Tag: jarren williams

MIAMI HURRICANES COME UP SHORT IN CHAPEL HILL … AGAIN

Posted on by Chris Bello


Chapel Hill is a living hell for the Miami Hurricanes.

Has been since joining the ACC in 2004 and getting upset by a 3-4 squad when ‘The U’ was the No. 3 team in the nation —and by the looks of this latest installment, the curse lives on.

I hammered this point on social media all week, until I was Tar-Heel-blue-in-the-face—yet too many who follow this program refused to buy it.

This is The New Miami, bro. We’re the Canes; those Tar Heels ain’t shit. Past is the past; history means nothing. South Carolina gave that game away last week. Freshman quarterback is garbage—our defense will eat his lunch. We’re gonna hang 40+ on those scrubs.

Instead, it proved to be just the house of horrors type of game that Miami often deals with at North Carolina. Fall into an early hole, finally wake up, fight to scrap out of it, give up a late score and ultimately come up short—this time in strange 28-25 fashion as a blocked point after try brought on a pair of two-point conversion attempts. The Tar Heels made theirs; the Canes didn’t.

Days back, I laundry-listed out the ways the Canes have lost to the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill—where Miami is now 3-5 since joining the ACC; literally reinventing ways to fail at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Another chapter was added this weekend by way of a failed kicking game, where seven points were left on the field in a three-point loss.

Manny Diaz and staff had two weeks to get Miami prepared for this early-season, in-conference road match-up—and while the Canes again showed some resiliency and fight, it was a second consecutive outing where a handful of boneheaded plays all played their part in being the difference-maker.

Miami unraveled early, down 17-3 by late in the first quarter—reminiscent of a 23-7 hole in 2009 and 27-0 halftime deficit in 2007. The Canes knew they were walking into a sold out stadium and that the Tar Heels were still flying high in the new Mack Brown era after last weekend’s upset of South Carolina—yet for whatever reason, UM still looked unprepared for the moment.

The usually-sound defense made freshman quarterback Sam Howell look all the part of a superstar, opposed to the newbie he is. The Canes’ defense couldn’t get to him much all night, never forced a turnover and allowed him to go down in Tar Heels’ folklore by way of a nine play, 75-yard drive—with a 4th-and-17 completion, no less—retaking the lead with just over one minute left on the clock. 

Another game where Miami won the stats battle, but ultimately couldn’t get it done—488 total yards; 309 through the air and 179 on the ground, while dominating the time of possession—and losing the stat that mattered most; scoreboard.

Buried in the frustrating loss; the fact that quarterback Jarren Williams put together another impressive outing at a position where the Canes have struggled for years. The r-freshman was 30-for-39 for 309 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers—but just like his first go-around against Florida weeks back, couldn’t complete a comeback, despite the ball in his hands for a final drive.

Miami also got nice production out of running backs DeeJay Dallas and Cam’Ron Harris, but struggled in the red zone—settling for field goal attempts; two of which sailed wide.

The thin line between winning and losing has proven excruciating two games into this new season; Miami literally one play away in each game from 2-0 and ranked, instead 0-2 for the first time since 1978.

Despite being mistake-plagued and trailing early, the Canes fought back all night took their first lead with just under five minutes remaining in the game—but quickly let it slip away; also reminiscent to a fourth quarter score against Florida and a lead that fast evaporated.

Where the loss to Florida was out of conference and not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things (outside of simply losing to the hated Gators, which is always pure hell to deal with)—going down 0-1 in the ACC is a rough spot for Miami; especially falling to a North Carolina squad that was picked near the bottom of the Coastal Division.

The premise of winning the division when not yet facing the best competition the Coastal has to offer; it doesn’t exactly exude confidence moving forward.

OVERBLOWN EXPECTATIONS VERSUS CURRENT REALITY; STILL OFF

The fact that any in Miami’s fan base were screaming “run the table” in the preseason shows just how obtuse some are in regards to what it takes to build a contender, as well as not fully understanding that 15 years of hovering as a mid-tier ACC program doesn’t get fixed through eight months of marketing hype and rebranding.

The New Miami is just a fancy way of explaining that the Hurricanes’ program has been doing it wrong for way too long and it’s time to raze this thing down to the foundation and rebuild in the mold of great Miami teams from yesteryear that Diaz grew up idolizing.

Nothing about any of that that will be easy—especially after 7-6 last season, a fifth coaching change in 14 years and a brand new quarterback—yet many still expected to knock off No. 8 Florida in the opener, followed by a dominant win over North Carolina in their house week two.

Again, where is this entitlement coming from—and why?

For those who confused Diaz’s explanation of the team he plans to build, with some just-add-water approach regarding what Miami currently has on board personnel-wise—that’s on them and an inability to assess a situation for what it is, versus what they want it to be.

You can’t fast-track yourself from average to contender overnight. If you could, it wouldn’t have taken Dabo Swinney an up and down eight years to start consistently winning the ACC and bringing home Clemson’s first national title since 1980; the same Swinney that Tigers fans wanted to run out of town the first six years the “unqualified” head coach was building a contender.

Gurvan Hall (26) looks on as Dazz Newsome (5) reels in the game-winning touchdown with 1:01 remaining.

Yes, the Canes could just as easily be 2-0 as they are 0-2, but the mistakes made are precisely what happens with a new head coach and brand new offensive staff on the heels of a six-loss season. You can see what you’re trying to emulate and can articulate who you want to see this program grow into—but to actual do, on the road in real time—it shouldn’t come as a shock when years of bad muscle memory kick back in and the team flinches under the lights.

Miami has shown commendable fight against both Florida and North Carolina; scrapping back in both games in a way that never would’ve been the case in 2018. When the Gators went ahead 17-13 late third quarter, last year’s Canes would’ve folded—instead of bouncing back with a quick touchdown. Against the Tar Heels, that 17-3 deficit would’ve been a back-breaker and Miami would’ve gotten rolled up. 

Instead, it rattled off 10 points before the half and finally got the go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter—holding North Carolina to a field goal from the four-minute mark in the first quarter, until the final minute in the fourth.

Pressure ramps up late when you’re short on time. Miami has learned to catch its breath early in the game when things start to get away, but hasn”t figured out how to bear down in those final minutes when everything is on the line; especially not with the youth it has on the defense everywhere, sans linebacker—or with a freshman-heavy offensive line trying to buy time for a r-freshman quarterback with two career starts under his belt.

What was the strongest link over the past few seasons, fact remains the Canes’ defense failed one a few occasions and its cost them two football games.

No sooner did Miami fail to create points out of a fourth quarter interception of Feleipe Franks, the maligned quarterback came back on the next play from scrimmage and torched the Canes for a 65-yard pick-up, which set up the game-winning punch-in. Miami needed the type of stop it had gotten several times up to that point, but in the game’s most-crucial moment, it folded.

The same happened in Chapel Hill two weeks later; Miami gets the go-ahead score late, only to let North Carolina march down field to answer—with a monster fourth down conversion, no less.

EVEN GREATEST TO DO IT DEAL WITH GROWING PAINS EARLY ON

Some will confuse explanations for excuses, but as hard as the pill is to swallow—these Canes are learning the hard way what it takes to win, just like past teams before them that eventually became great.

Everyone remembers the legendary plays Ed Reed made throughout the 2001 season, yet forgets his sophomore year when he and Mike Rumph got burned on an 79-yard hook-up from Kevin Thompson to Chafie Fields that saw Penn State come back against a Miami team that had just scrapped to and retaken the lead—down 17-3 in the third quarter and ultimately falling, 27-23.

