Miami

Defining moments. Do we know when they happen? Buckner looking between his legs...Kirk Gibson limping to the plate before launching the sphere into the heavens...Adam when he took that 1/2 price snake coupon from Eve and headed to PetSmart...Ceasar when he taunted Brutus after winning 3 weeks straight in Fantasy Gladiator...and in the Miami series, Coach Bowden jogging on the field looking lost after another kick sailed wide. Well, now we may have Jimbo's moment. Up by 14 and the Canes mounting a now patented second half comeback with a 3rd and 9 from the 18. 100% of the time in this series, we run the ball up the middle and try & get the FG to go up by 17. Jimbo calls a risky out pattern in the end zone to a WR that has never caught a TD pass in his career. Bawaam. TD. Noles up 21 and ballgame over. Defining moment.

My game ball goes to Rick Trickett, and Andrew Datko. We ran for a media noche short of 300 yards on the best defense in the ACC. This game was played on the Miami side of the ball. I thought it was a little cocky of Rodney Hudson to bring maple syrup to the line of scrimmage in anticipation of multiple pancakes, but Datko and Zebrie both came equipped with powdered sugar and fresh fruit. Justified arrogance I guess. No sacks and Chris Thompson only stopped running when he got to Key Largo. Jermaine Thomas ran harder than at any time in his career. He blasted through holes like Tiger in Vegas and made the first man miss almost every time. And Yes, Lonnie Pryor is still my fave on that side of the ball. If there is a big run, chances are Lonnie is driving the bus. This game, he got a little honey too; a big TD run in traffic and another 25 yard burst when we needed a spark. If JT had not gotten in front of Lonnie on his long run, we would have had two plus 50 yard TD's.

My nitpicks on the offense were the wideouts - again. Bert Reed had three balls blow through his Nivea-soft female hands, and Willie Haulstead killed a drive with a drop. We have to find a way to find some route runners. The next few teams are going to absolutely load up the line to stop the run. That should mean big games through the air for Christian, but he needs someone to throw to not named after an Asian city.

A terrific team effort on defense from all three levels. The Canes left at least 6 in to block on every passing down, and often added an additional back or TE to chip. Our response was to drop 6 or 7 into zone coverage and our kids nailed it. Don't think for a minute that some of those dropped passes were not the result of the Thor hammerthrows that we laid on their bevy of 6'4" wispy wideouts. Who feeds these boys? Combine Jacory with their WR corps, and they look like the Tanzanian marathon team after a six month training session living just on roots and indigenous berries. No wonder a Mike Harris wallop knocked em silly. Just give that poor cane a thickburger and fries and he will be fine. Speaking of corners, is there a better set of backup corners than Mike Harris and Lamarcus Joyner? In this game, Harris had two knockout hits, a pass breakup and caused the fumble that turned the game around. For a Miami kid that lost his mom just two weeks back, this had to feel really good. The omnipresent Greg Reid only had 1 significant pass completed on his side and that long throw to Benjamin was honestly perfect and about indefensible.

On the LB level, Kendyll Smith played the best game of his career. When Miami needed to run on first down early in the game, he was flying to the football. It was also nice to see the very nasty Nigel Bradham kiss a Cane night-night in the second half. Yes, it was our 125th helmet to helmet penalty of the season, but watching #13 singing "hush little baby" over the top of the now slumbering orange & green infant was just so sweet it made you tear up. It is hard to effusively praise the D-Line when the opponent gets 400 yards, but they did their job. Again, when Miami wanted to run early in the game, they had no room. You win first down, and those play action fakes on 2nd and 3rd are meaningless because they have to throw. All this being said, Marcus White - whom you can never fault for effort - ran like his girlfriend was on fire all night long. Jacobbi is demanding double teams, and after the first quarter, Brandon Jenkins had 600 lbs in his way as well. The line did their job, stopped the run and created just enough pressure to get the ball out and keep contain. If there is a weakness - and by god I am the man to point it out - we are now seeing that teams are attacking this zone with some effectiveness by delaying the wideouts in the slot and dragging them across the short middle right in front of the QB. The answer to this is for a Nigel Bradham or Terrance Parks to beat the crossing player like a hormonal rhino laying into Pee Wee Herman. That might dissuade future blind crossing routes.

So, we proudly march on. It is fun to be a Nole this week for all the reasons that any warm blooded G&G fan that lives within 500 miles of Gainesville already knows. Let's keep this train rolling. The win probably means a decent crowd this weekend in Doak, and we need to beat BC at home for a change. As long as an emergency Gold-out is not called, we should be ok. Happy Birthday Barbara Thomas & Jimbo Fisher...presumably the same age or at least the gap is closing.

Go Noles!