Let's see how I did...
jmh80 said:
Alright guys - we are about 3 months away from Florida State @ Miami on Labor Day night.
It's 'bout time to start talking college football.
So, break down your team and their chances (you think) in 2006.
I'll start.
Here is Miami's schedule
Sept. 4 (Mon.) Florida State
Sept. 9 Florida A&M
Sept. 16 at Louisville
Sept. 23 Open
Sept. 30 Houston
Oct. 7 North Carolina
Oct. 14 Florida International
Oct. 21 at Duke
Oct. 28 at Georgia Tech
Nov. 4 Virginia Tech
Nov. 11 at Maryland
Nov. 18 at Virginia
Nov. 23 (Thurs.) Boston College
Last year we went 9-3 - basically a horrible year (this seems to be the case the last 2-3 years).
So, in an effort to keep his job, head coach Larry Coker basically claned house in the off-season. All but 3 or 4 assistants were canned. Some of the guys brough in have head coaching experience in D-1A. So, in my mind, it remains to be seen if they can work together as assistants.
Coker fired a sh*tload of guys to save his azz - and it didn't work. The offensive direction didn't change period. The defensive line got better (I attribute that to getting the Wisconsin DL coach - who just left).
jmh80 said:
As far as the players go, we return about 6 starters on defense (the DL rotated so much last year it's hard to remember who started). The big losses on D were our starting corner's - Kelley Jennings (1st round pick) and Marcus Maxey (drafted sometime later).
We return 6 starters on offense. We lost 4/5's of the starting OL - which is probably a good thing based on how they played last year.
Big losses were Eric Winston (tackle) and Sinorice Moss (WR). Still in question is if and how well Tyrone Moss (starting RB) will play in 2006. He tore his ACL late in the year and (from reports) was headed pro.
I'm skeptical that he'll even be 75% because it was a late season injury (late October).
Moss was fat and lazy this year. He's the type of personality that we don't need at Miami. I've realized that this kid only plays for himself. He only got in shape in '05 because he was finally draft eligible. He played very well. Then tore his ACL and couldn't put down the double cheeseburgers.
And - yeah, the OL was as bad as 2005.
jmh80 said:
Key returners on Offense - Kyle Wright (QB) has a full season under his belt. Made some really bad decisions at times last year. Made some really good ones. Looks to have the tools - I wonder about the leadership capabilities.
Also Greg Olson (TE) - might be the best in the country.
Jesus was I wrong on Olsen. See TyMoss for my analysis. Kid only cares for himself. Good player. Can't block worth a hell. Dropped a sh*t-ton of passes.
Wright has the tools - but it's all in his head.
jmh80 said:
Question marks on Offense - well, the Oline obviously. They stunk up the joint last year - so I really don't think they can be any worse in '06, but most of the new starters will have little game experience. An OL that can give Wright time and holes for the stable of RB's is key this year I think.
Who will step up at WR???? We've got 2 supposedly highly touted WR's in Ryan Moore and Lance Leggett. Both haven't produced - someone needs to. I honestly think that some of the freshman we brought in could be playmakers (Sam Shields and maybe George Robinson if they move him from RB).
Who will step up at RB if Ty Moss can't go??? Charlie Jones played well after Moss got hurt - for 2 out of 4 games. He's a grinder. Andrew Johnson seems to have the burst that UM RB's are known for but has had an ACL tear (2 years ago). We got 3 pretty good recruits (the best is still in prep school) in Javarrious James (Edgerrin's cousin), Kylan Robinson and Craig Cooper. They might get some playing time, but the position is backlogged at this point.
All in all, a helluva lot of question marks. I'm worried about the O.
I was right - the O drug down the whole damn team.
Honestly surprised at how well Javarrious James played as a true frosh. This kid has a bright future ahead of him.
He was our offensive MVP.
The OL sucked major balls. Just goes to show how much trouble we are in that we had a true frosh and RS frosh starting. We'll probably have another RS frosh starting next year (and maybe a true frosh if we can sign Orlando Franklin from prep school).
Ugh.
This unit is just disgraceful.
WR's were pretty bad. Too many dropped passes. Shields looked good at times - but mostly looked like a true frosh. Probably didn't help that the QB play was AWFUL though.
jmh80 said:
Key returners on Defense are Baraka Atkins at DL, Jon Beason at WLB, Kenny Phillips at FS, and Brandon Merriweather at SS.
The rest of the DL has played quite a bit. One of the most talented is Kareem Brown at DT - played HUGE against VaTech. But, can't seem to stay motivated for more than one game a season.
Questions: corner back. We are thin - plain and simple. Glen Sharpe is coming off an ACL tear 2 years ago and may start. The other guys that may are Bruce Johnson and Randy Phillips. Sharpe has the skills - but hasn't played in a while. The rest of the CB's don't excite me. We may see frosh Ryan Hill get alot of playing time.
Who will step up with JBeason at LB??? We have a backlogged position here. Got alot of players but I'm not sure who can step up and make plays besides Beason.
So - the D will hopefully be pretty good - not too worried. Lots of guys have played significant minutes. I just wonder about the CB's - the safety's might be the best in the country.
I really can't complain much about the D. They finished 5th (or so) in total D. Pretty high in scoring D.
Calais Campbell (my av) came on REALLY strong. Had like 11 sacks in 8 games (including the Blue Turf bowl).
jmh80 said:
Breakin' down the schedule:
Yeah, it's pretty weak overall - but no off week after Oct. 1st.
We continue this retarded Labor Day matchup with the Noles. I think this is the last year (thank God!).
FSU lost alot of players. Their D was decimated by the draft - 4 went in the 1st round. Both teams should be evenly matched and with this being the first game, it should be awful to watch.
I was right about this game. Freaking horrible. Our D appeared to let up late (this was confirmed) - totally inexcusable. I KNEW we'd lose when we intercepted a pass on FSU's 30 and got 0 points right before half-time.
Yeah - FSU won the battle that night. But lost the war (they still have Boobah Bowden).
I'm glad the Labor Day BS is over with. Back to mid-October in '07.
jmh80 said:
At Louisville on 9/16 will be tough. Good offense with M. Bush at RB and Brohm at QB (although he might be injured). This could be a repeat of 2003 where it took 44 points to win.
We scored first and got a TO and were driving when an RB (forget whom) fumbled. L'vill scored and didn't look back. The D appeared to quit after they saw the O couldn't do sh*t.
Coker should have been fired after this game.
jmh80 said:
Bye week and then Houston at home. No clue about them. They gave us a good game a few years ago because we didn't care.
Hou turned out to be pretty good - CUSA champs and won their bowl game (I think). We won by one point.
I stupidly wondered if we'd start to turn it around after that (knowing that HOU was a decent team).
jmh80 said:
North Carolina at home. Should beat them, but who knows. I still remember the 2004 loss like it was yesterday.
Yeah - UNC was pretty bad.
jmh80 said:
Fla International and then Duke - wins.
The brawl. At this point, it's pretty clear to me that we gain nothing by scheduling FIU. We are playing them again in '07. Totally retarded idea.
Duke nearly beat us. They were down 5 late with the ball inside their 20 yd line.
jmh80 said:
At Ga Tech. I was at this game in 2004 - beat the crap outta them. Then, they came down to the OB last year and beat us because we didn't give 2 sh*ts. They had some big losses - PJ Daniels and the LB (Henderson??). But, they have WR Calvin Johnson - might be the best in the country. Antrele Rolle held him in check in 2004 (3 catches and no TD's) but he made some big time plays last year. He's key to stopping their offense. If we can do that, I think the O is adequate to beat them by a TD or so. If not - we lose. Our O can't keep up with anyone.
Yeah - pretty much the case. The O stunk - but Coker contributed about as much as a coach can to this loss. We scored to go down 7 with about 3 mins left. With the new time rules - it was readily apparent that we should kick it onsides.
What did Coker do?
Kick it deep because "I've seen us onsides kick - we don't do that well."
:blink:
So.....WTF does this mean? We don't practice onsides kicks?
Jesus.
jmh80 said:
VaTech at home. They lost their QB and best defensive player (Jimmy Williams). Lots of questions up in BlacksTurd.
Too early for me to call because I have no clue who will be starting for them. These games have been blow-outs recently though.
In what became a common theme - the O sucked major balls but the D kept the game as close as they could. We threw 2 INT's on our side of the field (both inside the UM 30 IIRC) that led to 2 VT TD's. It ended up being 17-10.
Just sad we wasted this D. Held VT to under 170 TOTAL yards.
I was sick - just sick knowing we wasted a championship D like this...
jmh80 said:
At Maryland and Virginia back to back. I see these as trap games. Both teams lost good players last year and will probably have a few losses by that point. We've typically lost to a team like that the last few years (UNC in '04 and GaTech in '05).
At this point, with Miami already having 3 losses THE worst possible thing happens: Bryan Pata is shot dead mid-week of the Maryland game.
The D allowed 2 early long TD passes (on Glenn Shape of the Fiasco Bowl fame...) but then shut down UMd the rest of the way. The O couldn't do anything - but had definate chances with Kirby Freeman playing QB. He (KF) was able to avoid the multitude of drive killing sacks that Wright had - he's mobile.
But - the WR's dropped too many passes. A true frosh converted CB dropped a TD that would have gotten the game to one score (Ryan Hill). A microcosim of 2006.
UVa was horrible. Just horrible. They are a bad team - but we went up there and laid an egg. I guess I can excuse them - the Pata funeral was that week. But, it was just totally disheartening watching that game.
jmh80 said:
BC at home Thanksgiving day. There might be 5000 people at this game. We were retarded for playing this game on Thanksgiving - but the athletic dept. is bleeding money so they signed this game (and FSU on Labor Day) because the networks wanted it. BC had some big losses (Kiwinika - or however it's spelled). But, see above - ripe for a letdown at this point in the season.
Turned out to be wrong on the outcome. The players pulled together for the sake of Pata and won this one for him (first home game since his death). Really touching tribute at the end of the game.
Right on attendence - pretty bad.
The D won this game. Freeman did just enough to score some points - and the D took care of the rest. Kirby started to appear to get better (somewhat) during this game.
Our best game of the season.
jmh80 said:
As I see it - we've got the talent to go undefeated with this schedule. The only thing tough seems to be the timing - no open dates from Sept. 30th onward.
But, this is a Larry Coker coached team so I could easily see 3 losses again (some Cane fans are predicting 4 or 5 - I don't see that).
We'll get one big win for sure - either FSU, Louisville or VaTech. We'll likely suffer one letdown game - UVa, Maryland, or BC.
My prediction - loss to Louisville and Boston College and go to the ACC title game.
Yeah - totally wrong. I saw a few Cane fans predicting upwards of 6/7 losses this year. Kudos to them. I didn't realize the offense could regress this much in one year.
Wright never regained the poise he showed against FSU in 2005 (over 250 hard-earned yards passing).
We did have one big win - BC. We had lots of let-down games. FSU was probably the worst. If we win that, maybe some of those late season games are won.
Bottom line - holy sh*t Coker was bad. I totally underestimated just how bad (I thought he was - but man). :blink:
I'm glad 2006 is over and we have a new coach. The future looks bright in a few places (mainly defense and Javarrious James). Randy Shannon looks (it's early - I know) like he can recruit.
Still a TON of questions about the offensive line and QB position.
BTW - just watched "the tape". Will bump another thread to discuss "the call" (aka CFB's grassy knoll/lone gunman).
