The growth process. Full of bumps and bruises. Ups and downs. Highs and lows. They say what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger and that you learn from your mistakes.
While that may ring true, it offers little consolation while the wounds are still fresh.
Had you zigged when you should’ve zagged, it might’ve resulted in a different outcome. Even if not, it’ll eat at you for a while. You find yourself asking, “what if?” instead of basking in the glow of accomplishing the task at hand.
For the Miami Hurricanes, it’ll be at least a week full of “what if?” type of questions after losing a 24-14 fourth quarter lead to North Carolina last Saturday; their first blown double-digit fourth quarter lead since 1984.
The Canes were firing on all cylinders out the gate. Robert Marve was on target, going 4-of-4 for 27 yards, including a nine-yard strike to Kayne Farquharson. Graig Cooper got in on the action with three straight rushes for a combined 60 yards, his longest of the drive a 31-yarder.
Miami’s foot was on the gas and this looked to be a team on a mission. North Carolina’s initial drive lasted six plays and amassed a total of 12 yards. A 41-yard punt resulted in a 37-yard return by speedster Travis Benjamin, while Hurricane special teamers decleated two Heels and sent a message that this wasn’t last year’s Canes.
The Canes ensuing drive stalled as Matt Bosher missing a 43-yard field goal attempt, but the Miami defense held steadfast, forcing a three and out and a muffed snap that set the Canes up on the Heels’ 11-yard line. On 3rd and 10, Marve found Cooper out of the backfield for a nifty 11-yard touchdown and with just under a minute to play, Miami was sitting pretty with a 14-0 lead.
Who knew it’d be the only quarter of football the Canes would win on Saturday?
Down two touchdowns and getting no production out of freshman quarterback Mike Paulus, former Canes coach Butch Davis yanked his starting QB in favor of Cameron Sexton, a junior who threw one pass in 2007 and was yet to see the field this season.
For the second week in a row, a back up quarterback had it’s way with a Miami defense. The Canes somehow kept Tim Tebow in check, yet was picked apart by aTm’s Jerrod Johnson last week and Sexton seven days later.
For the second year in a row, the master bested the pupil, with Davis calling a better game than Randy Shannon. The Canes were forced to play the Davis’ brand of football – keeping it close to eventually pull away and relying on a late specials teams play to make a difference.
2-2 sounds infinitely worse than 3-1 and a two-game win-streak entering Florida State week. There was momentum after aTm – especially after giving up the early score, going down 7-0 and then responding immediately. The post-game talk was that last year’s team would’ve folded after an early score. How will this year’s team respond after a heartbreaking, last-second loss?
There were several frustrating aspects to this recent setback, most notably another game where Miami was outwilled and outplayed in the fourth quarter.
For a program that once held up four fingers to signal dominance in the final fifteen minutes, Miami players raising their arms late is proving to be a sign of surrendering. The Heels outscored the Canes, 14-7 in the final quarter. At aTm it was 6-0, in favor of the home team and before that, a 9-3 fourth quarter deficit in Gainesville resulted in a 17-0 run by Florida in the final ten minutes of play.
Shannon may be preaching ‘finish’ to his squad, but it’s falling on deaf ears and something has to give. Is it conditioning? Playcalling? A lack of effort due to back-to-back fourth quarter leads? Whatever the case, it’s proving to be this team’s Achilles’ heel and will result in a few more losses if the curse isn’t reversed.
It wouldn’t be a post-game recap without mentioning the playcalling of oft-criticized offensive coordinator Patrick Nix. I’ve gotten Nix’s back early this season, citing a tough road game with a young team at Florida as well as a strong game plan in the 41-23 win in College Station a week ago.
Nix isn’t getting a free pass this week. If anything, I find myself on the side of the doubters until he proves otherwise.
Coaches can’t coach scared. They have to call the shots, know when to roll the dice and let their players play. That was the case early, but sitting on a 17-7 halftime lead, Nix flinched and spent the rest of the afternoon being reactive instead of proactive. Miami’s offense went into ‘survival mode’ while North Carolina fought on, their coaching staff trusted their players, their play dictated the momentum and they wore Canes down with a better brand of football.
Some would say it’s easy to second-guess the playcalling after the fact, but you could first-guess Nix’s second half game plan as it played out before your eyes.
After a 38-yard swing where the Tar Heels received the second half kickoff on the 40-yard line instead of the two, a ten-play drive took 5:22 off the clock and gave North Carolina the momentum, trailing 17-14.
Cooper had seven first quarter touches for 71 yards and a touchdown. Over the next two quarters, three touches — 1st-and-10, 2nd-and-23 and 3rd-and-6. The workhorse who singlehandedly was wearing down North Carolina, quickly became a non-factor.
A power running game gave way to dinking and dunking with the passing game and an offensive game plan that resembled the timid play at Florida instead of the explosive playcalling at Texas A&M. No middle screens. No deep passes. Nothing to keep North Carolina on their toes.
