This morning I'm still speechless and dumbfounded by the performance last night. As poorly as I believed Miami would be this season, and as good as I picked UVA to be (recall before the season on this site I picked Miami to finish below .500 and Virginia to win the ACC Coastal but lose to FSU in the ACC Title Game) I remarked yesterday morning that I believed the Cavs were 2 to 3 TDs better than UM any time other than this night, the grand finale at the OB. But the old lady I believed would be the equalizer, the intangible the spurred the Canes to at the very least an inspired close shave loss to a very good and nationally under appreciated Virginia team. The monster crowd last night wanted something good to happen and tried to spur on the team but alas the crowd cared a heck of a lot more than the team did.
But the disgraceful play which the emotionless Hurricanes demonstrated, totally stripped of any enthusiasm by Coach Randy Shannon's old school rules and regulations is an a complete embarrassment to South Florida, the legacy of this program and most of all to the old lady herself. The Hurricanes have a fickle fan base to start with. While public opinion polls and merchandise sales show Miami as one of the most popular College sports programs nationally, I would venture to say the majority of these people are actually not Miami fans but in fact fans of winning. They have "supported" Miami because of the winning football we have played for the last twenty five plus years. They have also by and large supported Miami because of the anti-establishment nature of UM's teams and exciting open pro style offense we played. My fear is that as a a small urban private university competeting in the conference and the state against larger public schools that Miami could go into a permanent state of decline. While I can be partly reassured by Miami's top 5 recruiting class this year, the reality as Steve Walsh described last night on Hurricanes Extra Point last night is that Miami traditionally took players that flew under the national radar (2 and 3 star recruits), instilled an attitude in them of world beaters and then took on the big boys who had the 5 star recruits and usually whooped them.
Larry Coker's failures have much discussed on this site, and while I feel for many reasons Coker gets a bad rap, his biggest fault was his obsession with recruiting ratings and his psychopathic loyalty to Kyle Wright, whose failure after being to top HS player in the nation will go down as symbol of this failed era of UM Football. I still recall the first game of 2004 sitting in the West End Zone as we trailed FSU arguing with numerous fans who wanted Brock Berlin benched and Freshman Kyle Wright to enter the game. I pleaded with these people that Brock had done it before and could do it again, that he'd never quit on this team or our fans. I was right: Brock took us 89 yards in the last minute and then led us to an overtime win. The next week I sat in horror as during a blowout win over LA Tech the crowd gave Kyle Wright making his first UM appearance a standing ovation. Not only was it insulting to our incumbent starting QB, but it was too much of a burden for one kid to endure. When I saw Wright play against GA Tech three weeks later in mop up duty after Berlin had thrown 3 TDs in an easy win, I was horrified. How could this guy be a future starting QB at the U, I wondered?
I had hoped I would be wrong. I had hoped all the flak I have taken both on this site and at the games the past four years about not trusting Wright would be wrong. But my initial hunch was dead on. What was worse is that Larry Coker failed to sign another decent QB during Wright's tenure and let 4 QB commitments sign elsewhere. Kirby Freeman had his moments last season, as Wright did the year before. But both QBs had substantially regressed as Juniors and in Wright's case he has regressed even further as a senior. But it isn't all his fault. Around him are a group lifeless, emotionless players who go through the motions far too often to be appreciated.
The old lady is about die a violent death at the hands of City of Miami's greed and avarice. As I left the Orange Bowl for one last time last night, I couldn't believe a group of impostors wearing a "U" on their helmets had so little regard for what that stadium meant to the game. The OB is the cathedral of the College game, the place where championships were won and the place where the feeling was always so special. Were this some other town in the US, or some other part of the world, they wouldn't be tearing down the old lady. But this is south Florida where the transient nature of the people and the pro sports culture deems the Orange Bowl a "dump." I understand why UM had to move north to Dolphin Stadium, though I wish it weren't so. But I don't understand the City of Miami and their rush to demolish the stadium and presumably replace it with condominiums or something of the sort. I suppose the Hurricanes play last night typifies the attitudes in this town towards the shrine that is the Orange Bowl. May she rest in peace and not remember the last several games her 70 year long spouse played on her field.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
The Old Lady Dies Weeping
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18 comments:
Kyle Wright isn't good but the receivers around him or horrible. How can we not recruit anyone better than Leggett or Shields all these years?
This game will forever be known as THE EMBARRASSMENT THAT CLOSED THE OB.
The result of this game falls squarely on the coaching staff. How are the players not JACKED UP for the last game at the Orange Bowl? Poor game preparation by the coaches. The seniors played with no pride at all.
