Baby Steps

By Kartik Kirshnaiyer
Canes Rising Staff

For all intents and purposes, Miami was lucky to win its first game against an upper-level ACC team under Randy Shannon Saturday.

Wake Forest has cleaned the ACC's clock in close games over the past two-and-a-half seasons, and the Demon Deacons had Miami right where they wanted them entering the second half.

Nine times out of 10 in ACC play, Wake wins this game. Why? Wake is an exceptional team in close games, while Miami's record in close ACC games over the past two-and-a-half seasons is awful.

However, Wake did not have Sam Swank -- the best kicker in the country -- and it made a huge difference.

In addition, Riley Skinner, arguably the best offensive player in the ACC the past two years, attempted only eight passes. Yes, only eight pass attempts. Jim Grobe is one of the best coaches in college football, but today was not his finest day.

Miami will take the win, especially given recent troubles in the conference. But this game was handed to the Canes on a silver platter.

Wake's normally stout secondary did not have a takeaway today despite leading the league in turnovers the last two seasons, including creating seven earlier this season in a win against Florida State. Also, the Demon Deacons are one of the league's worst at running the football, yet they had to rely on the running game Saturday.

Miami won't play many games easier than this and still almost found a way to lose. That's not a good sign, especially with three very difficult games looming before a likely win to close out the season in Raleigh against N.C. State.

Some other thoughts:

• When Miami doesn't get the ball in the hands of Travis Benjamin, the Canes cannot make big plays on offense. After seemingly turning the corner, both Aldarius Johnson and LaRon Byrd had critical drops today and missed opportunities to make big plays.
  
• Miami's offensive line is so poor at drive blocking it seems Pat nix has given up on running the ball from under center.
• Ryan Hill had another solid game playing safety Saturday. Perhaps Larry Coker should not have tried him at WR, although he did have his moments on offense also.
  
• Nice to see Sam Shields make an impact on both offense and special teams. For all the mistakes he's made, Sheilds has shown his character the last few weeks and has rightfully earned his place back into the offensive setup. Leonard Hankerson, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found today.