Cooper was relied on midway through the fourth, where Miami went into bleed-the-clock mode, nursing a 24-21 lead with over nine minutes to play. After a defensive stand, Nix called three straight runs – the final on 3rd and 12, which resulted in a two-yard loss and eventually a semi-blocked punt.
Equally as frustrating as the conservative second half; the stubborn first-half mindset that Miami second-stringers would see the field.
No disrespect to Jacory Harris, but the true freshman is light years behind Marve and Shannon’s insistence that he gets some meaningful first half snaps is killing the Canes offensive momentum.
Harris saw his first action with 12:49 left to play in the second quarter. He went 4-of-6 for 39 yards, rushed for a total of four yards and scrambled for three yards on a 3rd-and-5 when a first down would’ve set Miami up at the UNC 15-yard line in a then 14-7 ball game.
Harris took 7:42 to get 3 points. Marve needed a combined 8:48 to put 21 on the board. Had Farquharson reeled in the potential game winner, it’d have been 28 points in 9:24.
The Harris Experiment has to end here and now. He is a capable back up and a future sensation, but it’s an injustice to this team and a momentum-killer to remove Marve and Cooper for Harris and Derron Thomas sitting on a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.
Marve had the hot hand and Cooper was smokin’ the Heels’ defense. Keep that burning. Push 14-7 to 17-7 – or even 21-7 – and see what Harris could do on the final possession of the second quarter.
Coaches have charts regarding two-point conversions. If Shannon is hellbent on meaningful playing time for Harris, I suggest a chart or system as well. Miami’s field position. Time left in the half. A 10 to 14 point lead. Gauging the intangibles such as momentum or Marve’s hot hand.
Last but not least, how did this defense wilt against a third-string quarterback, allowing Sexton to go 11-of-19 for 242 yards and two meaningful touchdowns? Where is the Bill Young defense Miami fans were teased with at Florida? It’s now been missing for upwards of nine quarters.
Much blame falls directly on Miami’s playmakers not making plays. The secondary got torched. The defensive line missed the presence of Marcus Forston, which shouldn’t be the case. Playing a true freshman should be a luxury, not a necessity – proving that Miami’s line is in serious need of bodies and fresh talent. Get this squad the shot in the arm that the Canes’ receiving corps scored last Signing Day.
Young’s defense set the tone in Gainesville and played with a sense of purpose, yet looked winded, reactive and one step behind in the second halves against North Carolina and Texas A&M. The Canes forced some turnovers last week at Kyle Field, yet couldn’t force one against the Tar Heels and a washed up junior quarterback.
In all the negativity being spewed here, on some levels Miami earned yet another ‘moral victory’ against North Carolina. Mr. Marve is the real-deal and the Canes have found their most legitimate quarterback since the Ken Dorsey era. Aldarius Johnson showed incredible hands and and footwork. Benjamin is the kick returner Miami’s been searching for since Roscoe Parrish left the building.
Even more impressive, the character of this team with 0:46 on the clock and playing from behind the first time in 59:14. The Canes of this past half-decade wouldn’t have crossed midfield, let alone reached the red zone.
Marve looked more like a Favre, finding Farquharson for a 29-yard strike as well as the wherewithal to chuck it out of the end zone one 1st and 10 from the 20-yard line, instead of jamming it into crowded space and giving the game away.
The redshirt freshman in Marve sailed his final throw a few inches too high, but it gave hope that Marve v. 2009 or 2010 will make that throw when you need him to. While this game never should’ve come down to that final play or drive, Marve proved he is battle-tested and a gamer. Give him the rock and let him go to work.
The tragedy here is that Nix handcuffed the young gunslinger in the third quarter, after Shannon benched him in the second. Had either let the player play, who knows how many more times he might’ve found the end zone.
If there’s one thing Nix must learn, it’s that has has some serious gamers on his roster. The governor was off Marve early in the game and at full speed, the redshirt freshman shone like the star he is. When restricted in the middle portion of the contest and with Nix nursing a lead, Marve played tight. But in the end, down four with less than a minute to play, #9 played with the same loose nature his displayed early on when it was 0-0 and 7-0.
One final saving grace; seeing how Miami’s freshman took this loss. You saw the pain on Marve’s face. You saw Sean Spence making plays during the game, yet hanging his head and looking physically ill after the final interception.
When cameras panned to injured freshman receiver Tommy Streeter on the sidelines, a look that said he wanted to be in position to catch that game-winner.
Shannon’s mentality of recruiting winning players from winning programs is going to pay off. These kids will not accept losing.
As of Sunday morning, Shannon spoke of a long Saturday night and a cell phone that didn’t stop ringing as players called to discuss what went wrong. They knew the result was unacceptable. If Shannon’s message to finish wasn’t received before Saturday’s loss, these kids heard it loud and clear when the clock his 0:00.
Shannon’s players will learn from their mistakes. Winners find a way to win.
By season’s end, I hope the same can be said for the coaches calling all the shots.
Guess Sexton wasn’t so “washed up” after all.
