It doesn’t excuse seventeen interceptions over the course of a season – ten in the final seven games – but it helps explain why the Jacory Harris you saw down the stretch wasn’t the same guy you saw in September.
The sophomore quarterback is preparing for post-season surgery to repair torn ligaments on his right thumb. This latest setback will most likely keep Harris out of spring ball, opening the door for A.J. Highsmith and incoming freshman Stephen Morris to get some much-needed reps. (Should Morris not graduate early from Pace High, Highsmith will be the only available quarterback.)
The lack of depth at quarterback came when Cannon Smith and Taylor Cook transferred during fall ball, leaving only Harris and Highsmith on the roster. Of course the overall lack of depth at the position started before Randy Shannon took over as Larry Coker and staff were unable to build an arsenal after Brock Berlin left town.
Kyle Wright and Kirby Freeman were on board, but kids like Pat Devlin, Derek Shaw, Daniel Stegall and Nick Fanuzzi all left Miami at the altar, while last year’s starter Robert Marve bailed when he didn’t feel he received a fair shake.
According to the Miami Herald, top dog Harris was on crutches for a couple days after the bowl loss to Wisconsin. Strained ligaments in both his ankle and knee were the culprit.
Some folks turned on Harris as he led the Canes to a 4-3 record the final seven games. Success against Florida State and Georgia Tech out the gate had many forgetting the true sophomore only had two career starts leading up to the 2009 season.
The fast start was impressive, but should’ve been seen more as a fluke or stroke of good fortune, as opposed to ‘the norm’. Especially with opposing defensive coordinators finally getting film on Mark Whipple, figuring out the pass-happy coordinator’s schemes.
Truth be told, Harris exceeded expectations of a first-year starter. Especially for a program that started the season outside the top 25. It’s one thing when a team is reloading, sliding in a new quarterback behind a solid line and giving him and arsenal of players at the skills position. The only program to do that in recent memory is Southern Cal, where a Matt Leinart replaced a Carson Palmer… a John David Booty took over for Leinart… a Mark Sanchez supplanted Booty.
Conversely, the lack of offensive firepower is the sole reason Matt Barkley struggled at times in 2009 (2,735 yards, 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.) Barkely will be the next Trojan great, but as a first-year starter he lacked the weapons that helped Leinart, Booty and Sanchez hit the ground running.
Miami fans can obviously relate to Southern Cal’s recent success last decade having seen a similar feat in the Decade of Dominance era where the Canes fielded a Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Steve Walsh, Craig Erickson and Gino Torretta over a ten year span. Four titles and two Heisman trophies later, it was then a run that included Frank Costa, Ryan Clement, Scott Covington and Kenny Kelly before Ken Dorsey became the guy.
Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen is coming off a solid junior campaign – 3,722 yards, 28 touchdowns and 4 interceptions – but his first year as a full-time starter was less than stellar. In 2008, Clausen threw for 3,172 yards but had a 25-to-17 touchdown to interception ratio.
Clausen played extensively as a freshman in 2007 – 10 of 12 games -but only had 138 attempts as a freshman, compared to 268 as a sophomore and 289 as a junior. Hate the Irish as Cane fans might, there’s no arguing that he was a much improved player from his sophomore to junior season.
Harris has a freshman season comparable to Clausen’s with 118 attempts and like Clausen, had an up and down sophomore season. With one full year under his belt, Harris now has eight full months heal up, bulk up, break down film and prepare for his next go around.
Quarterback growth from year one to year two – it’s a big part of the college game. Harris has played in and won big games and as part of his progression, will need to take things to the next level in 2010. It’ll start with hand surgery and once healed, Harris needs to get bigger and stronger. Offensive line woes aside, Harris’ durability will be questioned as long as he’s only carrying 190 pounds on a 6’4″ frame.
Dorsey “beefed up” a bit by his junior season in 2001 and hopefully Harris can follow suit when healthy.
Best wishes to J-12 this off-season. Great run year one. Take it to the next level this fall.
Great analogy about USC's recent ability to reload at quarterback. Such a rarity these days as it takes tremendous talent at the position, as well as tremendous surrounding talent.
Harris came out guns blazing, but I expected reality to kick in sooner than later. In all honesty, I never expected 3-1 to start the season. 2-2 seemed logical and 1-3 seemed realistic. The fact JH and the Canes overachieved is something that helped and hurt UM as the year went on.
As you've mentioned time and again, instead of fans being excited about 9-4, they're disappointed. The quick start (and all the media hype) forced this fan base to get ahead of itself. Anyone who really thought Miami was destined for 12-1 this season needed to have their head examined.