Later in that 1999 season, Ken Dorsey was tossed all over Lane Stadium when thrust into action when Kenny Kelly got hurt against Virginia Tech—the wide-eyed Dorsey swallowed whole in his first real game action.

There are countless other examples of eventually great players yet to hit their prime, but we’ll leave it here for now. Growing pains are real and even future greats have moments of struggle on the way up.

Miami has some guys right now that could very well be good down the road, but they’re just not there yet. Brian Hightower had his shot at pulling in a game changing grab last night, but couldn’t—while Mallory rebounded from a bad showing against Florida to catch the go-ahead score, but couldn’t hang on to the two-point conversion.

Meanwhile, the secondary is struggling tremendously and missing Jaquan Johnson, Sheldrick Redwine and Michael Jackson a lot more than anticipated.

Bandy got burned badly by the Tar Heels, but looked next-level the past two seasons when he had more help out there. Al Blades Jr. picked up a crucial unsportsmanlike penalty late against the Gators and hasn’t tackled well, to date. DJ Ivey got himself suspended for the opener and looked out of sorts against the Tar Heels; including an early pass interference call that led to a score.

Gurvan Hall has also struggled; out of position on the aforementioned big late hook-up for Florida that led to the game-winning touchdown—not to mention, Carter, who hauled in a Gators’ interception, but got himself booted against North Carolina in a game where the Canes’ secondary couldn’t afford a depth hit.

The defensive line also doesn’t have the muscle it had last season. Gerald Willis missed the bowl game against Wisconsin and as a result, the entire line took a step back in that game without his presence. 

Willis has since moved on, Joe Jackson blew off his senior year to be a fifth-round NFL pick and the Canes lost some depth when transfer Tito Odenigbo and Demetrius Jackson graduated. Nesta Silvera remains sidelined with an injury, while Virginia Tech transfer Trevon Hill is still working his way back into playing shape, due to shoulder surgery last winter.

Miami’s secondary is sorely missing the experience and confidence of Jaquan Johnson (4) and Sheldrick Redwine (22).

A true contender can overcome those setbacks with a next-man-up attitude; Miami can’t—as it’s nowhere near contention yet. Just the fact that the Canes are still so reliant on transfers for depth sake; it should tell you how far this program is from being championship-caliber.

When one is a contender, you reload instead of having to rebuild—and you don’t suffer the growing pains these Hurricanes are dealing with.

Fact remains, the breaks just haven’t gone Miami’s way early this season—many self-inflicted, but not all. The Canes did more good than bad the past two showdowns; enough that both games could’ve easily have resulted in victories. The bad just happened to come late at the worse possible time, ultimately costing them—twice.

All that to say, no, there are no moral victories. 0-2 is pure hell any way you slice or dice it. The only thing worse would’ve been Miami getting blown out in either or both games, as there would be nothing to build on, whereas there are some teachable moments here that if corrected, can still make for a good, step-forward season.

Still, this start is absolutely a setback that is going to bring with it a wave of negativity—something that a native Miamian like Diaz is aware of, and expects. As quickly as fans ate up The New Miami, a renewed attitude and an assault on the Transfer Portal—anyone who knows anything about supporters of ‘The U’ is well-aware just how quickly things will turn shitty if wins aren’t racked up.

JIMMY, BUTCH & DENNIS LACKED EARLY SUPPORT; BECAME GREAT

Of course, those who are turning fast and refuse to give a new coach time to find his footing—these are the same ones who flew banners trying to get rid of Butch Davis year three as he cleaned up somebody else’s miss—and still wanted him gone year six after an early-season loss at Washington—yet clamored for his return every time there’s been a coaching change at ‘The U’ over the past decade.

Folks with this short-sighted approach also wanted Jimmy Johnson out after going 8-5 year one with the defending national champions—while others didn’t even want him in the first place; feeling defensive coordinator Tom Olivadotti should’ve been promoted when Howard Schnellenberger left for the USFL.

Johnson hit the ground running in 1984 with road wins against Auburn and Florida, but losses to Michigan and Florida State quickly had the Canes at 3-2. Cue the rumblings.

One can only imagine the late-season shellacking Johnson would’ve taken on social media back in the day after blowing a 31-0 home lead to Maryland, a post-Thanksgiving, ‘Hail Flutie’ loss to Boston College and a Fiesta Bowl setback to UCLA to end the season with a three-game losing streak in ugly fashion.

Dennis Erickson was praised year one; picking up where Johnson left off—the cupboard full after the 1988 season; installing his one-back offense and not tinkering with the defense.

The former Washington State head coach got a pass for losing in Tallahassee with a back-up quarterback—and ending the season with a home rout of top-ranked Notre Dame, before knocking off Alabama in the Sugar Bowl for the program’s third national title—but the tide fast turned when dropping the 1990 season opener at BYU, as the top-ranked, two-touchdown favorite, defending national champs simply didn’t lose those types of games.

Yes, Larry Coker couldn’t maintain what Davis created, Randy Shannon didn’t have what it took, Al Golden was an empty suit and Richt was on the wrong side of his career arc—too spent to dig in and do a young man’s job. No one is calling Diaz the next Schnelly, JJ, Erickson or Butch, either—but writing him off two games in when realizing what knee-jerk reactions would’ve meant reading what Johnson and Davis went on to build; people need to get a grip.

No, none of that U-related history excuses the sloppy play or coming up short that’s started this new season with a thud; it’s simply a reminder to have some perspective regarding where this program’s been the past 15 years, what Diaz inherited and where he hopes to take it.

These glaring problems didn’t appear overnight and sure-as-shit won’t get fixed that way, either. As tired as fans are of the Canes being irrelevant; the fan-turned-coach who actually signed up for the rebuild is tired of it, too—hence his signing up as Miami’s 25th head coach in program history, working tirelessly to right the ship.

The disgruntled fans who tried to run off Butch Davis are the same ones who begged for his return the last few times UM hired a new coach.

There’s a reason Miami went 7-6 last fall. There’s a reason Mark Richt stepped down—after another season with a multiple-game losing streak. There’s a reason why the Canes have only taken the Coastal Division once in 15 tries, have never won the ACC and haven’t had a perfect regular season since 2002.

Athletics weren’t a priority to former university president Donna Shalala; who opted for a handful of low-rent hires for over a decade, while putting all her energy and resources towards UM’s medical school. Shalala stepped down in 2015 and within months, Miami’s Board of Trustees green-lit the hiring of Richt; a proven name instead of another up-and-comer—as well as a reported salary around $4M-per-year—which was new, big money territory for the University of Miami.

Richt immediately pushed for a bigger budget, allowing him to hire better assistants than Hurricanes football had seen in the past—instrumental in Diaz’s return to South Florida; resulting in the immediate revamping of the defense—as well as helping get a much-talked-about indoor practice facility pushed over the hump, by way of a $1M personal donation.

Translation; Miami has only been rebuilding since 2015—as everything that took place the decade before that was nothing more than Shalala going through the motions; this program backsliding a little more each and every year. Throw that decade out the window because nothing resembling a rebuild took place in that lost era.

Even with the Hurricanes documented struggles over the years, some still spent the off-season calling for an undefeated, run-the-table regular season—despite Miami dropping five of its past seven games, dating back to a home comeback over Florida State last October—and are beside themselves that this new-look team came up short in two tough road games.