You seem to ignore the fact that UNC essentially GAVE Miami 10 points on a botched punt snap and roughing the kicker penalty. UNC played as bad a 1st quarter as possible and still was able to pull it out at the end.
And please stop this nonsense about recruiting players from winning programs. You recruit the most talented players, period. Shannon was simply fortunate to hit the mother load with a few high school teams that were stocked with DI stars. He wouldn’t have taken Fortson or Spence if they were on average teams? Yeah, right.
Bottom line: The “U” really isn’t that much younger or talented than Butch’s Tar Heels.
I TOTALLY disagree about your assesment of the Jacory saga. Harris is one hit away from being the starter. As we saw in the A&M game, he needs to get his feet wet as much as possible. Shannon realizes that we are still setting the stage while everyone else seems to think we are already there. As a certain someone would say, "Not So Fast". We must develop depth at EVERY position on both side of the ball. When Marve jumps ship after next season to the next level, we are gonna wish we had been a little patient and given Harris more time. If Shannon remembers anything, he knows that the stars of The U never make it to their senior season, they ALWAYs move on to the NFL. This crop is no different. It is absolutely essential that we take a few series every game and give Harris & all the other backups some playing time because the starters are not here to stay. That's why they come to The U to get recognized and paid at the next level. We have some growing up to do, but they are growing up fast. I believe we are yet WAY ahead of schedule with the development of this talent & staff. It may get bumpy, but do not jump off the plane.
Tried to reply to the previous blog,,,,, must have zigged when I should have zagged and it either didn’t get there, or found the cutting room floor.
Regardless, it was admittedly a rant against the MUST PLAY HARRIS mindset that Coach Shannon has up his butt. Whatever promises about playing time that were made to lure Harris to the “U”, must now be forgotten. “Light years behind” says it as well as I ever could. Did it cost us the game??? Probably not,,, but why even give that question life? Why in the WORLD would someone want to mess with something is CLEARLY not broken?? Makes no sense.
It is now borderline stupidity in my opinion,,,,, and that’s a nice as I can put it.
“I said that Jacory would play in every game and Jacory will play in every game.”
Only thing worse than a dumbazz is a hardheaded dumbazz. Okay,,, so that wasn’t so nice,,,, sue me.
After watching the game again yesterday, I agree with all comments regarding the Nix play calling. However, I did note that in the 4th quarter there were things happening that were not all attributed to his decision making skills. A bad route or bad pass leads to a costly pick, a penalty here or there. It was not ALL on Nix. However, if he has had any say in the MUST PLAY HARRIS garbage, then he is equally to blame for that dogspit.
I have never seen anything like it in all my years. Marve is saying all the right things,,,, toeing the company line,,,, but he cannot be happy getting yanked from a game that he had taken by the throat.
Maybe HE should be the one considering a transfer??
FIRE PATRICK NIX AND LET JIMMY JOHNSON CALL THE OFFENSIVE PLAYS FROM HIS LIVING ROOM IN THE FLORIDA KEYS!!!!
The Harris Experiment has to end here and now.
Marve NEEDS to be in the game at all times!!!
These kids are tenacious — I saw WRs and TEs fighting for every yard even when the first down marker was a good 7 yards away. Special teams on that first return would have made any opposing team crap their pants. And was it Farquharson that was destroyed coming across the middle and still held onto the ball? Regardless, RS is right: winners don’t quit and will play with an urgency. They deserve coaching that feels the same way.
I’m not going to say RS or Nix should be fired. But changes need to be made. We don’t know who’s decision it was to drop Harris in (Shannon or Nix, more likely Shannon). We also don’t know if the offensive play-calling was Shannon deciding the tempo or Nix deciding the short plays.
Canes305, your breakdown of the play-calling was great and helps put into perspective how the course of the game changed. That first quarter had many prior naysayers proclaiming “holy sh*t, Miami is back”. Hopefully players and coaches alike can look back at the game and learn a lot from it. We keep pointing out this team is young and these kids will be studs in a year or two. Let’s not forget RS is only a 2nd year HC and is going to have some growing pains as well.
I’d like to say that McCarthy is a special teams monster. I get more excited over the big hits that are about to come than the big returns because our guys have just been wrecking the other team.
As I have said for a year now it takes time to rebuild.The players Coker left us weren’t just mediocre to bad by Miami standards: they are bad by any standard: 1-7 in our last 8 ACC games, 3-14 in our last 17 ACC games: that’s vanderbilt/duke/temple bad.
Basically the players Coker have left Shannon are losers with a losing mentality. I see that going to all the games: the players expect things to go wrong- guys like Chavez Grant, Bruce Johnson, Leonard Hankerson, and even Jason Fox are so cokerized they are used to blowing games to middle of the pack ACC teams (which North Carolina with 3rd stringer Sexton a QB so bad that he only completed 8 or 26 passes two years ago in front of us in the OB) it has become second nature to them.
