Miami finishes the year at 7-6, after a OK performance out west on the road. So much could be said about this game, but I will only hit on the main points.
Jacory Harris looked more than able to run an offense, and to run it productively. If this doesn’t facilitate the whiner Marve to transfer, I don’t know what will. Adios, Robbie.
Nix actually called a (relative to his standards) good game last night. The offense got in a groove after they settled in, and was moving the ball down the field with rather ease. However, before we even get into the atrocities that occurred twice (!), I did have one huge gripe with his play calling. Miami kept running this hybrid trap-counter play, that did not work one time, yet they persistently kept using it. Basically, they came out in an I formation, and the fullback went right. The tailback went left, and then immediately did a cut back to the right, insinuating a trap. However, Harris would show he was handing off to the left side immediately after taking the snap, thus negating any surprise factor. Let alone the fact the fullback was long gone into the line by the time the tailback got the ball.
The switch to the Pro-Set. Loved it. And I hope this is a continued staple going forward. If I could chose, I would want the Pro-Set to be my offense, a la USC. The Spread obviously works, but for it to work in the upper echelon of the country, you either need a smart as shit QB (Harrell, Bradford, Daniel) or a once in a generation hybrid who is also your best running back (Tebow). In the Pro-Set, all you need is a heady guy who can make plays when asked, not unlike the NFL. And once Miami started running the ball straight ahead, no gimmicky bullshit misdirections, Lee Chambers was bursting off 6.7 yards per carry.
That defense. Unbelievable. How you don’t have 9 men in the box, every single play, astounds me. Cal should have won this game by 4 touchdowns, if Tedford would’ve just kept himself out of his own way. It was obvious in the first quarter Longshore was benched for a reason; he sucks ass. Cal couldn’t throw the ball anywhere. The only time they got first downs throwing was when a Cane would miss a tackle. So instead of cramming the line with defenders, and ignoring the fact Cal was spreading the field to better it’s rushing attack, Bill Young plays right into their hands, put more DB’s on the field, and voila. An already great runner just tears apart an already horrific rushing defense.
Enough with the pleasantries. Game. Clock. Management. You have got to be fucking kidding me. And anyone who claims this falls on the Harris is a full blown retard, or even worse, a Gator fan. Lets start with the drive before the half. 1:00 remaining, down by 7, ball near midfield, offense just scored. One would think Miami would want to drive down the field, get at least a field goal, have huge momentum in killing a 14-0 deficit, get the ball back after the half, and take their first lead. Right? Am I loco for thinking this? I must be. Because instead of doing any of those things, Miami let the clock run out after a succession of plays. But not run plays. Pass plays. Plays where Harris could throw a pick, be sacked, fumble, whatever. Literally, if you were to ask any right minded OC what he would NOT do in that situation, I do believe letting the clock run on a potential game tying drive by using three passes would be right at the top of the list.
Normally, a drive like that would be the headliner to horrible game clock management. Hahaha. Not so fast my chipmunk friend. The drive to end the game was mind blowing. I don’t even want to talk about it in detail, so I won’t. One stat will say it all for me: Had the ball with 1:00 remaining, and ran one play from then until 0:13 left. Thank you, Patrick Nix.
Nix, however, it not solely at fault here. He calls the plays, he runs the offense, but when are we all going to rightfully start putting blame on Randy? You are responsible for who you hire. Nix is a complete joke, and should be fired. But Randy? Letting this monstrosity occur twice in a game, with a month to prepare? A total fucking joke. And as my esteemed colleague MBC pointed out, how can not one of the other assistant coaches, offense or defense, stand up to Randy, and yell into his ear to take a goddamn time out! Do they not want the team to win? Do they believe their side of the ball is autonomous from Randy’s wrath? Or does Randy have a bunch of Yes Men at his disposal? MBC careened this idea, and I support it: Miami needs someone who is overseeing this program. Who brings Randy into a weekly meeting on the status of the program, who has veto power. This is Randy’s first HC gig, and he has proven so far to have glaring game day decision making ineptitude. We need someone higher up who can make the tough decisions, lay down the hammer, until Randy learns it on his own, if that ever happens.
One last note on this game clock dis-management. Miami only used 11 out of their allotted 15 bowl game practices. Nice. One plus one does equal one play is 47 seconds this time around.
Overall, going 7-6 vs. 8-5 really is meaningless. On paper, it’s a huge difference. In reality, it means nothing. Randy will still bring in the recruits. But this game will go down, to me, as the point where I lost my blind faith in Randy’s ability to turn this thing around and win a national title. He still can right the ship, and that means bringing in a proven OC, outside the ACC, with an actual track record of making players better and out coaching a defense. In the next few weeks, we will see if that happens.
Until that day, Lieutenant Anton wishing all you fucking soldiers happy recruiting season.