Fans sitting around this summer talking about UM being a dark horse Playoffs contender—meanwhile this new coaching staff is busting their asses to to break bad habits that have persisted for years;  teaching kids how to close out games against mid-level conference teams that have found outplay the Canes for years.

POSITIVES ARE THERE SHOULD ONE CHOOSE TO SEE THEM

Fact remains, even in two losses—marred with mistakes—Miami looks better top to bottom than it did last season. There’s an energy and passion that was lost last year, but seems to have returned. Youth and inexperience at a few key positions; these are the issues and unfortunately there is no quick fix. These kids will have to learn on the fly and hopefully grow up quick.

“It is very similar to a week ago,” Diaz said postgame Saturday night. “They are competing, they are playing with toughness, they are doing a lot of the things we’re asking them to do. There is not a guy in that locker room right now, coaches included, that can’t do more and can’t play or coach better than they are right now.”

In hindsight, this (obviously) wasn’t a good year to open with a road trip to Orlando to play the Gators, or for a night game in the always-tough Chapel Hill week two of the season. There’s a reason coaches like to schedule the likes of a Bethune-Cookman and Central Michigan—Miami’s next two opponents—in effort to kick off the rust, after spring, summer and fall with no real contact.

The Canes dropped two games by a combined seven points—and can easily pinpoint where things went off the rails.

Williams has been a surprise at quarterback, in regards to how quickly he’s easing in to the role. Yes, he’s missed some throws or has held on to the ball too long, but he’s protected the football much better than the turnover machines who were under center last season.

That said, his offensive line remains young, green and makeshift—and will continue learning as the go, which will make for an up and down year.

Just the fact that the Canes are still so reliant on transfers for depth—it should tell you how far this program is from being championship caliber. When one is truly a contender, you can “reload” instead of having to “rebuild”. Miami is nowhere near that place yet and is still suffering from growing pains.

0-2 isn’t where anyone wanted to be at this point—especially Diaz and this new staff—but it’s where the Canes have landed, so you deal with it and move on. The season is far from over and Miami will get back-to-back weeks at home to work out the kinks against some lesser teams.

Come October, it’s back to ACC play and home games against Virginia Tech, Virginia and Georgia Tech that will go a long way in shaping the Coastal race. Miami isn’t back on the road again until a late October road trip to Pittsburgh, followed by an early November showdown in Tallahassee—five in a row at HardRock and hopefully a hard reset after a brutal start to this new era of football.

Chris Bello has been covering University of Miami athletics since the mid-nineties. Getting his start with CanesTime, he eventually launched allCanesBlog—which led to a featured columnist stint with BleacherReport. He’s since rolled out the unfiltered, ItsAUThing.com where he’ll use his spare time to put decades of U-related knowledge to use for those who care to read. When he’s not writing about ‘The U’, Bello earns a living helping icon Bill Murray build a lifestyle apparel brand. Hit him on Twitter for all things U-related @ItsAUThingBLOG.

MIAMI HURRICANES WITH (ANOTHER) STATEMENT OPP AT NORTH CAROLINA

Posted on by Chris Bello


The Miami Hurricanes are back in action this Saturday after an early bye; created when the season opener against the Florida Gators was moved up a week as the marquee game to kick off the 150th season of college football.

After hanging tough but falling late in an upset bid to take down then-No. 8 Florida—the extra week to reset could prove to be a blessing in disguise for Miami, who heads north to Chapel Hill to take on a division rival in North Carolina, before returning home for a couple of warm-up games against the likes of Bethune-Cookman and Central Michigan.

Quirky scheduling, to say the least—especially on the heels of an off-season that saw a head coaching change, the entire offensive side of the ball fired and a dark horse redshirt freshman locking down the quarterback position days before the showdown with the Gators.

North Carolina survived their season opener in Charlotte; rallying late to take down South Carolina—Tar Heels’ new-yet-old head coach Mack Brown besting his former assistant Will Muschamp—whose Gamecocks blew a 20-9 early fourth quarter lead and gave up 15 unanswered in the 24-20 loss.

First-year Miami head coach Manny Diaz is also another Brown pupil facing off against his former boss, while looking to have his team avoid the mistakes that broke Muschamp’s squad down the stretch; namely two interceptions with less than three minutes remaining in the ball game—as well as a missed opportunity to haul in one of their own that would’ve shut the door on a North Carolina rally.

Miami is the favorite in this weekend’s primetime showdown; though any who have followed this series since the Canes jumped to the ACC, are all-too-well aware of the struggles that have taken place Chapel Hill over the years.

ROAD GAMES AGAINST TAR HEELS; LIVING HELL FOR HURRICANES

Hard as it is to comprehend, Miami is only 3-4 at Kenan Memorial Stadium since 2004—painful and frustrating losses where the Canes literally reinvented new ways to blow games to the Tar Heels, while the wins were all extremely hard-fought efforts.

Regarding those three victories, Miami won by a combined 15 points, never won by more than six points and never scored more than 30. A quick deep dive into this division rivalry:

— In 2004, the undefeated, third-ranked Canes wound up in a battle with a 3-4 Tar Heels team that showed up ready to play. Miami would trail 21-14 at the half, would tie the game going into the fourth quarter, would again fall behind 28-21—only to once-more tie things up with just over two minutes remaining—before the defense surrendered a nine-play, 55-yard drive capped off by a game-winning field goal with four ticks left on the clock.

— 2007 and 2009 losses had similar blueprints; starting with another mentor (Butch Davis) sticking it to his pupil (Randy Shannon) and ending with Miami getting off to slow starts in both affairs—down 27-0 the first meeting and 23-7 in the latter—before mounting comebacks that ultimately came up short by way of turnovers, mistakes or the defense simply unable to hold on. The Canes lost 33-27 in 2007 and 33-24 in 2009.

— 2015 proved ugly all around as Miami limped into Kenan Memorial three weeks after Al Golden had been fired—a 58-0 home loss to Clemson year five being the final straw. Tight ends coach Larry Scott took over in an interim role. Scott’s Canes survived a lateral-fueled miracle at Duke before beating Virginia at home, but the eventual Coastal champs destroyed the Canes, 59-21 in mid-November.

— Prior to his dismissal, Golden actually picked up two wins against the Tar Heels—2011 and 2013—both close calls and in completely different fashion. His first go-around, Miami almost blew a 27-3 third quarter lead, before hanging on to survive, 30-24—adrenaline flowing as the Heels recovered a late onside kick, ball in hand in the final minute loading for the go-ahead score.

Two years later, Miami won on a Thursday night in comeback fashion; Dallas Crawford playing the role of hero when replacing an injured Duke Johnson and scoring two late touchdowns, erasing a 23-13 early fourth quarter deficit—the Canes advancing to 6-0 while the Tar Heels dropped to 1-5.

— 2017 saw another one-win North Carolina squad giving an undefeated Miami team hell; the Canes strutting in 7-0 with recent comeback wins over Florida State and Georgia Tech, while the Heels were reeling at 1-7, having been trounced by Virginia Tech the week prior, 59-7.

Miami found themselves in an unexpected dog fight; turning it over twice to North Carolina’s four mishaps—but still surrendering 428 yards to the Heels, on a day the Canes only picked up 59 rushing yards. UNC’s final turnover was the dagger; coughing up a fumble in the final minutes, allowing UM to preserve a 24-19, en route to a 10-0 season start and the program’s first Coastal Division title.

STRONG HOME SHOWING LAST FALL AGAINST REELING HEELS

Fast-forwarding to present day; both the Tar Heels and Hurricanes are in the midst of a rebirth.