The program is filled with losers. Until Shannon has three whole classes of his own (he has one right now) judging him and his staff is going to be unfair: like the judgment placed on Zook at Florida who was not winning (but not losing as badly as we are) with Spurrier’s last three lazy recruiting classes. If we want to be as classless as the Gators, pile on Shannon now. If we want to be patient and realize this is a long term process restoring the pride of a national championship program which was turned into a bottom feeder in record time, then keep coming to Dolphin Stadium like me and support the Canes. Nothing is more fulfilling than seeing these kids grow up in front of us.
BE PATIENT PEOPLE.
I TOTALLY disagree about your assesment of the Jacory saga. Harris is one hit away from being the starter. As we saw in the A&M game, he needs to get his feet wet as much as possible. Shannon realizes that we are still setting the stage while everyone else seems to think we are already there.
Canephin, you can disagree all you want… I understand preparing for the IF factor, should Marve go down – but on some level, you deal with that if and when you get there.
Harris needs some snaps, but for Shannon to insert this kid in the second quarter when Marve is on a roll — it doesn’t make sense.
It’s one thing to do that if Marve has a few bad series, but in several occasions now Marve was on a roll, Harris came in, chewed a lot of first half time off the clock, his efforts resulted in three points and now you have defenses coming out with second-half adjustments.
If Marve is hot, take advantage of the first half and let him keep doing his thing before defensive adjustments are made.
There will be time for Harris to play against the likes of UCF. He already got one start this year and could’ve done fine in mop up duty at aTm with a 41-10 lead.
Tried to reply to the previous blog,,,,, must have zigged when I should have zagged and it either didn’t get there, or found the cutting room floor.
JMG – You know me. I don’t edit posts here. I let everyone say what the feel. You might not have saved your post, but I surely didn’t send it to the cutting room floor. That’s not me.
After watching the game again yesterday, I agree with all comments regarding the Nix play calling. However, I did note that in the 4th quarter there were things happening that were not all attributed to his decision making skills. A bad route or bad pass leads to a costly pick, a penalty here or there. It was not ALL on Nix. However, if he has had any say in the MUST PLAY HARRIS garbage, then he is equally to blame for that dogspit.
Agree, it’s not ALL Nix… but his conservative mentality definitely was felt with some third and fourth quarter playcalling. You don’t run Coop up the gut three straight times with four minutes remaining and a 24-21 lead, after UNC had momentum and was moving the ball on that UM defense.
The program is filled with losers. Until Shannon has three whole classes of his own (he has one right now) judging him and his staff is going to be unfair: like the judgment placed on Zook at Florida who was not winning (but not losing as badly as we are) with Spurrier’s last three lazy recruiting classes.
Kartik – Some good points. I don’t agree that it’ll take three more full recruiting classes to get there, though. One or two more classes will have this team truly in the hunt in the ACC — not just due to the conference being down.
We’ve seen tremendous strides talent-wise since last year and should see another spike in 2009.
As for some of the guys you mentioned, yeah there are some that are Cokerized and my biggest issue is a lot of those guys are the ones always providing the soundbites to the media.
I’d prefer Jason Fox blocks better on Saturdays than giving the ultimate rah-rah quote during the week.
Too much talky-talky, not enough blocky-blocky.
Guess Sexton wasn’t so “washed up” after all.
If he wasn’t so washed up, why’d he spend all of 2007 on the bench and why is he your third string guy?
Sexton had a great game. Let’s see how he does the next six weeks before we crown him a superstar.
He was the guy for the job on Saturday. For now, we’ll leave it at that.
You seem to ignore the fact that UNC essentially GAVE Miami 10 points on a botched punt snap and roughing the kicker penalty. UNC played as bad a 1st quarter as possible and still was able to pull it out at the end.
How is that “giving” Miami points? If you muff a snap that’s due to feeling the pressure brought by the other team, the crowd noise from the homefield advantage and nerves that come with it.
I guess Miami ‘gave’ the Heels points when someone missed an assignment that lead to a partially blocked punt.
Also, how do you know how Miami would’ve played if not sitting on a lead? Look how quickly the Canes moved the ball on the final drive when it’s OC had :46 to score.
Bad coaching decisions (Harris/Thomas in the second half, running the clock out in the fourth, etc.) helped Miami give this one away. The Heels played a great game, but the Canes went into shutdown mode and didn’t finish what they’d started.
And please stop this nonsense about recruiting players from winning programs. You recruit the most talented players, period.
We’ll see in a few years if this is “nonsense” or if it has Shannon’s Canes on top again.
And no you don’t just go after talented players. There’s a science to recruiting and Shannon goes after kids from winning program, as well as kids from South Florida. Cooker used to bring in ‘most talented’ and look where that got him.
Five-stars from across the nation that might’ve padded their stats against lesser teams and we soft as tissue when getting down to The U.
Arthur Brown was the ‘most talented’ linebacker Miami brought in and he’s yet to play other than special teams. The competition he went up against in Kansas couldn’t hold a candle to the type of talent Sean Spence saw while playing at Northwestern.
Spence is seeing the field much more than Brown.
As for the ‘winning program’ mentality, you are getting guys who are part of a team and not “me first” types of players, like a lot of guys who are superstars on bad teams.
