The Miami Hurricanes knocked off the Florida Atlantic Owls, 44-20 on Friday night in front of a packed house at FAU Stadium. Lots of local hype surrounded the meet-up between these crosstown rivals as the Canes agreeing to travel an hour north for the showdown added some extra luster to the affair.
For Florida Atlantic, the moral victory and validity the program was looking for. Great college football environment and all-around energy on a Friday night. The only thing missing was an upset—which didn’t seem all that far-fetched late in the third quarter with the game tied, 20-20 before the Canes finally pulled away.
Miami got the win and enters Nebraska week undefeated but outside of that and a few athletic plays here and there over the past few weeks, it’s hard to feel confident regarding the overall product on the field and resemblance this team is taking to last year’s squad; especially defensively.
Like Miami’s win over Florida two years back, another one of those games where the Canes’ only real stops came by way of turnovers—which deserve credit, but don’t erase the fact that Florida Atlantic still rushed for 223 yards and seemed to move the ball at will in the first half.
The Owls relied on redshirt-freshman Jason Driskel under center after dual-threat starter Jaquez Johnson was sidelined early in the contest.
Driskel coughed up a few picks in a serviceable performance, but still led FAU on two touchdown drives when the game was still a game; 11 plays and 83 yards and 11 plays for 85 yards, tying things up 17-17.
A jarring hit on Owls’ running back Greg Howell late in the third quarter was the ultimate turning point; Howell coughing it up, the Canes recovering, settling for a 23-yard Michael Badgley field goal and pushing the lead to ten.
Mark Walton scored twice more from that point on, for the eventual 24-point victory—while interceptions by Rayshawn Jenkins and Artie Burns squashed out any notion of a Florida Atlantic upset.
Walton finished with three scores and 42 yards on 14 carries, while Joe Yearby was the ultimate workhorse; carrying 18 times for 146 yards and a rushing touchdown, as well as three receptions for 97 yards and a score. Trayone Gray ran eight times for 41 yards.
Brad Kaaya looked slightly shaky early, but settled in nicely for a 21-for-32, 287-yard, one-touchdown outing. His top target—with Stacy Coley and Braxton Berrios sidelined—was Herb Waters, who hauled in five grabs for 102 yards; making up for an early head-scratching drop.
Offensive line play was again suspect; especially in pass protection situations, though Kaaya was able to keep himself out of harm’s way.
Against a Florida Atlantic, it worked out fine—but with teams like Nebraska, Florida State, Clemson and Virginia Tech looming in the schedule, something will have to give or the sophomore quarterback is going to take way too many hits this season.
Scarier for the Hurricanes; the fact that the defense continues to struggle with substitution errors, mental mistakes, whiffing on tackles and playing like a cohesive unit. Save for a few big hits and forced turnovers, on a play-by-play basis, this side of the ball simply isn’t showing the type of growth or maturity needed to make a run at a Coastal Division crown—or even a .500 season at this point
CANES’ DEFENSE: SAME AS IT EVER WAS
Head coach Al Golden and defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio continue trotting out their tired lines about guys needing to clean up mistakes, be in better position, wrap up better and what not—but it continues to beg the question; how much of this is scheme versus execution?
Miami defenders continue playing confused and tentative football in Golden’s preferred 3-4 scheme; seemingly unable to grasp what coaches are asking them to do. That might’ve been understandable the first few years, but to remain lost five years into Golden’s tenure?
The blame begins shift towards the teachers and flawed curriculum, opposed to the students who aren’t learning the course material.
There are some tremendous bright spots on this Miami team and as the season progresses, one can see where the Canes will excel and play some exciting football. The ground game hasn’t missed a beat since Duke Johnson left for the NFL and Gus Edwards was sidelined with a season-ending injury.
Walton looks like the next great, Yearby is a bonafide dual-threat and Gray could be one of the best third-string options in the nation.
Kaaya is all anyone could as for as total package and a leader, while there’s enough talent at receiver for him to spread the ball around all season—barring the line affords him the time.
Personnel-wise, it’s easy to spot the increase in talent on the defensive side of the ball. Jamal Carter with some throwback-era big hits, Chad Thomas occasionally showing signs of the type of defensive ends that made Miami great over the years, guys like Jenkins and Burns doing their ball-hawk thing, while Raphael Kirby and Jermaine Grace help bolster the linebacking corps in a Denzel Perryman-less era.
The seeds of something good are there, despite things not yet cultivated to a point of dominance and consistency.
