***Official Miami Excuse Thread***

[JCane]

When I think of "drinking the Kool-Aid" I think of fans who will never find fault in offensive or defensive philosophies. That's drinking the Kool-Aid. I supported Patrick Nix, but I didn't agree with his philosophy and because of that, some "true fans" decided that I wasn't a "true fan." Based on their "definition" I am not.

I come from a background where we work hard and strive for results. I want that out of my football team as well. And Patrick Nix continued to be conservative, try to beat very good defenses with dink and dunk passes, he rarely attacked downfield, and he put himself in terrible down-and-distance situations on 50% of his drives. That's not getting the job done. That's not working hard.

I'm expecting us to win the ACC this season. That's not me drinking any Kool-Aid, this is a legit expectation. As you said, kpcane, Shannon has two veteran running backs and one leader at quarterback. We should see more consistency in the offense under one quarterback. It'll be interesting to watch the Spring Game to see where the offense and defense satnd.

I don't think anyone is going to be satisfied with the results of the Spring Game. We're all hoping for an offensive explosion. If we get this in the Spring Game, it will be overlooked because many will criticize the defnese and immediately begin to roast the Lovett hire because a lot of the big name boosters do not like the Lovett hire. I don't think it's a great hire, but I understand why he was the hire.

On the other hand, if the defense locks it down, we will then be in the same boat emotionally as we were with Patrick Nix. "Nothing has change. Here comes another mediocre offense. Shannon needs to go. Whipple isn't what we though. He's an NFL lifer. We should have gotten Malzahn and ran the spread when we had the chance. Waiting a month to make a hire was a huge mistake. What's Tuberville doing right now."

That's what it will be at the conclusion of the Spring Game. No one will be happy and everyone will have a warped opinion. I'm not looking for offensive explosions, and I'm not looking for shutdown defense. What I'm looking for when I get to Dolphin Stadium is improvement in all three phases. I don't want to see missed tackles. I don't want to see daylight between our receivers and secondary. I don't want to see defensive lineman chasing Jacory all day. I don't want to see Jacory staring receivers down. I want to see fundamental improvements and I believe we will be fine.

Yes, the schedule is a concern. Yes, it will become an excuse. But it doesn't matter how you arrange that schedule, we knew what teams we were playing this season. You can't look at the schedule and chalk up four losses on paper before Mark Whipple and John Lovett are properly introduced and shake hands. We will play Florida State tight on Labor Day. It's a rivalry game and we always play them tight. LSU laid the blueprint on how to beat Redneck Tech. If Shannon is smart, he'll figure that out. Virginia Tech were the ACC champions and we did a very good job of handling them and their defense in Miami about four months ago. Why are we scared? You take your schedule week by week and your focus and you prepare. A well prepared team will show you something good. Alabama is a prime example.

TedSlimm, good call with Houston Nutt but Ole Miss did improve at the end of the 2007 season and he wasn't left as stripped as Shannon was after Coker bolted. And outside of Miami, Jevan Snead is my favorite player. I love that kid. I've got a lot of respect for him and he was heavily recruited by Texas and Florida. He actually committed to Florida and later decommitted after he found out that Urban Meyer was also recruiting Tim Tebow. Meyer lied to Snead and said that he was recruiting Tebow as a linebacker. Snead is an incredible talent and probably the most underrated player in college football. And yes, Schiano was interviewed and he did in fact turn the job down. Barry Alvarez was also a name being thrown around and that's the guy I really wanted but I knew it would never happen. Barry and Miami President Donna Shalala have been very close friends for many many years and when Alvarez left Wisconsin on his own terms, I immediately began driving the Official Barry Alvarez bandwagon lol. Spurrier was also a name tossed around but that kind of upset a lot of boosters and I don't think it ever would have happened considering his background at Florida. Bernie Kosar was also interviewed but that was just a courtesy interview. Kind of like Patrick Nix being interviewed for the Auburn head coaching job.

 

[BorisOnAMobile]

"We do have a lot of Freshman playing and starting. Maybe not anymore than Florida State but certainly more than Florida...at least at the key playmaking positions. Great teams like Florida with a Senior quarterback can get away with starting a Freshman lineman and maybe a Freshman receiver. Miami can't. Not with Jacory Harris. Florida State can't. Not with Christian Ponder. At least not now. Maybe midway thru the 2009 season or next year we'll seem some gains with Harris and Ponder. But I will say that I was very impressed with Jacory Harris and how he handled himself against Cal in a game we were supposed to get rolled in." NOT TRUE just to clear the record, in 2008 Marve was considered a freshman. Truth is he was a redshirt freshman meaning he was in his second year at Miami in 2008. In 2008 the number of true freshmen/redshirt freshman/true sophmores in the starting lineup for Florida was 9. I understand the Canes had reserves who were getting playing time that fit the above mentioned 2nd year at the program or less category but, Its not like they were the only team in the state with young players. Fla had players like Matt Patchan, Jeff Demps, Deonte Thompson, Will Hill and Justin Trattou that werent starters but had been playing throughout the season, not just in blowouts. Just another note Ponder was a redshirt sophmore and Jacory has to assume some not all blame for that 2 minute drill/blunder against CAL. Nix deserved 55% of the blame, Shannon 30% and Harris 15%. This has nothing to do with this debate but a lot of people think Miami will start 0-4 this season but i dont think that will happen. I think GT and OU are losses but VT always starts the season slow, doesnt have a high scoring offense and barring rain the weather should be good. The FSU game is tough but playing it in the first week of the season actually benefits the 09 Canes. All the labor day meetings between Miami and FSU were low scoring games where both teams did not look ready for such a big game that early. FSU's offense looked better than Miami last season and ended the year better, but the first game of the season against a non D1AA or smaller D1 team usually means less scoring for any team. That is something that favors Miami in 09. Being it will be the first game of the year the Canes fans should travel in large numbers to Doak as opposed to that game being in week 5. I think its a toss up but i think Miami will be 2-2 after 4 games at worst 1-3. Miami schedule softens every week after week 4 ( not saying that they have a weak schedule in 09 ) and i think theyll be 6-6 or 7-5 after 12 games.