Mark Richt hung it up at the end of a three-year run in Coral Gables where he couldn’t get Miami over the necessary hump, while Larry Fedora was sent packing after seven seasons where he reached the pinnacle in 2015, but went 13-23 over the next three years.

Richt’s Canes put the biggest hurting on Fedora’s Heels during a nine-loss campaign in 2018; a one-sided, defensive-driven, 47-10 blowout on a Thursday night at HardRock. Miami’s forced six turnovers and returned three for touchdowns—though team stats outside of the mishaps was fairly even; UNC with 329 total yards to UM’s 354, with both teams each rushing for 200+ yards apiece on the night.

Gone are Richt and Fedora, with Diaz and Brown representing the respective programs this season. Miami rolls in having suffered a tough loss to Florida, while North Carolina unexpectedly took down South Carolina—both sides share one commonality early on in both new coaches’ tenures; a passionate attitude and style of play instantly noticeable game one.

The conference doormat that was the Tar Heels last fall appears in overachieve-mode attitude-wise, while last year’s lackluster, underachieving Hurricanes seem ready to play up to potential; opposed to the offensively-shackled bunch they were last fall under Richt.

PRIMETIME OPP TO BACK UP SOME BIG TALK ABOUT ‘THE NEW MIAMI’

There’s been a lot of talk out of South Florida the past nine months regarding The New Miami; guys talking the talk again, while Diaz robbed the Transfer Portal and brought some immediate-impact kids in to hopefully make a difference this fall.

The former defensive coordinator knows the time is now—as well as the fact he needs to find a way to win with what he has, if the Canes are ever going to keep top talent from escaping to the likes of Tuscaloosa or Athens; wanting to play for SEC teams and automatic Playoffs contenders.

A win against Florida would’ve been a nice splash and way to kick off the era, but it didn’t come to fruition—so now it’s on to the next challenge; will Diaz have these Hurricanes ready or Chapel Hill and a place with some bad juju over the years?

Having suffered through the past decade-and-a-half of Miami football, there’s arguably been no more disappointing a character trait of those teams than the Canes not showing up prepared in the wake of a loss.

Last fall Miami rattled off five consecutive wins after falling to LSU in the opener; including 21 straight points against Florida State for a 28-27 comeback. Things were back on track, until they weren’t—an offense-less Miami falling 16-13 in a defensive struggle at Virginia the following week; but that was just the beginning of the shit-show.

The Canes had a bye week and a chance for a hard reset after that loss, but it never came. Instead, a musical chairs-like quarterback controversy ensued and Miami showed up flat to Chestnut Hill for a game Boston College owned from the get-go; methodic drives of 88 and 77 yards on their first two possessions—sitting on a 17-14 lead before shutting the Canes out in the second half in a 27-14 ball game—another outing with sub-par quarterback play for UM.

Miami returned home and fell to Duke the following weekend and came up short at Georgia Tech the week after that; four losses in a row and three failed opportunities to show up and stop the bleeding.

The sin hasn’t been in losing; it’s the way these Canes have been going down, as well as a completely inability to show up prepared and to seize a moment—which has as legit a shot to turnaround today, as any time in recent history.

OVERCONFIDENT TAR HEELS RIPE FOR A U-SIZED SMACKDOWN

All of the rough outings in Chapel Hill over the years; that isn’t baggage the 2019 Hurricanes have to carry. It’s ancient history—just as much as last year’s home rout of the Tar Heels is in the rear view. North Carolina has eked out seven wins on a football field over their past 28 games, dating back to November 2016. This is a program that has been in complete disarray, as proven by the off-season dismissal of Fedora.

Yes, those kids are buying into Brown’s return—and there was definitely a feel-good moment against South Carolina last weekend, for a program that’s worked out to purge itself of its losing ways—but don’t mistake that win as overly impressive. The average Gamecocks served that loss up on a silver platter and the Tar Heels found a way to win ugly; which gets a pass when playing such a horrible brand of football these past few seasons.

The win injected some life into UNC’s program—as well as a fan base that will pack Kenan Memorial for a sold out, primetime kickoff Saturday night—which Diaz should love in regards to The New Miami narrative. This game now has the look and feel of something bigger than it is and can be a good building block moving forward, assuming these Canes show up and take care of business.

Roll in with the same passion and energy that Miami brought to the Florida game—but eliminate the mistakes and show that work was put in these past two weeks to clean things up.

This is also a do-over for quarterback Jarren Williams and the Hurricanes’ offensive line, which gave up 10 sacks to the Gators. A safe bet the Tar Heels will dial it up and try to rattle the r-freshman, as well as exposing a young line—but North Carolina is a Top 10 team with Florida-caliber horses on their defense.

Miami’s quarterback and offensive line simply need to settle in this week, not flinch and do what they’re capable of doing, against an inferior opponent—while running DeeJay Dallas backs up his social media inspiration call-out, due to some elitist Tar Heels fan trash talk and liberal use of the “thug” moniker.

A MUST-WIN GAME EARLY SEPTEMBER? ABSOLUTELY.

All of that, “never scored more than 30 in Chapel Hill” and “never won by more than six” noise; Miami has every ability to end both of those stigmas if it proves this new attitude hype is real. North Carolina is ripe for the picking and is a perfect mark; even more ideal than originally planned, thanks to the fact they actually beat and SEC team last week and are feeling overconfident about their abilities; fans and players alike.

Conversely, a loss that drops Miami to 0-2—with one conference loss—would be an utterly disastrous start for Diaz, which he and his staff are obviously aware of. One hates to use the phrase “must-win” the first Saturday of September, but based on the issues these Hurricanes have had in-conference over the years and an inability to bounce back after losses, Diaz and crew will be in a world of hurt if the fall to a program that’s gone 5-18 over the past two years.

The Miami / Florida showdown could’ve gone either way. The Canes simply made a few more mistakes than the Gators—a few of which couldn’t have come at worse times—but they happened, an opportunity was squandered and you move on.

In reality, this 2019 season is about Miami’s new-look Hurricanes playing with the purpose and passion great teams have expressed in the past. That whole “national championship, or bust” attitude is no longer prevalent for UM in this modern era of the game—but the first step towards greatness certainly has to be a, “Coastal Division title, or bust” mentality.

The old schooler will rant about “lowered expectations” and what not, but Miami has no business uttering the phrase “national championship” until it can actually win the ACC; something that hasn’t been done in 15 tries—getting no closer than one division title (2017) since joining the conference.

The Canes also need to get back to winning the winnable games, opposed to giving them away in epic-fail fashion. Saturday’s trek to North Carolina needs to be a statement game that sets the stage for the rest of this season—while sending a message to everyone in the ACC that’s not Clemson.

Get that offense rolling, jump on the Tar Heels early, create a ruckus on defense and by the time those “four fingers” go up late in the game, put an inferior opponent away.

Chapel Hill has been hell for Miami over the years. Time to change that storyline and raise some hell in the Tar Heel State on Saturday night.

.

Miami 30, North Carolina 19

.
.
.

Chris Bello has been covering University of Miami athletics since the mid-nineties. Getting his start with CanesTime, he eventually launched allCanesBlog—which led to a featured columnist stint with BleacherReport. He’s since rolled out the unfiltered, ItsAUThing.com where he’ll use his spare time to put decades of U-related knowledge to use for those who care to read. When he’s not writing about ‘The U’, Bello earns a living helping icon Bill Murray build a lifestyle apparel brand. Hit him on Twitter for all things U-related @ItsAUThingBLOG.

MANNY DIAZ SHOW : BREAKDOWN OF MIAMI VERSUS FLORIDA

Posted on by Chris Bello


While it’s easy to get frustrated with the advent of social media or college football message boards and all the harm that wave of technology has brought to the sport—there are some modern-day benefits as well; starting with videos like these.

Where fans used to be limited to morning-after newspaper quotes from a post-game presser, or at best—critics giving their Monday morning take on the big game, via sports talk radio—we’re now in an era where videos of a head coach breaking down film and offering up and in-depth study of a game is easily accessible for those who want it.

The embedded clip below is a 21-minute deep-dive between Miami head coach Manny Diaz and long time voices of the Hurricanes; Don Bailey Jr. and Joe Zagacki. Where the latter two can go full-blown homerism, these in-depth segments aren’t capable of being fluff pieces—as it’s an assessment of the X’s and O’s; what went right, what went wrong—and why.

Understandably people are still frustrated by the loss to Florida; though many are (obviously) dragging over a decade’s worth of anger-over-irrelevancy into their inability to process the loss.

This video won’t suddenly make a loss to the Gators somehow feel good—but Diaz’s assessment of things should at least bring some comfort at the Canes’ newest leader seems very clear-cut on what was, what should be and what it will take to get things corrected.

First 13 minutes is a recap of the Miami / Florida match-up—while the final eight minutes of the segment features Diaz and Bailey Jr. breaking down film and individual plays / drive from the game.

Honestly, if you don’t have time for the whole thing, at least make time to watch from the 13:00 mark on. Fans love harping on social media about losses being unacceptable and what not, without a fair assessment of what played out, as well as a slowed down look at every aspect of the play—the good, the bad and the ugly.

PENALTIES & MISTAKES DOOM MIAMI HURRICANES IN QUEST TO UPSET RIVAL FLORIDA GATORS

Posted on by Chris Bello


Months back has someone offered up a scenario that unranked Miami would find themselves down four, ball in hand mid-field with just over four minutes to go against No.8 Florida—one of any three quarterbacks without a turnover in their first start, while the Canes’ defense forced four turnovers—most would’ve considered it a dream scenario; especially considering the state of ‘The U’ the last the University of Miami played a football game.

Incredibly that was the exact situation Saturday night in the season-opener against Florida, but Miami couldn’t close—out-slopping the Gators, who scored late and held off the Canes for a 24-20 win—complete with five lead changes.

We mentioned last week around these parts that most opening games between quality teams tend to be lost, or given away more than one team stepping up and truly winning it—which was precisely the case here. Miami was 2-of-13 on third down conversions, Florida was 2-0f-10. The Gators turned it over four times, while the Canes’ lone turnover ultimately turned out to be the biggest of the game—both timing- and field position-wise.

Miami’s young offensive line struggled mightily, giving up an ungodly number of sacks—10—while roughly the entire team missed the “play smart” message delivered by Jimmy Johnson weeks back when he dropped by campus; UM with an obnoxious amount of penalties—14-for-118 yards.

UF wasn’t much better, getting clipped nine times for 100 yards—which should’ve been even more egregious considering the non-holding call on the Gators’ first touchdown and a missed false start on their final score. Big XII officials completely whiffed in their season debut; ESPN commentator Chris Fowler uttering the world “controversial” a few things throughout the course the evening—though Miami finished off the officials’ hack-job by shooting itself in the foot more than once; saving the worst for late.

Having hung in there the majority of the evening; weathering the storm and holding Florida off—clinging to a 13-10 lead late in the third quarter—the guy who was supposed to be Miami’s difference-maker made the biggest blunder on the night.

THE BREAKDOWN & THE ONE THAT ULTIMATELY GOT AWAY

Fielding a punt around the Canes’ 11-yard-line, Jeff Thomas couldn’t bring it in. The Gators recovered and three plays later, took the lead on their second cheap touchdown of the night—the first, a 66-yard dump-off to Kadarius Toney where UM cornerback Trajan Bandy was literally held twice on the play, yet no call.

To Miami’s credit, it immediately answered the score after Thomas’ fumble with an electric, 50-yard scamper by the resilient DeeJay Dallas, snatching back the lead, 20-17. The defense got back out their and did their part, as well—forcing the night’s third turnover when Amari Carter intercepted Felepie Franks, returning it 22 yards to the UF 25-yard line.

The Canes attempted to answer the Gators’ opening-drive fake punt with a fake field goal on 4th-and-1—Bubba Baxa scampering four yards—which a(nother) holding call negated. Miami got new life by way of an unnecessary roughness call on 4th-and-7, but in the name of all things bad juju, Baxa whiffed on the 27-yard chip shot and Florida paid no price for their mistakes.

To the credit of Dan Mullen, and the demise of a Miami defender out of position—safety Gurvan Hall—Franks dropped a dime to receiver Josh Hammond, who took if 65 yards before being brought down. Three plays later Franks punched in what would prove to be the game-winning score.

With half a quarter remaining, Miami still got two cracks at a comeback—but couldn’t capitalize. Thomas attempted to redeem himself with a 32-yard return that gave the Canes some of the best field position they’d seen all night—while Jarren Williams went back to early targets wideout K.J. Osborn and tight end Brevin Jordan, who hauled in a 25-yard reception just before halftime to give Miami it’s first lead since the opening drive.

Facing a 1st-and-10 from the Gators’ 31-yard line, some poorly-timed trickery with quarterback Tate Martell in the game, resulting in a loss of one—followed by an incomplete pass by Williams that set up a dreaded third-and-long that only gained two yards.

With faith in Baxa out the window—and little belief Miami would see the ball again—Manny Diaz opted against a 47-yard field goal attempt and saw Williams sacked on fourth down.

Inexplicably—Franks attempted to throw on fir first down with 4:20 remaining—and was picked off by Romeo Finley, who returned the errant pass to Florida’s 25-yard line, but staying with the disastrous theme of the night, Miami found a way to lose 30 yards in a matter of tick of the clock.

A double-bird salute from safety Al Blades Jr. cost the Canes the first 15 and an illegal block on first down locked on another—moving Miami all the way back to it’s own 45.

From there, the rest was a messy blur for both sides. Over the final 10 plays, Williams was sacked three times and fumbled twice (both recovered by Miami), while Florida committed two pass interference plays—one on 4th-and-34, another on 3rd-and-12—that gave the Canes new life.

A 12-yard reception by Mike Harley got Miami as close as the 24-yard line with under a minute remaining—where a game-winning field goal would’ve been an option had Baxa not missed earlier, or Diaz chosen to go for three instead of keeping the ball in his quarterback’s hands on fourth-and-long—but that was all she wrote after a sack and two incomplete passes that turned the ball over and downs.

While it’d be easy to point to a defining play here or there in a four-point loss—fact remains there were too many, each of which that could’ve been a difference-maker. Miami simply didn’t play the smart, disciplined, clean game it needed to take down the No. 8-ranked squad in a season-opener.

Yes, Florida looked like hot-garbage at times, as well—but the Gators could better-afford to not play their best as the more-experienced bunch year two under a coach who got them to 10 wins last year. Miami—in it’s first game under Diaz, with a brand new offensive staff and a r-freshman quarterback making his first start—couldn’t; those couple of extra mistakes proving to be the distance in jubilation and an upset, versus loss and heartbreak.

Despite doing some things right—resilient play, overcoming adversity, not quitting—too many pivotal moments went the wrong way. Still, the Canes were ultimately in it until the end despite that, and never stopped swinging.