TALENT RETURNING; PROCESS INFURIATING
The overall defensive mass confusion drive-after-drive is going to soon catch up with Miami if it isn’t cleaned up. Florida Atlantic was taking it to the Canes defense early on and if a program like that can move the ball and put up points, one has to shudder when looking at some of the offenses on the schedule over the next few months.
All of that said, if there is a saving grace right now—it’s the general state of college football as whole and some safety in numbers. Miami put away Florida Atlantic on a Friday night and anyone who took in Saturday’s docket of games saw a similar narrative regarding lesser teams giving traditional powers some fits.
— Florida State pulled away late, but South Florida gave the Seminoles all they could handle. Tied at the half, the Bulls only trailed by ten in the final minute of the third quarter.
— Jacksonville State almost knocked off No. 6 Auburn at Jordan Hare; leading by a touchdown in the final minutes before the Tigers forced overtime and avoided a monster upset—despite an offensive guru-type head coach and a defense loaded with 5-star talent.
— Virginia gave up a late touchdown in the final two minutes, leading No. 9 Notre Dame by one at Scott Stadium. The Cavaliers are coming off a 5-7 season while the Irish rolled Texas last week and are expected to be a quality bunch this year.
— Toledo—a 21-point underdog—knocked off No. 18 Arkansas, 16-12 in Little Rock.
— East Carolina—another 21-point underdog—took Florida to the wire, eventually fumbling on a game-tying drive in the final minute.
Point being; there’s more parity in this sport than ever before and where Miami, Florida State and Florida were once considered an untouchable “big three” in the Sunshine State—it’s now an era where Bulls can hang with Noles and Owls with Canes (for a while, at least) and Pirates can roll into The Swamp, giving the Gators a once unthinkable scare.
UNDEFEATED WITH REAL SCHEDULE ON HORIZON
Of course none of that should quell fears regarding Miami’s defensive scheme issues—but for those complaining that the Canes didn’t dominate from the get-go and roll 52-7, that’s simply not a given with the parity in college football these days. Even, top-ranked Ohio State only beat Hawai’i, 38-0 in a home game after scoring 42 on the road at Virginia Tech days back.
However it got to this point, the Canes are 2-0 and will prepare for a home showdown against Nebraska next Saturday. The Huskers fell to BYU on a Hail Mary week one and rolled up South Alabama this weekend behind quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr., receiver Lane Hovey and running back Terrell Newby.
Nebraska put up 445 total yards and 28 points in the loss to the Cougars and 561 against the Jaguars, as first-year head coach Mike Riley continues to implement his system and style.
The Huskers will bring a capable, dual-threat quarterback, hard-nosed running back and capable receivers to Sun Life Stadium next weekend—and unless the Hurricanes can do a very big about face over the coming days, that could spell trouble for the Canes’ defense.
Golden did his standard call-in to the Joe Rose Show on Monday morning and per the norm, a lot of canned answers for an interview that sounded like it could’ve taken place anytime over the past four seasons.
All of Golden’s “greatest hits” were again on display:
“Other Guys Played With Purpose (And Intensity!)”, “We Didn’t Settle In Until Late”, “Defensive Woes Again; Not Fitting In Gaps, Poor Tackling, Not Lining Up Properly”, “Settled In The Second Half (Let The Guys Play)”, “Too Many Drops, Too Many Penalties”, “No Question (We Have Work To Do There)”, “Both Third Down Units Need Work” and of course the smash hit single, “Ignore The Noise”.
We’re almost looking at a double album here with all the coach-speak and cliches.
In all seriousness, Miami was expected to win its first two games—Bethune-Cookman and Florida Atlantic—so celebrating that effort is a moot point. These were scrimmages and warm-ups. The “preseason” is now over and things are about to get real.
Nebraska, @Cincinnati, @Florida State, Virginia Tech, Clemson and @Duke are going to make or break this team as each represents something bigger in its own right.
The first nationally-televised home game of the year. A Thursday night road challenge in a quirky environment. An arch-rival in their house. Another rival from the old days and new. The conference’s top dog and road game against a division rival that’s been on the rise the past few years, by way of a high-octane offense.
On a Monday morning where Golden is defending mistakes made against the likes of Florida Atlantic, while praising what the Owls were able to do—doesn’t bode well when looking at the upcoming schedule.
Miami has five days to right some serious wrongs, with Saturday setting up to either provide a huge sigh of relief or an enormous punch to the gut.