Miami

Upon further review...this game will be remembered for two things. The absolutely atrocious officiating and the knockout blow that Nigel LightsOut Bradham laid on that poor Cane receiver. I do not believe in my lifetime I will ever witness in person a 6 minute play review that gets confirmed; reconfirmed, and then reviewed and overturned after a coach informs the crack ACC crew that they don't know the rule. This game had 17 minutes of review time. Seventeen! We only play 15 minute quarters. They announced to the crowd coming back to their seats at the start of the second half that the replay booth and operator were temporarily not in service. No kidding. The replay machine was literally smoking from overuse (we really did smell smoke in section 34) and had to be replaced, while the poor replay official was caught trying to leave Doak through a side entrance. If he had not stopped to gawk at the Golden Girls returning from their locker room, he would have made it too. Shame for us, because the situation did not improve much in half # 2. Tough to justify every man in a B&W striped uniform throwing a flag on Bradham's hit and every damn one of them was wrong. I can see one guy having a bad angle, but it was snowing yellow hankies, and they were all on crack. The officials controlled every aspect of this game, and left the players and coaches in the dust. They set the tempo (or lack thereof), allowed aggregious holding from both offensive lines that encouraged illegal edge play, and got so many calls wrong that even their faith in themselves became an issue as they reviewed everything possible. How about this for incompetence...I understand that in Clemson this weekend there was a 5:48 second delay because the ACC crew there could not figure out how many yards would be "half the distance" for a play that started on the 17 with a offensive holding call. Folks all over Death Valley were screaming 8 & half yards, but the zebras apparently needed a calculator.

Overall, this was the first game all season where we played a team that matched us physically. For most of the game, the Miami offensive front took us where they wanted us to go. They overloaded the line with extra boys and doubled at the point of attack. This plan, along with a terrific back that pounds ahead for 3-5 yards even when he is hit is a recipe for ball control, and they did. They had big receivers that caught well thrown balls on the edge on tight coverage. I think my biggest disappointment on defense was the lack of plays made by Vince Williams and Telvin Smith. With our line getting stalemated with extra bodies, these guys needed to shoot gaps and make some plays - and they did not. Bradham played great and combined with the kamakazi stylings of Nick Moody, bad boy QB's and backs that break out of jail at the line - and get stood up - tend to fall down rather than wait for these angry sherriffs leading the posse. Nice to see each safety grabbing a pick, even if only one of them counted. Terrance Parks displayed the soft hands of a lifetime stone mason on that last one, but finally it stuck to some wayward cement on his wrist. The best pick of the day (also did not count) was when Dawkins grabbed the ball just off the ground after the aforementioned Nigel Niquil party. Our boys looked gassed in the last period, so thank gawd that young Mr. O'Leary grabbed that onside kick. I shudder to wonder if we could have hung on had they got another crack at us with 1:25 left.

Offensively, Jimbo simply was not prepared for the emotion of this game. The first few series were a disaster. A rivalry game has defensive players all trying to do too much and overpursuit is a natural result. Don't run into it, but use the weapons you have to create misdirection and use it against them. The second half showed that if we wanted we could have tossed it all over the yard and scored at will. A big lead and the clock on your team dictated that we run, but I think we finally got the right feel for the game after halftime and fortunately other factors -like them spitting up on themselves with turnovers - had us in front by 10 at the time. Poor Austin Barron apparently spent the week at ACC Officials Math Camp, because he could not remember the snap count to save his life. Hint: if you look between your legs and the QB does not have his mouth piece in yet, wait on firing a rifle shot to him on the goal line. He was early, he was late, he was benched in Quarter #2. He will be stronger for these two starts next season. Jimbo likes him some Devonta, and I certainly can see why. However, I am not sure I saw another TB on the field this week. That surprised me. Loved the fact that we brought in the German on 3rd and goal from the 1. He took his LB all the way to the student section before he pancaked him. Unfortunately, the play went the other direction where hapless TE Jabaris Little played matador with his assignment and EJ got obliterated. I dread 3rd and short like broccoli at Sunday dinner.

Favorite moments...Lonnie Pryor realizing during a timeout in the fourth quarter that the bathroom was priority numero uno and sprinting 60 yards of field and however farther into the Nole locker room...taking care of biz...and sprinting an equal distance back to be slapped on the backside (comment withheld) and given the ball on the next play. So, for all of you at home that find it tough to make it to the hopper during the TV timeout, you now have another reason to be inspired by Lonnie Pryor. After Brooks brushed the Oscar winning Cane punter and gave them the ball back, Jimbo strolled over to Special Teams Coach Eddie Gran with his arms open wide and his mouth open (BTW, Greg Reid had his finest return of the game on this punt and eluded about 9 Miami players while bringing it back to the 29). Gran just kept walking away and trying to put Nole players on the sideline between him and the HC. It was like Sideline Hide & Seek...Jimbo won. Blog readers know my affection for Karlos Williams, so it should come as no surprise that I exploded out of my seat when #9 got to about the 30 yard line and took that 6'4" 250lb body into an unhuman speed gear on the kickoff return. About 4 orange and green boys had angles on him, and then then didn't. Wow, can that big man move.

Shawn Powell was the game MVP. He was the difference in the game and it may not be debatable. His first punt was a 50+ yard bomb that he gently deposited on the 1 yard line. After that, twice he sent rockets out of our end zone sailing over the returners' head and the one he hit "short", bounced so far that we recovered a fumble after Nole Killer Benjamin played paddy cake with the pigskin while going the wrong way. In a game when neither the offense or defense was playing especially well, and Dustin missed a kick (don't say it!) wide right, Powell was money.

Miami is about to be delivered a Category 4 storm from the NCAA in the offseason and it should cripple the already moribund program to Duke-like levels. There is a chance that at home in 2012, they still have enough talent to give us a game, but after that they should not be able to compete for quite a while. We will be opening our season with a directional school and Miami before we start the real competition. All of this is why it was so crucial that we found a way to win this week - and we did. Do not forget that we have outplayed this particular opponent for 80% of the game a large number of times only to go home frustrated as a Dwarf in a dunking contest. They have 5 National Championships and we have 2. If the best team won this game every year, that number could be reversed. Take a win over the U and move on. Let's keep it going this week against the Hoos.