Preview: Miami Hurricanes v. Bethune-Cookman

Just as week one is a warm-up for most major programs, we’ll keep it light with this season-opening preview.

On one hand, excitement is in the air as the Miami Hurricanes are set to kickoff another campaign. On the other, it’s Bethune-Cookman and has all the makings and hype of a NFL-style preseason game.

Get in, shake off the rust, don’t get too dirty, get the win, avoid injury and get out.

Regarding the Sunshine State-based opponent, the Wildcats will bring what all those smaller Florida schools do; a quirky game plan that generally plays to their team’s strength, style and heart—as playing against the likes of a Miami-type program is as good as it will get.

There’s also the constant narrative of kids on the other side of the field who wanted to play for “The U”, didn’t get in and will come correct with a chip on their shoulder. A prime example; players like running back Danny Dillard—a one-time Hurricane who transferred over playing time issues. You don’t think he’ll want to get in his licks against the program that didn’t see the potential in him?

Bethune-Cookman rolls south with first-year head coach Terry Sims; who previously coached safeties and special teams the past five seasons for the Wildcats. Quarterbacks Quentin Williams and Larry Brihm also return for a team that won nine games in 2014.

These two teams last met in mid-September 2012. Miami opened the season with a shootout victory at Boston College, but were throttled at Kansas State a week later; the hangover very apparent early on against Bethune-Cookman before pulling away, 38-10.

Williams—a redshirt-senior—was 5-of-9 for 69 yards in the loss, but three years later has a better grasp of the Wildcats’ spread offense that could give the Canes some fits.

Miami enters this season riding a four-game losing streak; failing to complete an upset bid over Florida State and unraveling from that point on, losing to Virginia and Pittsburgh in the regular season and dropping the Independence Bowl to South Carolina.

Bethune-Cookman ended their year with a one-point victory over Florida A&M and won seven of it’s last night. Central Florida was the only one of two FBS schools the Wildcats faced last year, falling 41-7 in Orlando. The other was FIU, where the Wildcats opened the season with an 1817 win over the Panthers.

All that aside, Saturday’s showdown at the newly-renovated Sun Life Stadium truly more about the Hurricanes’ struggle within itself, more than the actual opponent.

Bethune-Cookman will keep Miami honest here and there, but talent will prevail and the home team will eventually pull away. Knowing that, here’s what the Canes need to focus on and take away from a season-opening warm-up game of this nature and the next few weeks that unfold:

A young offensive line needs to protect quarterback Brad Kaaya. Gone are veterans Ereck Flowers, Jon Feliciano and Shane McDermott which puts three sophomores on the starting line Saturday night; Nick Linder, Sunny Odogwu and Trevor Darling, replacing Flowers at left tackle.

While Bethune-Cookman might not strike fear as a defensive powerhouse, lest not forget that a few years back Miami rolled Savannah State, 77-7 but lost quarterback Stephen Morris in the process to an ankle injury that plagued him the rest of the season.

The Canes’ offensive line will also have to open holes for Joe Yearby, Mark Walton and most-likely Trayone Gray as starter Gus Edwards was lost for the year with a foot injury.

Establishing a run is always crucial, but based on Miami’s offensive line rebuild and buying Kaaya some time in the passing game, the Canes are going to have to get busy on the ground—both in the long-term this season, but also in regards to wearing Bethune-Cookman down early and breaking spirits with some long runs.

Miami is looking to replace the speed of Phillip Dorsett at wide receiver, as well as the experience and late-career consistency of tight end Clive Walford. There are a handful of candidates up for both jobs, but no one truly has a leg up at this point.

The most-obvious ones to watch are receivers Stacy Coley and Rashawn Scott; Coley coming off a sophomore slump-type season while Scott has either been in the doghouse or injured the majority of his career.

Weeks before Morris was injured against Savannah State, Miami lost Scott in the fourth quarter of the season opener against Florida Atlantic—out for most of the season with a broken clavicle and never truly finding a groove later in the year.

Scott is getting a final chance to build a resume and shine, which the 6-foot-2, 203-pound redshirt-senior is capable of doing. As for Coley, all the tools are there for the junior; just a matter of getting his head right after last year’s setbacks.

Herb Waters is another veteran option for the Canes and another one of those guys who seems to have all the tools, but hasn’t had the consistency. Waters seemed to be gaining steam as a junior, but suffered a late-season special teams injury at Virginia last fall and missed the final two games.

Braxton Berrios has the speed and shiftiness that could make him an integral part of an offense that promises to have new wrinkles this season, while lanky true freshman Lawrence Cager has already cracked the two-deep.