Shannon was simply fortunate to hit the mother load with a few high school teams that were stocked with DI stars. He wouldn’t have taken Fortson or Spence if they were on average teams? Yeah, right.
No one said he wouldn’t have taken Forston or Spence, but it’s no mystery that Shannon reeled in so many from Northwestern, Booker T. Washington and St. Thomas Aquinas — the 6A, 5A and 4A champs that produce some serious talent.
Allcanes/canes305, you couldn't have said it any better. Great write up. Granted, not the write up we all wanted to read.
I feel for you man, as you've been a major supporter of the coaching staff despite all the criticism they receive from bloggers (including myself). I’d say this lose is like 70% due to coaching. Of that 70%, I would say 35% being out coached and 35% poor coaching (Bill Young included). The remaining 30% is on the players, namely our secondary.
I mean Marve is just plain great, two interceptions or not (one doesn’t even count). It’s going to happen. I’m referring to his entire body of work. He reminds me of Oklahoma’s Bradford. They both play like they’ve been doing it for years at this level. What's the biggest difference, their coaches (entire staff). As both have great talent around them (granted ours is still young and inexperienced).
I’ve said it countless times already, this Jacory Harris bull$hit has to end. Momentum is key and it’s not something you can just gain back at the snap of a finger. So while Harris was effective, the momentum changed. And changed even further into Carolina’s favor as the game went on.
Look, no one (with sense) was expecting a NC, BCS bowl, or ACC title from this team. I said before the season, 7-5. After the A&M game, I said a 9-3 final record. But if these coaches continue along this course, not achieving a 9-3 will rest squarely on their shoulders. As it will be them that HELD these kids back from better than 7 wins.
Here’s a perfect example of being held back. You finally release Marve with 46 seconds left and he (and company) nearly pulled off the win. Imagine if you just let him play when there was still 9:00 remaining in the 4th.
Cooper’s stats alone are enough to make you want to go Postal. He was killing Carolina on nearly every play. Shannon’s (last week) excuse is he doesn’t want to over work him. What the hell are you saving him for. This was a damn ACC Coastal division opponent. I could understand if it was the meaningless UCF game to come.
I'm just so pissed that I will refrain from writing anymore. As to continue to complain is pointless. We have FSU on deck and this game could mean the entire season right here. As a loss to them could easily mean another 5-7, scratch that 4-8, as Duke is no joke this year.
GO CANES… granted it must suck knowing you have the ability to get the job down, but not the authority to execute. Hopefully your coaches get their act together.
I don’t disagree that Nix was soft in this game, but I’m a bit surprised by your lax criticizing of Young. I don’t think I saw a single blitz in the 4th quarter, maybe not one in the entire second half. If they won’t put pressure on a third string quarterback to force a turnover, they deserve to be outscored 21-7 in the second half.
I don’t disagree that Nix was soft in this game, but I’m a bit surprised by your lax criticizing of Young. I don’t think I saw a single blitz in the 4th quarter, maybe not one in the entire second half. If they won’t put pressure on a third string quarterback to force a turnover, they deserve to be outscored 21-7 in the second half.
Saralinn – Young called a third down corner blitz by Brandon Harris where he sacked Sexton, took them out of FG range and UNC missed the kick.
That play was a 3rd and 9 with about six minutes left in the game and the seven yard loss forced the FG miss on 4th and 16.
Re-read the article. I put some blame on Young’s playcalling the past two games. He had Florida confused all night, yet his D looked somewhat ordinary the past two games.
That said, a lot more blame goes on a secondary that didn’t make plays. Several Canes were confused, out of place and focusing on Brandon Tate when Hakeem Nicks scored the 74-yarder. He should’ve been wrapped up seconds after making that catch. Bad tacking hurt on that play and that’s not on Young.
The go-ahead score to Brooks Foster wasn’t on Young. Demarcus Van Dyke needs to make a play and get a hand on the ball. Sexton threw a great pass and Foster came down with it.
My knock on Young is that he didn’t get after Sexton enough. A third string quarterback in his first real action since 2006 shouldn’t have time to pick Miami apart. Ring that kid’s bell and force some turnovers.
305,,,, I was under the evil grip of Professor Absolut when I typed and tried to send the message I descibed. I had to have messed something up somewhere along the way. Prolly misspelled my own user name. lol
I assure you, I know how you roll and you always give everyone their turn on the soapbox.
To comments regarding Marve moving along in a couple of years to the next level. Give me a break. He MAY turn in to a fine college QB, (and I am actually driving that particualr bandwagon) but to project what we have seen in three games into him leaving early for the pros at this point is not realistic. (but feel free to send me some of that “chronic” that you have been smokin).
for the people supporting puttin jacory in the 2nd quarter with the “2nd team” lookig offense, you need to go to treatment. I’m all for putting him in to get a series or two, but not when we are nursing a 14-7 lead. marge is our starting QB and it should stay that way until we are up by 2-3 touchdowns entering the fourth or longer. he should be mop up duty and that’s it. you don’t see other teams playing their backup unless the starter royally is fucking up the game, which is not our case. marge needs to be finally let loose and the same goes for Nix.
