The biggest home game of the year is finally here and this is one Hurricane fans have been waiting a full year for. Saturday night in prime time at Sun Life Stadium, Miami and Ohio State will play in yet another high-drama affair. We’ve spent so much time talking about these teams and their off-the-field incidents that the actual football game has flown under the radar. Not any more. This one is finally here.
When I used to host sports talk radio, my favorite thing was taking calls from listeners. The modern day sports radio call is made in the form of a Tweet. Plenty of you weighed in with your game prediction and your reason why you made that pick. Before I get to my prediction for the game, here are some of yours:
@Vec18 – 31-14 Canes. Spence an Co back on D limits OSU offense. Lamar breaks a couple big runs late to pad the score.
@ELLedo1307 – Canes win bcuz of efficient passing gm and big run gm from 6. 31 & 7 shut down Stoneburner and our DL is bk. Canes ST adv.
@BShady – 27-24 Miami. A steady J12, dangerous rushing attack, and the guys on D coming back will be just enough to win a tight one.
@McStudly – UM:30 OSU:23. UM will bring pressure and I don’t think OSU can compete when Miami doesn’t beat themselves.
@jslifeandtimes – Canes win 24-21 behind 2 Millertime TD’s a 4th quarter FG by Wieclaw.
@akosnitzky – MIA 26 OSU 24. MIA’s prior ineligibles will outplay OSU’s prior ineligibles.
@JR2themax – 27-20 Canes. J12 runs a smooth Offense, limits TO and mistakes. Big day for Miller. Spence + Boom both show out. #GOCANES.
@_BLONDEthreat – 24-21 #CANES Jacory limits turnovers & a solid ground game from Miller Time.
@BigDaddyJamesUM – 24-13 #MIAMI, I think Ohio St.’s Qb is going to make mistakes that #MIAMI is going to capitalize on!
@jayharmon21– 24-14 #MIAMI with 2 big scores from @millertime_6 and a huge day from @3Spence1 on D.
@court_STAR – #CANES win 24-17 its Jacorys 1st game n he’ll come out strong! Defense will b hype n THE CROWD WILL B CRAZY! #IStandWithTheU.
@CraigSnel – CanesD keeps the bend but don’t break mentality forcing 2 TO’s and 3 FG’s. CanesO limits penalties and TO’s and RUNS to 24-16.
@jplisko5 – Miami 30 OSU 22. Last year OSU was better at only 1 position,QB. Not this year! #GoCanes!
As I said earlier in the week and again Thursday night on allCanes Radio, I think the biggest factor in this game is the return of the leadership on both side of the football to the team – especially Jacory Harris on offense and both Marcus Forston and Sean Spence on defense. Their return to the starting line up will be beneficial to the team, on the field and on the sideline.
I think Harris has improved as a quarterback and the new offensive system Jedd Fisch is implementing will be tailor-made for him.
Ohio State wasn’t all that impressive against Toledo and in all honesty, this is almost the same team Miami faced in Columbus last September, minus last year’s star, Terrelle Pryor, as well as a few others.
I’m almost never confident about a game but I’m feeling good about this one and I’m going, Miami 27 – Ohio State 17. I think this will be the anti-Florida State 2010 game.
I’ll be tailgating at the stadium starting at 2pm on the west side so drop by and say ‘hello’. Also, don’t forget for all the latest news and notes during game follow my CBS Sports Rapid Reports (the feed is hosted on the right-hand side of the blog). I’ll do my best to Tweet as well, but that can get a bit hectic during the game.
I’ll be hunkered down with my good bud and long-time Canes insider I.M. Bitterman, who will be there to pull me through and to help me get you gut the best in-game info.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the game. Get out there and enjoy yourselves tomorrow and Go Canes. –
I can’t wait to see a properly coached J-12 and crew!!!! I predict a BIG victory for the CANES!!!!
Going into the Maryland game (which I attended) I thought that Miami might have a chance to upset Ohio State. But after the Maryland game, where I saw how bad the defense truly played, I just don’t see how the Canes win. Maryland was able to move the ball at will, and even though Miami had a number of defensive starters out, they never adjusted. (Remember when the Miami back-ups could beat most other schools’ starters? No more. UM has no quality depth – going back to last year.)
Of course I desperately want Miami to win. But past performance tends to dictate future results. Miami does not have the athletes that they used to, and there is no getting around it. Ohio State may be “down” this year, but Miami has been down for half a decade and there’s no reason to think otherwise after the Maryland game. Here’s hoping for a Canes win, but in reality I don’t expect it. Hope I’m wrong!
jacory is back that means 3 to 4 int
Maryland is getting killed at home today by WV….
OSU 30 Miami 17
a disgraceful start to disgraceful football program!
“Ohio State wasn’t all that impressive against Toledo and in all honesty, this is almost the same team Miami faced in Columbus last September, minus last year’s star, Terrelle Pryor, as well as a few others.”
Huh? This isn’t even remotely the same team you played last year. Not counting losing Pryor, Posey, Boom, and our starting left tackle due to suspensions, Ohio State is also replacing somewhere around 7 guys on defense. Need I mention our head coach has also moved on? The difference between the ’10 Buckeyes and ’11 Buckeyes couldn’t be more night and day.
Here’s to a good game though!
What did Golden mean in response to the question: “How will you feel unning through the smoke onto the field for the first time” ” I have mixed emotions knowing this is the first game of our last season”. (reported on ESPN)
I thought Miami would lose and am pleasantly surprised they won. Kansas State up next!
Positives that I saw:
– Run game: both Miller and James played well overall. Miller had an outstanding game rushing and James was a great added “punch.” James has to watch the fumbles though. The FB missed a key block in the second half when Miami needed first downs to ice the game, but made up for it in the drive after the turnover.
– Receivers: I don’t recall any drops and saw some nice catches. More consistent QB play may have led to a big night for them but they were getting separation and making catches.
– O-line: No sacks that I remember and good run blocking overall.
– Special teams: 2 FGs, good punting, good coverage – a few times I thought Benjamin should not have “fair caught” the OSU punts but he was probably in a better position to judge. He had a nice return in the first half.
– Defensive backs: OSU had an awful night passing, and while a lot of that was due to atrocious QB play, the DBs had the OSU receivers covered well. They made some nice INTs off tipped balls.
– Spence: great game by the returning LB. He missed a couple tackle-for-loss opportunities but led the defense well and made some great plays on defense and special teams.
Negatives:
– QB: the tale of 2 QBs. Before throwing the first INT, Jacory was on target and setting himself up for a big night. After the two INTs, he was a different QB. He still came back to make some nice throws, but he should have probably had at least two more INTs (and 1 for a returned TD when OSU needed a play). When he’s late on his throws, he sets himself up for failure. I’m not sure Morris is the answer and it may be that Harris is just the best we have until we can get better QB recruits. I’ve got a feeling Harris is going to cost us some games this year, which is unfortunate for him and the team.
– Run defense: OSU ran at will up the middle and I wasn’t sure why they abandoned it in the early 4th quarter. Not having premier tackles on the defensive line is really hurting the defense.
– Stupid penalities: False starts, illegal shifts, not enough on the line-of-scrimmage … still?! These mental errors, some coming off of time outs are just mind boggling. I had hoped for some improvement in this area from the Maryland game, but I didn’t see any.
Overall, a good win against a ranked opponent on a fairly decent day for the ACC in big out-of-conference games. Miami showed some progress and got a little better, but not much. Kansas State is not going to be a pushover and will challenge Miami so they better be ready. Bethune Cookman will be a nice warm-up before heading into conference play.
Go Canes!