The Canes have the bodies at receiver this year; but do they have the ground attack and offensive line to help open things up through the air? Need to test things out proper this weekend against the Wildcats.

Regarding some of those aforementioned offensive twists, would be surprised to see anything too flashy between now and Miami’s first true test when Nebraska visits on September 19th.

The Miami Herald spoke with second-string quarterback Malik Rosier—the most mobile of the bunch—and the expectation is more quick reads, quick throws and spreading the field to get players into space.

The offense “will be something different that people will say, ‘What set is this?’ For defenses, it will be shocking,” Rosier told Barry Jackson days back.

“We’ll still have some of the same plays from last year. We’ll run some base plays we ran last year and say, ‘We’re great at running this, stop us if you can.’ But there will also be times where we get a little exotic and do some different stuff and try to catch people off guard.”

Miami coaches spent some off-season time with the Dallas Cowboys and it’s been reported that offensive coordinator James Coley has incorporated some new strategies; multiple tight-end sets and things of that nature.

Again, how much of this is seen the first two games of the season (Miami takes on Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton next Friday night)—arguably minimal—but as the year rolls on, it could be a difference-maker as the Canes were downright putrid on third down last year.

On the defensive side of the ball, it seems to be more about scheme and what is noticeable early more than the personnel itself.

Miami gets Al-Quadin Muhammad back after missing all of last year, while linebackers like Raphael Kirby and Jermaine Grace seem primed to make a giant leap forward.

Linebackers as a whole have more depth, the secondary has some solid players—old and new—while there are some bigger, capable bodies on the line; despite the position still needing a few classes to build depth and to reel in those top-flight guys.

The most-interesting person on the defensive side of the ball won’t be on the field; as it’s new defensive line coach Randy Melvin.

Melvin replaced NFL-bound Jethro Franklin back in February and while the former FIU defensive line coach might not have the pedigree of some other big name guys at the position—his hiring gives head coach Al Golden a bit of a scapegoat regarding a more aggressive scheme this fall.

There have been constant off-season reports about “slight changes” to Miami’s defensive approach, which makes sense. Golden isn’t going to abandon his entire scheme five years in; but even the most-stubborn of coaches would realize some fine-tuning is necessary—and that appears to be the case.

The difference in philosophy; Golden and defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio favoring the 3-4 style; which leaves recruiting options open.

“We started in 2013 to build a hybrid defense to set you up so you’re not pigeonholed with personnel and you can recruit anyone to this scheme and make it fit the options that you have,” D’Onofrio explained to the Herald weeks back.

“We stayed true to that going into our third year. It has allowed us to focus on guys that do things really well for us and put them in position to do that. In Virginia, we were ranked in the top 10 and had numerous pros.”

While this scheme won’t change, a more aggressive nature and emphasis on getting up-field and to the ball is being implied. How much of that will be noticeable against Bethune-Cookman remains to be seen—but one can be sure all eyes will be on the Canes’ defense to look for any signs of growth on Saturday night.

Special teams-wise, Golden remains the head man in charge and unless improvement is made, Miami will remain middle-of-the-pack and without much impact.

Michael Badgley was 14-of-18 on field goals made versus attempted last season and returns for his sophomore campaign, while junior Justin Vogel will punt. Jon Semerene—a redshirt freshman—will handle kickoffs.

Rosier is listed as the second-string holder behind Vogel, which could result in some tricky at some point this season; though no time over the coming weeks.

More troubling than the kicking game, a drop off in returns and field position. Coley was a non-factor last year and enters the season second-string behind Berrios. Coley is first-team on kickoff returns, aside Walton—which could be short-lived if the freshman becomes a premier back.

As the first few games get underway, it’s all about consistency in the kicking game and taking care of routine plays, while looking for a go-to return man. Miami has options; it’s simply a matter of someone stepping up and taking over.

Back in the day Miami would come out and put a 50-plus point pasting on a warm-up foe, roll in mistake-free and jump into the real meat of the season a week or two later.

That said, despite the lesser foe, these Canes seem to have some hurdles to clear and kinks to work out; especially on offense. The line has a lot of new faces, the running game lacks experience and the bevy of receivers lacks consistency—all of which give the sense of some early sloppiness, despite Kaaya’s abilities and leadership.

Defensively Miami will hold one-dimensional Bethune-Cookman in check, while the Canes’ offense could take some time to get humming.

Toss in some late-game second-string scores and UM piles on late, but this one could be a little closer at the half than some of Golden’s harshest critics are ready for.

THE PREDICTION: Miami 48, Bethune-Cookman 13

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