Wins against Florida State, Oklahoma and Wake Forest could've just have easily been losses while the Clemson and North Carolina games were very winnable, but turnovers killed late.
Keep some perspective, Hurricanes Nation. 305 makes some good points here. I want to see a big step forward in 2010 and a title run in 2011.
Michael P.
Mesa, AZ
Time and time again their is two sides of every story. I believe if what harris did after hurting his thumb in the unc game is ….pretty damn amazing! Thumb injuries are no joke and to play through the pain is comendable. Every cane fan should face it, who else could we turn to; throw a redshirt freshman to the wolves and shannon would get more criticism. Personally, if the injury is accurate, could explain alot of his floating passes especially in the bowl game. However, with three excellant running backs maybe should have pounded the ball more and pass when the defense was least expecting. However, the season is over, there has been improvement and the team seems to have comraderie and character. I believe its easy to jump on "the wagon" but its rebuiling in these times that make U appreciate where we have been and where we want to go!
I don't think we over achieved, only one of the teams on our schedule had a better regular season record than we did and we gave them the worst beaten they endured all season in GT. FSU, OU and even VT had worst years than they were predicted to have. In terms of the Jacory issue i do agree he will get better because I've seen to many QBs who almost look like they are a total different person from 1 year to the other. In the same breathe, let me say this, when Jacory and everyone in his class came in, we heard this was the class to bring us back but according to u allcanes, we shouldn't be looking for much in 2010, leaving only 1 year left for these guys to win big, so its either win or bust at that point. I don' think its too much to ask of JR players to step up, they are upperclassmen, and for me next year is put up or shut up. invariably its starts with jacory's improvement and namely him not throwing more than 10 picks and 7 in 2 losses.
I agree completely with the previous comment. This fan base was sucked in by the quick start and lost perspective. We forgot that this is a team full of young players, we forgot that Jacory Harris is basically a rookie at QB, we forgot that we were breaking in two new coordinators, we forgot how awful that we have been since 2005, and we forgot that the U is not back yet! That early season top 10 ranking was the worst thing that could happen to this already spoiled fan base. We saw the promised land and bought into it hook, line, and sinker. Truth is that our early season success was a mirage for a fan base that has been in the desert of mediocrity for too long! Don't get me wrong, this was a great season, with some great moments, but this was never a top 10 caliber team this year. The loss to VT should have sent up the red flags, but we all wanted to believe! Truth is that we will probably finish in the top 20 and that should be enough to convince the fan base that Randy Shannon is getting this thing turned around, but instead, most of this fan base will only be satisfied if Jimmy Johnson, Bernie Kosar, and Michael Irvin come running out of the smoke! Wake up Cane fans, that is never going to happen and if you ever want to see the U return to it's once proud self, then get behind Randy Shannon and realize that he is probably the only man who can do it! Canes 4 EVER!!!
hi there,
too bad about jacory … hopefully his surgery will go well and he'll be ready for 2010.
and what can you say about the lack of protection jacory had down the final stretch?
i was somewhat disappointed in the finish … though the overall record is beter than last year and some improvements are in place, i still don't see the canes competing seriously for the ACC title next year. something is missing. there is no FIRE. the canes vets need to come back and spark this team emotionally.
i like shannon but it seems the focus on being "good citizens" on the field has in some way neutered the emotion and on the field fire they need to have. i see other teams celebrating "a la canes" and they don't get into trouble? why can't we get back to that level of intensity?
BTW, why doesn't this team have a
3rd QB? how inexcusable is that? are there no JUCO transfer candidates around?
..and what can you say about the lack of protection jacory had down the final stretch?
… I can say that torn ligaments in one's throwing hand and the breakdown of the offensive line's play greatly added to that lack of production.
i still don't see the canes competing seriously for the ACC title next year. something is missing. there is no FIRE. the canes vets need to come back and spark this team emotionally.
Tough call. The ACC is so up and down every year, who knows? Either way, Miami got jobbed division-wise. Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech are serious players and it took one loss to reach Tampa this year. Not as cutthroat in the Atlantic Division.
Hankerson, Bailey and Franklin are returning, so they should provide a spark – as well as that top-flight class of 2008, as they'll all be juniors and will have more say.
i like shannon but it seems the focus on being "good citizens" on the field has in some way neutered the emotion and on the field fire they need to have. i see other teams celebrating "a la canes" and they don't get into trouble? why can't we get back to that level of intensity?
I think this take is rather played out.
'Swagger' comes from being successful and WINNING ballgames. I can assume the teams that show this fire you speak of – this happened during bowl season when they were WINNING games.
Success breeds success and the Canes need to get back to consistent winning ways.