LET THE OFFENSE GO LOOSE. keep your weapons in early and destroy the opponent before making ” game changing” decisions like we experienced this past Saturday
Good piece 305.
But even better picture of McCarthy.
You have your best scorer hitting four shots in a row from the floor and you take him out so someone else can get a chance to play. Your starting pitcher has just thrown 8 1/3 innings of no-hit ball but has just passed his pitch count so you take him out of the game.
If either of these situations took place the coaches would be run out of town.
The buck stops with the boss, not the asssistants. Shannon needs to take the heat.
there’s a lot of rumors going that shannon is putting jacory in to keep him from transferring. I say if the guy wants to go let him. Marve gives us the best chance of winning, period! if we are operating under the “what if” factor, well than cannon smith should get in there every game, cause he’s only two hits away from being the starter. Ken Dorsey spent 3 years one hit away from the bench, but derrick crudup never saw significant action in the first half of any game. when you have your guy, you have to keep him in. don’t disrupt rhythm, and don’t give your fans or critics the opportunity to question it after a loss like saturday. would it have made a difference, who knows, but since it’s what happened, we all get to ask that question!
There’s a lot of rumors going that shannon is putting jacory in to keep him from transferring. I say if the guy wants to go let him.
There aren’t a lot of rumors. That crap starts up on message board by pissed off fans and conspiracy theorists.
If Harris wanted to start immediately, he’d have accepted the scholarship offer from Oregon and headed west to be the next Dennis Dixon. He turned them down to come to The U.
Some rumors stated that Harris wanted to head to Florida State — a school that was never on his radar and wasn’t in his final seven.
You bring up some good points about the ‘what if’ factor as Dorsey was always a hit away and that was never a factor until OT in his final (and 40th) game as a Cane. In his absence, Crudup came into the title game and completed an important pass – ice cold and having seen very little action.
Marve won the job and he’s your starter. This kid hasn’t gotten to play one full first half of football all season. Let him play.
Harris isn’t going anywhere at this point of the game. If he left next year, he sits out 2009 and would compete for starting time somewhere in 2010.
Doesn’t exactly sound like the best career path for a kid dying to see the field.
Ignore the rumors. There is no ‘transfer’ talk four games into Harris’ freshman season. That’s bogus.
Harris might not transfer to fswho, but he will transfer!!!
RS used him to bring the other NW BOYS….
RS used him to bring the other NW BOYS….
…. precisely the moronic message board-type commentary I was talking about.
Marcus Forston, Aldarius Johnson and Sean Spence were the first three Northwestern kids on board before Harris.
Streeter, Jones, Thompkins signed after Harris, but the gems of the class were already on board before Harris made it official.
Next conspiracy theory attempt?
the Tar Heels and a washed up junior quarterback kicked Miami’s Ass…Carolina 28, Miami 24.
The Tar Heels and a washed up junior quarterback kicked Miami’s Ass…Carolina 28, Miami 24.
Wow. I thought UNC grads were supposed to be smart.
Did you really “kick ass” in a four-point win where your team and coaches were holding their collective breath as the game winning pass was in the air?
Did you really “kick ass” in a game where Miami had more total yards and outrushed you 135 yards to 35 on the same number of attempts?
Call me crazy, but was it not Miami who knocked a few Tar Heels’ dicks in the dirt with some sick specials teams hits?
Y’all got your little four-point win, but you kicked no one’s ass, chump.
#1 – Please o’ please let Marve play the entire game!!!!! This kid is the real deal. Coop and Marve make a great team. If I was Nix I would let Marve sling the football a good percentage of the time and then with the threat of the pass let Coop eat them up with a run (I would let the pas setup the run..totally opposite from the norm)
#2 If I was Coach Shannon, I would allow Harris to play let in the 4th quarter when the game is at hand. Just enough to let him break a sweat. If Marve was to go down, then Harris could come in and play. Isn’t that what practice and preparation and a team with depth is suppose to do? If someone goes out you should have another stud to take his place.
#3 These blown coverages that result into touchdowns late in the game has to stop Coach Young get them to tighten up.
#4 Coach Nix…..let Marve loose, unleash the beast! Coach Nix you are a former quarterback…be selfish…..let your quarterback play.
Big A from the 321 to the 305
Streeter, Jones, Thompkins signed after Harris, but…..
allcanes… RS used Harris to bring in these guys, U know it!!!
Denise,,,,,,, you hit it right on the button. Very good. That is exactly the comparison that should accompany any talk of getting Harris ready, damn the torpedoes.
“Maybe” that will quiet the “get Harris ready,,, Marve is one hit away,,, plus I heard he is signing with Green Bay this Thursday”,,, posts.
Regardless of the origin,,, if Harris wants to leave,,, fine. If he was promised playing time in order to get him here,,, if you made that promise not knowing or trusting what you had in Marve already,,,,,, and NOTHING will stand in the way of Randy Shannon breaking a promise,,,,,, then, as much as I like him, Shannon needs to be the NCAA version of Lane Kiffin.