Look, they may not have won this game because Virginia is better than us this year, but it should have at least been close and the team should have put up a fight. They did not and that falls squarely on Shannon and his staff for not getting the team prepared mentally for the game.
I agree that Shannon's "every position is up for grabs every week" approach may be hurting the team. They are playing scared. They need to play fast and loose to maximize their talent, instead they are being handcuffed by worrying about mistakes.
As far as Coker and his recruiting classes: lets not forget that Wright was the #1 RATED HIGH SCHOOL QUARTERBACK WHEN HE COMMITTED TO UM!! No, he hasn't panned out but you can hardly blame the coaches for recruiting him. They have done a poor job in recruiting additional QB's, and this year it has come back to bite them big time.
Also, where is the in-game adjustments that need to be made in today's game? Why was the tight end for VA open well into the second half. That should have been fixed in the first quarter, and at worst, at halftime.
Where was the ground game that ran all over NC ST? I understand wanting to get balanced with the pass but why not ground it out some in the first and second quarters? Where was the play action? I only saw one play action pass and it was completed for a first down. Why does it take until halfway through game 10 before they realize that their tight ends can make plays and need to be a part of the offense?
I have stood up for Coach Shannon all year, standing behind the idea that he was dealing w/ Coker's mistakes and first year jitters. That ends with this game. The performance his team put out last night was pathetic at best. No heart was shown and certainly no pride in playing for THE U!
He needs to figure out, now, how to coach a D1 PROGRAM (not just defense). Lets hope his recruits stay with him and help turn this thing around.
Kartik, this is an outstanding post , perhaps your best in the three years I've been reading this site. I have additional thoughts.
Patrick Nix is the easiest OC to defensively scheme against. I have not seen any consistency all year from his offense. Offensive line play has been horrible. If our running game were not good, we would be Notre Dame this year. How can you not bring it when all the history of the OB, all the greats on hand, Nationally Televised ESPN night game with all the hype of a farewell on Senior Night? Unprepared, lack of effort, out-coached and out-hustled. Mike Groh was in Walton's head all night. It was like Belichik furnished him with our game plan on video. I will always support the Canes, but this night hurt, the OB and all the great games and players that were remembered there tonight deserved a better effort than what this team gave.
They truly deserve to forego any Bowl Game if invited, if eligible? That is a moot point because we won't win one of the last two games unless things change.
Oh yeah, here we go again. Defense gives up a 90+ drive to start the game and over 450 yards of offense, offense cannot run the ball or pass protect, receivers can't catch the frickin ball, special teams can't reverse field position, can't punt the ball without getting it blocked....
and Kyle Wright is the source of all our ills?
We (all of us) need to grow up. We have serious issues that Shannon needs to address. He's had these kids since Spring of last year, so it can no longer be blamed on Coker. He's had plenty of time to evaluate who can play and who cannot. Somewhere his message is getting lost on these kids, and they have regressed since Texas A&M.
This was more embarrasing than the '97 loss to FSU, that team was on probation. This team looked like they were playing their first game. Obviously we were not prepared for Virginia's tight ends. A lot of criticism has been thrown our QB's way because they lock onto Darnell Jenkins, but he's the only one that will actually catch balls thrown to him. The O-line was ill prepared to handle the VA rush, and I still would like to know what happened to the three step drops and wide receiver screens? Seems like we were not prepared for ANYTHING!
We were outplayed, outhit, outcoached. VA played with more skill, more intelligence, more courage and more heart.
Yet Kartik will always blame Wright first, the coaches second and nobody else ever third.
Shannon better hope his commits stay committed and are as good as he thinks they are. Otherwise, he is in trouble because the coaching is terrible. It is not difficult to be competitive. Run the ball, throw to the backs out of the backfield, cover the tightened, play zone defense since your DBs can't cover. There is such a thing as managing a game. Shannon is approaching games as if he as the 2001 or 2002 Canes. You have to make adjustments when you don't have the talent.
I have judged Kyle Wright on his performance for five years, period. I had hoped I would be wrong about him, but alas was not.
You talk about being a fan of winning as if it is something criminal. Why don't you go root for Duke or Vanderbilt if you like losing so much?
Its obvious that even without the level and amount of skill players on this team there is a whole lot more wrong than just this.
To see the horrific mess that we are in , easily leads me to believe that the depth of "Whats Wrong" clearly exhibits that the problems justifibly reach and are shared parts of the entire football program and have very little to do with the Larry Coker syndrome.