“We talked about all off-season about developing a backbone, being able to withstand a punch … and then that happened the second half when we fumbled the punt and they score on the short field and a couple times where it’s like, well, I don’t know,” Diaz explained post game.

“Maybe it’s not your night and you can kind of let go of the rope and I thought our guys looked those situations in the eye, fought through them, and ultimately gave ourselves a chance to win the game with 10 seconds left in the game throwing the ball in their end zone.”

“Like I said, that’s what a big time program should do. You don’t pat yourself on the back for not quitting but it is something. And that was a big point of our off-season.”

As expected, the reactions to the game and loss are split—some imploring logic and liking much of what they saw; penalties and mistakes withholding—while others are letting emotion get the best of them; taking out 15 years of frustration on one game.

SEGMENT OF UM FAN BASE CONFIRMS THEY’LL NEVER ‘GET IT’

Message boards are generally the underbelly of the sports world; fans with quirky handles spewing anonymous venom and in this case, many seeming like they actually want Miami to fail, simply so they can be correct in their attacks. One game in, Diaz is already seeing the honeymoon end (with this portion of the fan base), after eight months of solid off-season moves.

Game One, with a brand new offensive staff, a brand new quarterback, three freshman on the offensive line—not to mention a 7-6 program that ended with a 35-3 bowl game thud last December—and some of the attacks were written like it’s year three and things should be humming smoothly.

Canes fans generally get a bad rap. Most of it isn’t fair, but when you see some of these bullshit comments and a complete inability to acknowledge that this Miami squad—mistakes aside—looked light year’s better than the lifeless bunch that took on Wisconsin at the end of 2018; it’s impossible to not acknowledge some moronic behavior. A sampling from one critic on Saturday night:

“This sloppy performance had beautiful hunts of Al Golden team with some notes of the late great Randal Shannon.

I’m calling you out Manny Diaz. You’re on notice. Until proven otherwise, you’re just a Cuban Randy Shannon without the forehead dent or top-ranked class in the country.

Let’s see if the sequel is better than the original, which flopped after being propped up and hyped for the same reasons. Can he win the Coastal or is he another Temple coach—all hat and not cattle.” 

Those who disagree are considered to be a “jabroni”, while this critic also suggested a Penalty Dunce Cap for Diaz—going along with all of UM’s other sideline jewelry: “This way every time your undisciplined team commits a penalty you can pose for the camera, dog.”

Sadly, if you’ve followed this program for decades—you absolutely know “that guy” and could’ve set your watch by comments like this, no matter if Miami scrapped and lose to Florida by four, or no-showed and got rolled by four touchdowns—as the imbeciles have zero ability to discern between the two.

Fact remains, there’s a portion of UM’s fan base that believes the magic captured between 1983 and 2002 (sans that mid-nineties probation hiccup) should be replicated without a hitch; by a private school that really had no business crashing the party in the first place.

CANES FOOTBALL WILL REMAIN A MODERN-DAY UNDERDOG

Where football reigns supreme throughout state schools in the SEC, Big XII and Big Ten—coaches treated and paid like gods, while fans flock to stadiums on Saturday afternoons just as religiously as they attend church come Sunday—that will never be the case with the ‘The U’.

Miami spent 15 years—from the 2001 national title season, until two months before Al Golden was fired, late 2015—with Donna Shalala as university president; a woman who loved the medical program with passion, but didn’t give a rat’s ass about athletics.

The result, a few low-rent hires that kept the Canes wandering around purgatory for a combined nine years as both Golden, and Randy Shannon before him could barely tread water—let alone rebuild what Butch Davis created half a decade prior to Shannon replacing placeholder Larry Coker. 

It’s no coincidence that four months after Shalala’s departure, UM athletic director Blake James and the Board of Trustess green-lit the hiring of Mark Richt—made possible by Shalala’s replacement, Dr. Julio Frenk, operating in a hands-off manner in regards to athletics.

Despite the bigger paycheck, Richt didn’t prove to be a home-run hire on the field—but bringing in a seasoned veteran who ran a storied SEC program for 15 years certainly helped behind the scenes, as the former Georgia Bulldogs leader rolled up his sleeves and worked to bring his alma mater into the modern era, facilities- and infrastructure-wise.

Still, the hiring of Richt broke a long-time Miami pattern of rolling the dice on low-cost up-and-comers, over stroking a fat check for a proven entity.

The moment the University of Miami grew a pair and hired a coach with Richt’s resume—December 2015—is the moment this program finally proved it actually gives two shits about rebuilding it’s proud football legacy. Everything that happened the 14 years prior on Shalala’s watch; smoke and mirrors and going through the motions.

Fans can piss and moan about how unacceptable it is that UM’s been irrelevant for almost two decades, but it doesn’t change the fact that Miami is still less than four years into truly building a modern-era football program.

The hiring of Diaz is merely Phase Two and a continuation of the groundwork Richt laid. Blowing everything up and starting from scratch for the fourth time in 13 years would’ve been disastrous—as well as it would’ve been unnecessary as the defense has been successful since Diaz revamped it in 2016, meaning only the offense needed to be retooled.

ATTITUDE & OVERALL ENERGY; BIGGEST OFF-SEASON CHANGES

Miami dug in for the fight on Saturday night against Florida—which wouldn’t have been the case had Richt not stepped down, bringing Diaz back home from his 18-day stint in Philly; allowing him and a brand new offensive staff to spend eight months changing the culture, while flushing out old bad habits and reversing negative muscle memory.

If last year’s Canes had an ounce of the fight shown last Saturday night—a that 7-5 regular season would’ve been 10-2 and Coastal Division champs; as those limp-dicked losses to Virginia, Georgia Tech and Duke simply wouldn’t have happened.

No, none of that makes a loss to Florida feel any better—but take solace in the fact Miami players and coaches are pissed off, too. Lest not forget, they’re the ones who actually put in the work all off-season—on the field and in the weight room—not on message boards or social media.

“I thought our guys played with a lot of courage. I think they played with a lot of effort,” said a frustrated Diaz in his post-game presser.

“But it doesn’t matter because we lost the game. We did not come here to play with courage and effort. We came here to win the game and it’s not okay at the University of Miami ever to lose to the University of Florida. Everybody in that locker room feels the pain of that right now.”

Some will chalk it up as coach speak or just words, while those who believe in the current transformation will take solace that this group will get back to work over the coming weeks, eliminating mistakes and chasing down a Coastal Division title—which is the ultimate goal of The New Miami here in 2019.

Chris Bello has been covering University of Miami athletics since the mid-nineties. Getting his start with CanesTime, he eventually launched allCanesBlog—which led to a featured columnist stint with BleacherReport. He’s since rolled out the unfiltered, ItsAUThing.com where he’ll use his spare time to put decades of U-related knowledge to use for those who care to read. When he’s not writing about ‘The U’, Bello earns a living helping icon Bill Murray build a lifestyle apparel brand. Hit him on Twitter for all things U-related @ItsAUThingBLOG.

‘THE NEW MIAMI’ READY FOR DEBUT; FLORIDA GATORS AWAIT

Posted on by Chris Bello

After months of anticipation, game day is finally here; college football getting the ultimate kickoff in 2019 for the sports’s 150th anniversary; Miami versus Florida—in primetime, with all eyes on this big-time showdown.

The Gators roll in No. 8 in the country, while the Hurricanes are in that all-too-familiar Others Receiving Votes category; understandable and expected on the heels of a six-loss season, a head coaching change and no proven quarterback—though it doesn’t properly speak to the overall talent level of this squad.

Most have Florida tabbed to take care of business on Saturday night—albeit in much closer fashion than the Gators’ delusional fan base and some of their players are predicting. All that to say, games aren’t played on paper, because if so, last season’s eighth-ranked preseason team—Miami—wouldn’t have gotten boat-raced by LSU in 2018’s season-opener.

PRESEASON RANKINGS BASED ON YESTERDAY’S NEWS; NOT TODAY’S

Preseason predictions are a fickle beast. For the most part, Miami earned a Top 10 ranking going into last fall due to a 10-0 start that included a primetime massacre of then-No. 3 Notre Dame. A regular season-ending loss at Pitt was swept under the rug as the Canes locked up their first Coastal Division title in 14 tries—while a loss to defending national champion Clemson in the ACC title game was expected and also forgiven.

A one-loss Wisconsin squad outlasted Miami in the Orange Bowl; which also wasn’t completely held against the Canes when going into 2018, as a 10-3 record—just as Florida posted in last year—looked good on paper and fit an on-the-rise narrative.

In reality, Miami still had some glaring weaknesses that were fast-exposed against LSU in Dallas, while the Tigers ultimately surprised with a brand new quarterback—Ohio State transfer, Joe Burrow—and a head coach few were expecting to turn a corner so quickly; Ed Orgeron, a perennial assistant who’d struggled in all previous head coaching stints, but ultimately had a break-through season.

That’s not to say Miami is—or isn’t—this year’s LSU, that Manny Diaz is destined to get everything right in his first game leading the Canes, or that r-freshman quarterback Jarren Williams can do game one what Burrow did in his first start; the Tigers’ quarterback cutting his teeth as a back-up the year prior. This is simply a reminder that when a team believes its own hype, as well as those preseason accolades bestowed upon them—things can sometimes go south quickly. Last year’s Canes are living proof and the jury’s out regarding how the Gators respond to their early positioning.

Entering Saturday’s opener, it’s hardly a shock that Florida thinks they’re hot shit—with an air of superiority like it’s 200 and not 2019; when Dan Mullen was calling plays under Urban Meyer and rolling into a new year as defending national champs, opposed to the former offensive coordinator entering year two with an inaugural season that truthfully wasn’t as strong as the 10-3 record it posted.

DEEP-DIVING THE GATORS’ 2018 CAMPAIGN & STUMBLES

Give Florida props for a convincing bowl win over Michigan; though one would be remised to not acknowledge the 62 points the Ohio State laid on the Wolverines in the regular season finale for a seventh-straight series win, which certainly took the piss out of the *other* UM and left them flat  for bowl season.

Those three losses? Falling to Kentucky at home (for the first time in 31 years), an understandable 19-point loss to rival Georgia (a title contender and pride of the SEC East) and a 21-point home loss to Missouri; a game that saw starting quarterback Feleipe Franks benched in favor of Kyle Trask— thought it was a short-lived move as the r-sophomore broke his foot in practice days later, allowing Franks to return by default for a home showdown against South Carolina.

The Gators trailed by 17 late in the third quarter before scoring 21 unanswered to avoid the upset against the Gamecocks; who finished 7-6 and fell to Virginia in the postseason, 28-0.

The point in this quick history lesson; Florida’s perceived invincibility and the supreme confidence in Franks both seem built on a similar house of cards to last year’s Miami hype. Maybe the Gators are the real-deal and will prove it Saturday night—but there’s at least room to question if this team is as good as they believe they are.

Miami’s off-season approach has been the exact opposite—and with good reason as one can’t run their mouths when on the wrong end of a 35-3 post-season ass-kicking; on that forced former head coach Mark Richt into early retirement; the keys tossed to his former defensive coordinator who was 18 days into his new stint as head coach at Temple University.

Diaz drove home the we-have-no-business-talking mantra home from early on, when he posted 7-6 signs on tackling dummies all over UM’s new indoor practice facility and encouraged his players to take out their frustration there—not on their smartphones, offering up any bulletin board material.

Hurricanes players have been suspiciously quiet and even-keeled these past few months, while the Gators are spewing noise any time a microphone is stuck in one of their smug faces.

“I don’t really see them as a challenge. I just see them as another team really, because I feel like my whole team—we face big-boy teams,” defensive end and linebacker Andrew Chatfield said about Miami months back. “They faced one SEC team and got smashed by LSU last time I checked. But whatever though, it’s just another game.”

A spirited rivalry dating back to 1938—of which the Hurricanes have taken seven of the past eight is, “just another game”. Upperclassmen should’ve thought about muzzling the r-freshman, but instead many chose to pile-on when given the opportunity.

HOW FAR APART ARE MIAMI & FLORIDA AS NEW SEASON GETS ROLLING?

Regarding Miami, there’s been understandable outside focus on the setbacks of 2018—yet a short memory regarding what this program successfully managed to do in 2017; the same way few recall that four only managed to win four games while the Canes were rolling heads en route to winning the ACC’s Coastal Division.

Simply put; the Canes are as far removed from a successful 10-win season as the Gators are dropping six of their final seven in 2017.

Also ignored; as quick as Miami ascended, it crashed down hard the following year—and as bad as Florida was two years back, it won 10 games year one with Mullen; begging the question, are these two teams really as far apart as the way the narrative is being written for 2019’s opener?

What about the monster hit the Gators have taken to an offensive line that was masterful in protecting Franks; buying him time and opening up holes for Lamical Perine and other running backs? Long gone are Martez Ivey, Jawaan Taylor, Tyler Jordan and Fred Johnson—paving the way for a lot of youth on the Gators’ line, similar to what Miami is dealing with up front. Any way you slice it, it’s a step back for Florida—while despite the young line, Miami can only improve based on the offense they fielded a year ago.

For both Miami and Florida, each taking on a team of this caliber for an opener deserves the tip of a hat—as it’s always advantageous to work out the kinks against a doormat, or two. Neither gets that luxury this season; both putting their balls and pride on the line Week 0.

Of course facing a foe like each will face this early in the schedule will also alter overall game plans; both head coaches well aware early match-ups like these are usually lost more than they’re actually won. Translation; whoever eliminates mistakes, excels in special teams and get a few fortunate bounces is usually the team that prevails in what should be a low-scoring affair with its share of three-and-outs and rusty timing.

INTANGIBLES OUTWEIGH OVERALL GAME PLANS & STRATEGIES

As far as an X’s and O’s breakdown goes for this one; throw it all out the window for this one as there are simply too many unknown in a late August match-up like this.

Yes, Florida has an advantage with Franks under center—but how will the junior quarterback respond behind his young and green offensive line in the face of UM’s pass rush? Last year #13 had the benefit of protection that he simply won’t have against a Miami fronts seven that has some talent on the defensive line, as well as some of the best linebackers in the nation in Shaq Quarterman and Mike Pinckney—heavily-relied upon seniors who only returned when Diaz was handed the keys to the kingdom.

Williams will deal with the same pressure on his end as the Canes’ line is also inexperienced—though a safe bet new offensive coordinator Dan Enos keeps the newbie reeled in a bit; whereas Franks and his blend of confidence and experience could lead to him taking more chances that might backfire. Miami, and new defensive coordinator Blake Baker, also have years’ worth of film on Franks and know his tendencies, while Williams is an unknown and expectations are low in regards to his carrying the Canes—which could be also blessing in disguise if this game somehow goes UM’s way.

Back to last year’s opener at LSU; Burrow was the biggest question mark for the Tigers—the Canes banking on the transfer turning the ball over. Instead, he had a clean outing (11-of-24 for 140 yards) and played all the part of game manager. By season’s end; Burrow was the MVP of the Fiesta Bowl in LSU’s win over Central Florida—the unknown signal caller playing a big part in a 10-3 season.

Special teams should also have a massive impact on this season opener. For Miami’s sake, it better hope kicker Bubba Baxa has shaken off any of last year’s freshman jitters that left points on the field—while the punting game immediately got an upgrade when former Australian football player Lou Hedley transferred to Coral Gables (by way of City College of San Francisco); a move that could prove MVP-worthy based on the UM’s punting woes the past few seasons.

While it’d be a disservice to LSU—and a handful of the teams that beat Miami last season—it’s impossible to not bring up how often the Canes lost field position battles due to the inept Zach Feagles, as well as his replacement Jack Spicer. Against the Tigers, Feagles first three punts were short, giving LSU the ball at mid-field—which led to 13 first half points. Toss in Baxa having a 45-yard field goal attempts blocked and quarterback Malik Rosier coughing up a painful-to-watch pick-six and it’s no mystery the Canes were in a 27-3 halftime hole they couldn’t dig out of.

Miami looked outmatched by LSU; not so much talent versus talent—but due to holes at quarterback, offensive play calling and shoddy special teams play; all of which continued into ACC play and were a common theme en route to 7-6. If nothing else, simple addition-by-subtraction will play into the Hurricanes’ favor as Richt has yielded to Diaz, Enos has installed a more up-to-date offense and Rosier made way for Williams; who realistically should’ve been given his shot last season based on upside and potential, versus Rosier’s experience and Richt going the “safe” route in a weak Coastal Division.

Aside from all those aforementioned intangibles, it can’t be ignored that literally all the pressure here is on the eighth-ranked Gators; Florida expected to take a step forward this fall, while Miami comes in a bit more stealth and undetected—on the heels of a six-loss season, a new head coach, an entirely new offensive staff and a brand new quarterback. Attention has already been paid to UM’s favorable schedule this year and many have the Canes continuing to improve as the year rolls on; earning them a division title and a crack at defending national champion Clemson in the ACC title game.

With no real pressure on Miami to perform game one—it can afford to play loose and to pleasantly surprise the nation should it pull off an upset that really isn’t all that unthinkable.

ALL THE PRESSURE ON THAT TEAM FROM UP NORTH; THE GATOR

Florida—like Miami last season—is coming off a step-forward season and is expected to go to the next level this fall; hence the overconfidence and belief pouring out of Gainesville; something the Canes are familiar with after so many false starts the past few years, which begged all the, “Is ‘The U’ back?” queries by the media and college football analysts anytime UM did something noteworthy.

There’s a different type of pressure when you’re on the mend and expected to grow year two under a new head coach—versus year one; proven by the fact there were no real expectations for Mullen in 2018 having taken over a four-win team. Anything he did was gravy, but after reaching the 10-win mark—Florida faithful have high expectations for his second act.

Conversely, everything for Miami has come up roses since the morning after losing the Pinstripe Bowl last December—starting the moment Richt abruptly retired and walked away from a multi-million dollar buyout; not wanting to hold his alma mater over a barrel. Had Richt stuck around for a fourth season, the following would most-likely be true as the Canes roll into Camping World Stadium on Saturday night:

— Diaz would be the head coach at Temple University and two former defensive assistants would be running the Canes defense this season; barring either Ephraim Banda and Jonathan Patke didn’t ultimately follow him to Philadelphia as the Owls’ new staff came together. Morale was low after that Wisconsin-sized beat-down. Instead, Banda is co-defensive coordinator and continued working with safeties, Patke handles strikers and special teams and Diaz brought in Blake Baker to run the defense, opposed to simply promoting from with in.

— Quarterman and Pinckney would’ve left for the NFL a year early and the Canes would be breaking in a young, inexperienced group of linebackers this fall—instead of that position being rock-solid and the soul of the defense. The Canes would also be without the services of speedster and special teams demon Jeff Thomas; who was dismissed by Richt, appeared Illinois-bound but earned his way back on to the team through a sit-down with Diaz.

— Richt would’ve made minimal changes to his offensive philosophy—under protest; his hand forced by UM’s administration and the Board of Trustees—which would’ve created some form of contention as coaches don’t like pencil-pushers and suits telling them how to run their program.

— Gus Felder would still be Miami’s strength and conditioning coach instead of David Feely; who’s had an immediate impact on this team since his arrival—getting this Hurricanes’ program in the best shape it’s been in for over a decade.

– The much-criticized Stacy Searels would still be coaching UM’s offensive line instead of NFL veteran Butch Barry; another immediate-impact guy who is getting underclassmen to play above their level, resulting in true freshman Zion Campbell winning the left tackle job while r-freshman John Campbell turned heads in his quest to lock down the right tackle position.

— Miami also wouldn’t have robbed the Transfer Portal blind, reeling in Tate Martell, Trevon Hill, K.J. Osborn, Chigoze Nnoruka, Bubba Bolden and few other immediate-impact kids who are going to be difference makers this season.

Even scarier, all signs were pointing towards William transferring out between the end of the regular season and the bowl game last year; leaving the Canes with with N’Kosi Perry, who would’ve gotten the job by default (over freshman Peyton Matocha)—opposed to the spirited competition on Greentree where Williams came on strong late, beating out both Martell and Perry; all three of them better for it.

— Lastly, there wouldn’t be The New Miami and this new-yet-old-school attitude that Diaz has been infusing. The new head coach kept things rolling defensively, while injecting some life and swag into his offensive players—with links to the past and a focus on competition; pushing players’ buttons in the style of greats like Jimmy Johnson—who Diaz is leaning on as a mentor and bringing around to inform his current players about the way it was done during that Decade Of Dominance.

While none of these feel-good reminders necessary mean the Hurricanes are going to upset the Gators on Saturday night—they are all worth mention as important pieces to this storyline; one that seems to have been reduced to, “7-6 last year, a new head coach and a quarterback playing his first game”. Seems everyone is overlooking Miami; which is just fine as the Canes are definitely relishing the opportunity to fly-under-the-radar for this one.

Again, on paper—Florida should prevail as they’re one year ahead in their rebuild—but dammit if it doesn’t feel like something special is brewing in Coral Gables since Diaz took the reins.

Maybe it’s all that TNM hype, this renewed energy, former players and coaches buying in—coupled with a slew of off-season victories for a program out of the spotlight for way too long—but there’s a nagging sentiment that UM is being devalued here and that the Canes are going to play off of and respond to that.

On the 27th anniversary of the devastating Hurricane Andrew—it seems like another type of storm is fittingly brewing.

Logic says Gators—but the intangibles are saying the Canes pull a fast one on an unsuspecting Florida team that isn’t giving Miami its due, and doesn’t seem as good as their current hype.

.

Miami 23, Florida 20

.
.
.

Chris Bello has been covering University of Miami athletics since the mid-nineties. Getting his start with CanesTime, he eventually launched allCanesBlog—which led to a featured columnist stint with BleacherReport. He’s since rolled out the unfiltered, ItsAUThing.com where he’ll use his spare time to put decades of U-related knowledge to use for those who care to read. When he’s not writing about ‘The U’, Bello earns a living helping icon Bill Murray build a lifestyle apparel brand. Hit him on Twitter for all things U-related @ItsAUThingBLOG.