Chris,,,, think about this,,,,, unless they redshirt Harris for one year,,,,,, and supposing Marve never misses a game in four years (knock wood), Harris and Marve have the same years left of eligibility. If he redshirts,,,, well then he has only one year as the man.
Why WOULD he stay????
Would YOU stay??
I’m thinking,,, I wouldn’t stay.
Not if I wanted to someday play on Sundays. If I was in it only for the education,,,, then cool.
Think that is applicable here?
Me neither.
I doubt there is a kid in that room who did not dream of Sundays when he came here.
Who knows,,,, this kid is 17,,,,,, all bets are off regarding predictions on what is going on in his head.
While this is, for now, message board fodder, the subject does reach a conclusion that is not too far from any probable forecast.
Not looking for shell casings or footprints on the grassy knoll,,,, just observing.
To me, 2008 is following along the same lines as 2007. This loss really pissed me off and ruined my weekend. I could not watched after the second quarter because of traveling, but this is an inexusable loss. UNC is a middle of the pack ACC team and we now have lost to them 3 years running. I am sick and tired of mediocrity. At some point we have to start winning and learning from mistakes, both as players and coaches. I am beginning to become pessimistic with this team and that's the last thing I want. Miami will always be my team, but I can't take losing to these sh*t teams year after year. Get players on the field who will not be out of position and will not get pushed off the ball. There is no reason we should go up 14-0 on UNC and lose the &%@#* game! We have a chance to crack the top 25 and we lay a MF egg! At some point we have to take a step forward and we haven't done that yet. I don't care about potential – I care about results. Seeing is believing and unless we do something different, we're headed for a repeat of 2007, just with younger players. Time to step up!
-Columbus Cane
To me, 2008 is following along the same lines as 2007. This loss really pissed me off and ruined my weekend. I could not watched after the second quarter because of traveling, but this is an inexusable loss. UNC is a middle of the pack ACC team and we now have lost to them 3 years running.
CC, I get your furstration, but this isn’t last year’s UNC team nor is it the bunch of bums Miami lost to in 2004. Butch is rebuilding there like Randy is in Miami. They have some good talent and as much of a shot at winning the Coastal as the Canes do.
Too early to tell if 2008 is following 2008. The next few games will prove it. This time last year, the Canes were 4-1 instead of 2-2 – and then went on to lose 7 of the next 8.
The belief is that (1) this team has more talent this year than last, (2) the home schedule is more favorable than last and (3) the ACC is a bit more up and down than last.
We’ll see where it all goes. Had Marve gotten that pass an inch lower or Farquharson was an inch taller, Miami is 3-1 right now and everyone is all hugs and kisses over a miraculous comeback.
It fell an inch short and the team is 2-2. Don’t let that break everyone’s spirit. Florida State is on deck and the best remedy is always a win over the hated Noles.
Get the “W” and this team is 3-2, has some bounce in their step and has UCF and Duke on deck. Get this thing to 5-2 with Wake Forest headed south on October 25th!!
Marve is an untested and unproven quarterback.There is nothing wrong with giving Harris playing time.Shannon promised this kid gametime and he is gonna stick to it.Two quarterback systems can work and can keep defenses off balance.Harris will be the starter once he matures.
If Harris does not start by the end of this year he’s gonna TRANSFER!….RS LIED TO HIM (play time)!
If Harris does not start by the end of this year he’s gonna TRANSFER!….RS LIED TO HIM (play time)!
If Harris wants to transfer, adios. Kick rocks. Get moving.
This kid wasn’t lied to. Where do you people get this s**t from?
Marve is a r-freshman this year, was highly-touted — even moreso than Harris. He was Mr. Florida Football 2006 to Harris’s 2007.
If anyone thought Harris was just going to come in, unseat Marve and take over, they’re high. Harris included.
Everything about Marve said ‘future star’ so Harris knew what he was getting into when he came to Miami.
Any of you that think Shannon is doing backdoor deals to get kids to come to Miami… you’re fools.
The guy may make some game day coaching blunders and has proven to be stubborn at times, but integrity is his strong suit and there’s no way Shannon is making deals with 18-year olds on the recruiting trail, letting them dictate the rules of the game. Please.
He told Patrick Johnson to walk when he wanted back in. He’s shot down some highly-rated JUCO transfers, citing that if they weren’t on board with Miami in the first place, it’s too late now. He’s pulled scholarship offers from kids flirting with other schools.
Harris was promised nothing but the opportunity to compete.
If you can PROVE otherwise, then do so or STFU with all these idiotic rumors.
I’m not saying this isn’t just more rumor,,, but it is from Navarro’s blog: (now I’ll stfu,,,, lol)
“”The bottomline is there is more to this story than just ‘Jacory needs experience.’ I spoke with one of Harris’ former position coaches at Northwestern Monday night who told me a big reason Harris decided to come to Miami in the first place was because Shannon promised him playing time — regardless if whether or not Marve was healthy.””