As for the celebrating, there's a double standard that we have to live with. I saw Florida players doing the chomp after a big play, or signaling 'first down' after a big catch and never saw one flag.
BTW, why doesn't this team have a 3rd QB? how inexcusable is that? are there no JUCO transfer candidates around?
Again, how many teams lost TWO back ups a week before the season and their starter months before that?
Furthermore, how many teams had FOUR quarterbacks on the roster who were all underclassmen?
People are tired of blaming Coker, but his inability to build an arsenal of quarterbacks is something Shannon is still paying for.
Coker let Pat Deviln, Nick Fanuzzi, Daniel Stegall and Derek Shaw all get away. Even worse, all turned out to be busts – meaning that his eye for quarterback talent was a joke, as well.
Kyle Wright flamed out and Kirby Freeman was never a quality quarterback. Coker gave Freeman the scholarship that Duke QB Thad Lewis wanted. Nice work, Lawrence.
JUCO transfer quarterbacks rarely get the job done. Same with transfers. QB is a position where you start fresh. Save the JUCO transfers for offensive linemen, linebacker, maybe a receiver or corner.
I'd like to see one more quarterback in this class but I doubt it happens. Harris, Highsmith and Morris look like the roster.
J12 did everything one could ask given his level of experience and lack of O-line protection.
We are deep at receiver and tailback and will get a good fullback back healthy for next year. J12 will add some muscle, so will every young QB this off season. Twenty pounds of muscle wont protect him if the O-line can't. From what I can read regarding recruiting we are making a major effort to get O-line depth down the road. I still wonder how much of our current problems are position coaching related. Will be interesting to see if any off season moves are made. Best wishes to J12 and Cooper with their surgery, they both gave 100% all season.
305 do you know what day is signing day? And why is spring practice so early? Can Randy move spring practice back a few weeks? Seems like we finish and everyone else starts…..Just doesn't make sense to potentially have AJ as the only QB for spring.
I'm no scout or quaterback expert but the kid that won the 6A Championship from Miramar should get a serious look. His throws and pocket presence looked a hell of a lot better than our backup QB, whos father is pushing Shannon to make into a safety.
Basically, I agree we need a second QB in this class, unless Whipples kid is the secret weapon nobody is talking about.
Great blog…thanks for the positive slant. What's disappointing is how poorly the ACC is doing in bowls as a whole, particulary BCS bowls. Think they said the ACC is 1-8 in BCS bowls since 2000? I was hoping Ga. Tech would have won…at least it would have given credibility to the ACC.
I agree with the above comments that stated that Cane vets need to come back & inspire the team (certainly couldn't hurt). I know Ray Lewis comes back every summer to work out. We truly need the defense of Lewis' day…when the defense forced turnovers; that was a truly inspired defensive unit.
I think that the signing day is feb. second or third
Important dates to remember:
February 3 – Signing Day. I think practically every high school player has verbally committed to Florida.
April 22 thru 25 – NFL Draft. We get to see which suckers (I mean team), actually picks Tim Tebow.
My thought for the day:
Why is it that a coach cannot grab a player by the throat, hit him in the face, or even make him stand in the shed (No, please not the shed!!), but it's okay to let your QB stay in a game and be pummelled by the opposing team's D? I'm just wondering.
Like I said once before, JH needs this time to heal. Hopefully, he'll soon be well enough to start hitting those weights.
allCanes… Boise State's coach says that they are willing to play "anyone, anyplace, anytime", but they haven't been given that opportunity. Well, at least one has been given to them. Virginia Tech is on their 2010 schedule.
allCanes… Boise State's coach says that they are willing to play "anyone, anyplace, anytime", but they haven't been given that opportunity. Well, at least one has been given to them. Virginia Tech is on their 2010 schedule.
… I know Petersen attempted to schedule some people, but from everything I read, it was home-and-away. No offense, but traditional powerhouse teams don't need to travel to Boise. If the Broncos want to play longtime great programs, hit the road for a one-game series.
Furthermore, Boise State was talking about this mid-season — after starting to work with a PR firm regarding their notion of being constantly snubbed.
Everyone and their mother knows that OOC schedules are booked YEARS in advance. Last year Miami scheduled a home/away with Nebraska in 2014 and 2015.
BSU is trying to get some good press from their "anyone, anywhere, anytime" attitude – but they know good and hell well how difficult it is to (1) book a home/away and (2) to get on anybody's schedule anytime the next year or so as those schedules are already made up.
After letting my blood cool down after that bowl debacle, I think Harris showed great toughness this season after being treated like a ragdoll on many ocassions. To know that he's getting surgery now, just shows how much pain he must have been in since the NC game. He knew we would only go as far as he could, so I give him props for playing although injured. What other option did we really have? There is no depth at QB. We need 2 in the 2010 class, to me. I hope he takes his time to heal and not rush back. We need him as healthy as possible for next season. He nees to heal and then hit the weights and eat to put on about 15-20.
-Columbus Cane
305 do you know what day is signing day? And why is spring practice so early? Can Randy move spring practice back a few weeks? Seems like we finish and everyone else starts…..Just doesn't make sense to potentially have AJ as the only QB for spring.
… as mentioned above, it's Wednesday February 3rd, I believe. The first Wednesday of the month.
… as for spring practice, it hurts that Harris will be out – but what kind of message does it send if you change things up for ONE player? Shannon can't do that. No one is bigger than the team and like game day, if your starting QB can't go, you turn to the next guy.
Hopefully Harris is ready, but if not then so be it. He'll have to heal, practice with teammates (w/o coaches) in summer and take it up a notch in fall.
jake will be fine, get him back as soon as possible, if he cannot make spring ball he will work his tale of in the off season, i am only worried about getting this o line together and half way decent, and getting this d line healthy, we do those things and keep this injury bug off of us and we will be fine next year.
on another note, how bout the coach at usf getting fired, gone for grabbing a player by the throat and slapping him in the face, ouch…why dont some of the recruiting experts on here go ask todd chandler how he feels about de commiting from miami and going there, ha, when are these kids going to learn that you go to one of the big three schools and if you are from miami you keep your ass in miami, crazy to me
with issues there, fsu and florida, i think miami may make a late push and re gain some recruits and pick some up that no one knew about, i feel a top 10 class coming for sure, college football landscape is shaping up nicely for us at the U, especailly if shit like pete carroll maybe leaving usc happens
go canes!!!
VA CANE
I agree withsome butnot all of the comments regarding jacorry and the team. While J12 was harasssed a lot, he also made huge blunders like throwing things up for grabs, not following a receiver progression and always focusing on one rather than several receivers.
Butthe biggest question I have is in the play calling. I cannotbelieve I dont see more questions on why RS and Whipple have not made Berry the feature back. Whats the problem? Randy- why did you NOT hand the ball to Berry 20 times in the bowl game, Coop maybe another 15 and after JJ ran for a miserable what, 5 yds total in 3 carries, sit him down! Why is RS so stubborn thathe will not come out and offically make Berry THE MAN? He proved himself in the springgame (memba?), and then every time he got the ball, the dude was a beast! What is RS's problem? Knowing J12 was hurt, why not change the game plan? Heck, thatwas wisconsins plan, and it worked!
I agree that we should have at least 3 QBs, but part of the problem is thatkids now a days, if they have been hyped either because they are for real, or because they'vebeen told they are all that,are very impatient. I believe Taylor Cook could have been coached up. he showed some signs. Why notstay? Why not beg him to stay? Was RS his stubborn self again with him? Cannon Smith was another thing. i donteven know why he was recruited. Seriously.
And I say- go out of state. Top, D-1 Qbs are rare here in Florida.
I agree with this article, Chris. This was very insightful. I don't understand that with the recent QB transfers that Shannon fails to recruit more QBs. There was too much pressure on J12's shoulders! If he went down, our season would have went "poof". I really hope that he gets well, heal and recover, and hit the weight room for God's sake! I really hope that we get that kid Teddy Bridgewater from MNW. I hear that he broke some of Jacory's high school records. That would be a huge pickup!
Also, just like 5>3 just said, we should go out of state to get more QBs if we have to. Qbs are rare out in Florida. I really hope that Randy Shannon knows what he is doing as far as recruiting goes. He's a damn good recruiter and I trust his judgement.
Also, living out here in San Diego, I would get into arguments with so called "buckeye" fans. What would be the best way to win an argument with an Ohio State fan?
Also, who knows the home game winning streak for Boise State? I think that they are catching up to us. I do like them but I want them to lose at least one game at home so that we can keep our home game winning streak record right at the orange bowl! Thanks Chris!
http://umiami.ning.com/
freedom for cane fans!! Facebook meets twitter meets canespace meets social networking for cane fans!! write your own blogs share you own ideas!! FREEDOM!!
freedom for cane fans!! Facebook meets twitter meets canespace meets social networking for cane fans!! write your own blogs share you own ideas!! FREEDOM!!
…. wow. That's what we need. Every message boarder with poor grammar, worse opinions and nothing to say logging on to piss and moan about how much Shannon sucks.
I may not be the next Gary Smith, but I have a BA in English and have been writing for fifteen years.
I shudder at the level of content on sites like this and Bleacher Report… but I run an open forum here, so promote away. Just show allCanesBlog.com some love on your site!