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Thoughts and observations following Miami's 52-17 romp over Virginia
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Here are some of my thoughts and observations following Miami's 52-17 win over Virginia:
- The biggest thing to take away from this game is the improved play of the Miami defense. The schematics of the defense were much, much better this week as there were no obvious "zero blitzes" and the generic base 4-3, cover 2 defense seemed to be varied more than in past weeks. Now, part of the defense looking good may have been that they were up against one of the lowest-ranked offenses in college football. However, Virginia is a team that, as Miami notoriously found out in 2007 when they lost 48-0 to the Cavaliers, likes to involve the backs and tight ends in the passing game in the flats, which is something the defense really struggled with against Clemson and Wake Forest. It's also probably something they'll see a fair amount of against North Carolina coming up on Saturday.
- The offensive line seemed to improve their play as well this week, as the offense was able to both run and pass very successfully. This was especially impressive considering that Virginia employs a 3-4 defense which they hadn't seen all season, and that Virginia's defense has really took it to Miami for the most part in the past 2 seasons. Right tackle Matt Pipho in particular stood out as having a better game for the 'Canes then he had in past contests.
- Special teams was the only thing aspect that marred this otherwise fantastic performance. To have 2 punts blocked in a game is simply unacceptable, but unfortunately the unit has consistently gotten outplayed all year. The punt return for a touchdwon by Thearon Collier was fantastic, but it was mainly due to an outstanding individual effort by him on a play where Miami had a punt block on.
- Allen Bailey is the most improved player on defense. It's simply incredible how much better he's gotten since this time last year, and he's clearly the best player on the defensive line. In my opinion, it's between he and Colin McCarthy for Hurricanes defensive MVP honors this season. It seems as though every time there's penetration by the defensive line it's from him either from an end or a tackle position. He's on record as saying he'll return to the team next year for his senior season, but things like that have been said before my outstanding players at Miami.....
- Speaking of players who could play on Sundays, I think it's fair to say at this point that Jimmy Graham has exceeded expectations and that he is a player that will be given every opportunity to play for a team at the next level. Graham, as was the case with NFL'ers Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez has transitioned well to football utilizing his immense stature to his advantage. He's not a fantastic blocker yet, but he has the type of mentality where he could be in time. Although he's caught 4 touchdowns this season for UM, he's done such a good job with his limited time (save for the 2 drops he had against Virginia Tech) that you almost begin to wonder why he hasn't gotten even more involved in the offense.
- Miami faces a huge challenge this Saturday when they travel to North Carolina. North Carolina has the best defense in the ACC, and has the potential to physically dominate Miami's offensive line at the line of scrimmage similar to the manner in which Virginia Tech did. Offensively, they're a work in progress as they've had several tailback injuries, including an injury to leading rusher Shaun Draughn that will keep him out for the rest of the season. Still, they'll look to exploit the weaknesses in Miami's defense with backs and tight ends similar to the way Clemson, Wake Forest, and Virginia did, so it will be interesting to see if Miami has truly improved defensively or if their performance against Virginia was a one-game abberation. Either way, expect a close, relatively low-scoring football game in Chapel Hill on Saturday.
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