JMG – Let me rephrase what I was trying to say…
Seem the notion here is that Shannon had some secret handshake, under the table-type deal with Harris that he’d be guaranteed starting time. That’s what I’m not buying.
In the recruitment of Harris, did Shannon say that both he and Marve would get snaps as both were first-time college players and both would get a fair shot? Absolutely. I don’t doubt that.
But the inference that Harris was “lied to” or “promised playing time” as is was a deal-maker or breaker for the rest of the MNW kids – that’s a farce.
Again, guys like Spence, Forston and A. Johnson were the gems of the class and all three were on board before Harris.
To say that Jones, Streeter, Washington and Thompkins all got on board because Harris signed — who’s to say they didn’t get on board because of their other three teammates and because they had faith in what Marve could do as well?
It’s all conspiracy theory bulls**t.
No one is talking of transferring four games into the season and everybody seems to know someone who knows someone that says Harris is uphappy and wants to go elsewhere.
How about we all just STFU, accept the situation, hope that Marve continues to separate himself and that Shannon gives #9 a chance to make more plays – starting this weekend against Florida State.
To me, it’s all about competition. Just take a look across the country at USC. Look at their QB’s and RB’s. Any of them could probably start at other places. Do they transfer? Overall, no (except Emmanuel Moody – how well has that worked out?). If someone can’t beat out the others at his position, they can do two things – work harder to get better or give up and transfer. But guess what? There’s competition wherever you go, if it’s at least a decent team. If someone wants to give up and quit becauase things didn’t go the way they wanted to, then go ahead and leave. It wasn’t meant to be. I hope the Harris thing is just a rumor, but if not then what happens, happens. Get kids in here who WANT to be here. Harris may stick it out and all this could just be conjecture. The program is bigger than any one player. The kid is a Freshman, so what’s his rush? You can still make it to the NFL and not start for your college team. Life is not always peaches and cream. Adversity arises and reveals one’s true character. So let’s just wait and see what happens. We should really be focused on turning this season around and honing in on the damn Seminoles and their fake bravado.
-Columbus Cane
CHRIS, I totally agree with this from you,,,, 1000%:
““But the inference that Harris was “lied to” or “promised playing time” as is was a deal-maker or breaker for the rest of the MNW kids – that’s a farce.
Again, guys like Spence, Forston and A. Johnson were the gems of the class and all three were on board before Harris.
To say that Jones, Streeter, Washington and Thompkins all got on board because Harris signed — who’s to say they didn’t get on board because of their other three teammates and because they had faith in what Marve could do as well?
It’s all conspiracy theory bulls**t.””
Abso-freakin-lutely!!!!
I merely referenced that blog in an effort to perhaps give a reason as to why we are seeing Harris regularly,,,,, NOT towards any covert subplots of singing him in order to get the rest of them.
My whole point is ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, why the HELL is Shannon phucking with success???
Let’s just kick some smellywhole ass on Saturday,,,,,, that would be my elixir of choice.
bla,,,,blah,,,,blah! You guys just don’t get it!
(READ THIS SLOOOOOWLY) #12 IS NOT HAPPY WHEN HE IS BENCHED!!…if he does not start SOON, he’s gone!!! RS LIED TO THE KID…
“THE U” HAS A QB PROBLEM!!!
do U get it now?
“”THE U” HAS A QB PROBLEM!!!”
Damn right we do. The problem is we have two good ones. One is the starter and the other the back up. I’ll take this problem any day over having Kyle Wrong and Kirby Heavman. Besides, look at USC. They’re basically running an old school ‘UM to NFL’ farm system. Everyone eventually gets their time to shine and moves on.
Harris himself said he came to UM because he likes to compete. And knows competition will make him better. So while he could have been handed the keys to the “Oregon car” as a freshman, he chose (under his own free will) to come to Miami.
So our true problem is not Harris. It’s the way the coaches get both QBs some experience. I don’t agree with this guaranteed playing time garbage.
Shannon, as much as I’m not a huge fan of his, I still see him as a big time UM man. I just can’t see him putting one kid’s desires ahead of the desires of the U.
So let’s stop the Harris talk. If he leaves, so be it. I just know FSU could give a f-uck and so do I.
Go Canes…
So let’s stop the Harris talk. If he leaves, so be it. I just know FSU could give a f-uck and so do I.
Seriously, when did the main topic for FSU week become rumors of a back up freshman quarterback possibly transferring four games into his career — where he’s seen playing time in three games and played one full game?
Who. Gives. A. Hell.
If Harris is unhappy and leaves, so be it. Move on.
Miami and Florida State is in two days. Get your priorities straight, people.
Exactly allcanes, that’s exactly the point I was making.
People, the Gators are one thing, but this is FSU/Miami. So no more coaching/ bad secondary/QB controversy/fire Nix/ Shannon must go talk. Time to focus on what is the biggest game on our schedule EVERY year.
See you at the game people. GO CANES