 

[CedarPhin]

Anyway, we'll have to have a prediction thread.

Maybe I'll put one up after the Spring Game.

 

[JCane]

"We do have a lot of Freshman playing and starting. Maybe not anymore than Florida State but certainly more than Florida...at least at the key playmaking positions. Great teams like Florida with a Senior quarterback can get away with starting a Freshman lineman and maybe a Freshman receiver. Miami can't. Not with Jacory Harris. Florida State can't. Not with Christian Ponder. At least not now. Maybe midway thru the 2009 season or next year we'll seem some gains with Harris and Ponder. But I will say that I was very impressed with Jacory Harris and how he handled himself against Cal in a game we were supposed to get rolled in." NOT TRUE just to clear the record, in 2008 Marve was considered a freshman. Truth is he was a redshirt freshman meaning he was in his second year at Miami in 2008. In 2008 the number of true freshmen/redshirt freshman/true sophmores in the starting lineup for Florida was 9. I understand the Canes had reserves who were getting playing time that fit the above mentioned 2nd year at the program or less category but, Its not like they were the only team in the state with young players. Fla had players like Matt Patchan, Jeff Demps, Deonte Thompson, Will Hill and Justin Trattou that werent starters but had been playing throughout the season, not just in blowouts. Just another note Ponder was a redshirt sophmore and Jacory has to assume some not all blame for that 2 minute drill/blunder against CAL. Nix deserved 55% of the blame, Shannon 30% and Harris 15%. This has nothing to do with this debate but a lot of people think Miami will start 0-4 this season but i dont think that will happen. I think GT and OU are losses but VT always starts the season slow, doesnt have a high scoring offense and barring rain the weather should be good. The FSU game is tough but playing it in the first week of the season actually benefits the 09 Canes. All the labor day meetings between Miami and FSU were low scoring games where both teams did not look ready for such a big game that early. FSU's offense looked better than Miami last season and ended the year better, but the first game of the season against a non D1AA or smaller D1 team usually means less scoring for any team. That is something that favors Miami in 09. Being it will be the first game of the year the Canes fans should travel in large numbers to Doak as opposed to that game being in week 5. I think its a toss up but i think Miami will be 2-2 after 4 games at worst 1-3. Miami schedule softens every week after week 4 ( not saying that they have a weak schedule in 09 ) and i think theyll be 6-6 or 7-5 after 12 games.

Very true. Like I said, we may not have had more Freshman playing and starting but we certainly had more playing and starting than Florida...at least at the key playmaking positions.

Read all of that.

Playmaking positions: Miami quarterback, Redshirt Freshman, Robert Marve compared to Florida quarterback, Junior and Heisman trophy winner, Tim Tebow.

Aldarius Johnson and Travis Benjamin. Both wide receivers. Both True Freshman compared to Florida Senior wide receiver Louis Murphy, and Junior Percy Harvin.

Sean Spence, Tue Freshman middle linebacker compared to Florida middle linebacker, Junior Brandon Spikes.

At key playmaking positions, the only position that was truly equal was at running back. Graig Cooper(Sophomore) and Javarris James(Junior), compared to Emmanuel Moody(Sophomore) and Brandon James(Junior). Although, I will credit Florida for giving two Freshman, Chris Rainey and Jeffrey Demps, quality playing time.

And Robert Marve may have been a Redshirt Freshman, but so what? It was still his first year taking snaps in college football. God knows that gutterball didn't take any in 2007 with a bum hand.

Deonte Thompson might be a True Freshman, but he didn't see near the playing time that Aldarius Johnson, LaRon Byrd, or Travis Benjamin saw. Why? Because of Senior Louis Murphy and Junior Percy Harvin. Deonte Thompson had 18 receptions. Johnson, Benjamin, and Byrd all had at least 18 catches as well...but from a Redshirt Freshman quarterback—not a former Heisman trophy winner such as Tim Tebow.

And yes, this is a brutal schedule. I believe we beat FSU only because there seems to be a trade-off pattern as of late. We won in 2007. They won in 2008, etc. Silly reason, yes, but I'll stick by it. Georgia Tech is up in the air but I believe if Randy Shannon is smart, he will pick up the blueprint laid by Les Miles. Against Virginia Tech is always a dog fight but this time it's in Blacksburg. Still, the same Hurricane team had it's way with the Hokies this past season up until the final quarter or so of play. There's no reason why we can't perform at the same level again—especially with a few extra days of rest. Oklahoma...let's move on.