For any team , not to get up and play a game that was nationally plastered all over the sporting news for the past 2 weeks and included the hype, the supporting cast, and the overall build up to what should have been a wonderful tribute to all that is the U, magical, magnificant, pride and all about the University of Miami. Instead it turned out to be the biggest flop and embarresment of all recent years.
To do what this entire squad( from the coaching down) did tonight was a true kick in the butt to the U and Virginia came into our house and began the demolishment of the Orange Bowl directly before our eys and helped save the city of Miami a ton of money.
As a season ticket holder for years and having 2 daughters attend the U along with past family members , I will always be a fan and a true supporter of the the University but areas of the program need to be surgically dissected. The football program is disasembling week after week and there has been no measurable improvemnet from one week to another and last nights game was a true synopsis of what is and has been going wrong. From the opening play , it was easy to see that this was going to be a long night and a clone of the game plans of the past weeks.
Murphy's Law seems to be our guiding light and our game plan. Did the U make hasty mistakes in hiring? and the fence that was placed around Dade County , looks like it could have major holes in it. Unispired football is worse than watching 2 knuckleball pithers in Baseball and to exhibit what took place last night is just unexcusable.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers last game against KState got me wondering....IF they can come back after being embarrased and totally lost in a thrashing by kansas to then put similar points on the board and beat kstate.....is it possible for us to win one of the final 2 for RS?
Do the players really "care" enough to win at least one more game for coach?
Now I am not saying we put up that many points or this is RS's last chance or job in jeapordy crap but can we come back and beat Vtech or BC?
you guys can blame RS all yall want to but the fact yeah RS and 3 first time coaches(if u include Nix and Walton) are going through a bit of a learning curve.. but let not let Larry Choker of the hook with the crap he was recruiting. Chokers idea of recruiting was buying a rivals.com membership and seeing who was a 4 or 5 star recruit. and you can make the comparison about dennis Erickson at ASU he has talent he has a QB at ASU in Rudy Carpenter that would start at any acc school outside of boston college and his QB will be a heisman canidate next year...And those of you who are screaming about Butch Davis and what he could have been doing here...lets not forget when we were getting blown out by Donovan McNabb and the Orangeman.. and our Scott Covington led offense (recruited by that same Dennis Erickson) couldnt muster up any points against West Virginia or VaTech we were calling for Butch Davis's head especially when he ran donyell fergurson and a 2 TE set and wouldnt throw the ball because his QB was throwing INT we thought he was being out coached also...give it time folks we'll get back on the way college football works its inevitable.. the key will be staying on top and being able to reload..choker couldn't do it randy will !!!!
Grades:
Randy Shannon: D-
Patrick Nix: F+
TIm Walton: F
Kyle Wright: Z-
At this point in the season I'm sorry to say, it is very hard for anyone to argue that Randy and this coaching staff aren't over there heads. They are very green and they have been constantly out coached game in and game out. That being said, a lot of posters want to give him a by this year and give him the benefit of the doubt. Understandable to a certain extent. Even though I don't understand how you can considering he had 17 returning starters coming back and we are by far worse this year than we were last year at this point.
Everyone says let's allow him to bring in his own players and turn this program around. At this point everyone has been praising his recruiting which has been great if verbal commits counted for anything, but unfortunately until these kids sign on the dotted line it doesn't mean anything. Which at this point we seem to be finding out. My point is this, I think a lot of guys are giving him a pass this year because of this great class that we looked like we were bringing in with all these early verbals. What and remember I am asking what if this recruiting class does fall apart and we do loose the likes of PJ, Patchan, M-Rob etc. We already have local stars from Dade & Broward like Liuget, Hatcher, Sabino, Howard, and Jenkins verbally commit elsewhere. A lot of fans are counting on Randys so called ability to recruit and lock up the local stars. What happens if he doesnt? Does he still get a bye from our fans?
All night long...interceptions...dropped passes.no team can win when all you do is turn the ball over,drop passes and not convert. There is no suprise here....same exact Kyle 5 years later...he couldn`t lead a 1 man parade...and when U have no clear leadership at the qb position U HAVE NO FOUNDATION TO WIN AND BUILD ON....PERIOD.****Every player on the BC team would die for their qb....SHANNON AND NIX HAVE TRIED ALL SEASON LONG TO FIND A FORMULA TO MAKE KYLE OR KIRBY LOOK GOOD...mission impossible for the WORST DIV. 1 QB`S I`VE EVER SEEN. