaten devistated, resulting in another embarrasing loss
or
2. An angry and dangerous Hurricane team plays the game of their lives and takes it to OU like VT brought it to us this weekend.
My predictions:
OU-42 UM-14 (See option # 1)
or
OU-20 UM-31 (see option # 2)
ATL….I agree. Jimmy's 2 dropped balls killed any momentum! I know it rains in Miami, but the first thing I thought of when i saw him drop 2 balls was "has he ever caught a football in the rain?"
There's alot of things I could comment on about the game, but one of the things that pissed me off more than anything else was our inability to tackle on defense and not seeing a LB or DL spy on Tyrod throughout the game….(It's obvious he's not a throwing qb. So why not spy him?…especially in that horrific weather!!!)
Also, someone tell JJ that he cannot run east/west on vt's defense!
With that said, the game is over and right now its all about Oklahoma!
In my opinion VTech"s team is better built to handle the poor weather conditions. Miami"s team strength is speed. On a wet sloppy field that strength was no advantage. Vtech was a more physical team that day. Don't count out the Canes. It is obvious they are on the way back to being a national championship contender.
Bring on the Sooners!
The bottom line is we stunk in the rain. I think VT loses to GT and NC. All we need is to win out and we might have a shot at the national title, We really need to beat OU to be considered for that though.
I'm never happy about a lost but I'm glad that we lost early in the season than in the last part of the season. I've had a funny feeling about the VT game and sort of knew that we wasn't going to walk away with this win. I think we under estimated them. Come on now. Who in the beginning of the season thought that we would be 2-1? It should be no suprise. I'm actually convinced that the media defeated us instead of VT. With all of the media exposure, the team just couldn't handle it. Oh yeah, you notice that now that with this lost, we are not even mentioned in the media anymore. Now Lou Holtz is back talking crap about us. Lou Holtz is like kryptonite for the Canes! Where's the exposure now, ESPN? Anyways, I'm feeling really good about this upcoming game against the Sooners and I think we will win. Once we win, we will be back in the top ten. Let's not worry, my fellow cane fans. We will have a great season and will go to a BCS game.
Well I was wrong about you guys and this game. I thought VT wasn't that good, but it turns out they are. Alabama is just even better. I don't think you'll beat OU, but I will commend you. You started this season off a hell of a lot better than I thought you would.
I didn't get the name, but to the commenter who complained about a punt formation, I'm with you 100% there. I yell at my TV every time I see someone running that god-awful thing, even when I have zero rooting interest in that game. And every time, that team has at least one punt blocked.
And for the commenter who didn't like the Gator comment at the top, we actually do get a few Cane posters on our boards, Some of them more tolerable than others.
How hilarious was that USF-FSU game? I had a feeling that would happen. I would be able to sympathize with you about USF fans barking about cracking the big 3 if I actually knew any USF fans.
All I'll say on this game was that it was a flashback to last year's play. This was a relapse, and I hope to not ever see us play like this again. No blocking, no running, no tackling, no win. Tech is a running team and it semed like we always picked the wrong hole on defense and Williams always found an open lane. How do you lose to a team who only throws the ball 9 times? After a while you'd think you'd stack the line and make them beat you threw the air. One loss and down the polls.
As far as people saying if you asked them prior to the season if you'd be happy with being 2-1 after three games: well yes, but you also adjust your expectations as the season progresses. This was a game that we should have won, if we had come to play. I just can't stand being punked by Tech. No excuse for it.
Time to look ahead to OU I guess, but it's a what could have been.
-Columbus Cane
Guess the Gators found their ground game, eh?
Canes, yawn.
I have fun with this blog 'cause "Allcanes" is so durn excitable. Heh heh!
Guess the Gators found their ground game, eh?
…. your top back (who isn't a quarterback/fullback) rushed for 97 yards against Kentucky. Hardly what I'd call 'finding' your ground game, but whatever.
Florida better have an option other than the Tebow dive when you meet Alabama in Atlanta in December, chief….
Canes, yawn.
…. cool, get out of here then. Last comment we'll approve from you.
I have fun with this blog 'cause "Allcanes" is so durn excitable. Heh heh!
… you have fun with this blog because like every other Gator out there, you have Cane envy. A little nobody program with less than 25% the student body still has a football program with decades more tradition that your rich and mighty state power.
Scram, JC.
Hey Chris! Florida will lose before they play alabama. I got a bet saying that they will lose against LSU next week! Florida will go down next week and I will be laughing all day when they do!
Go Canes!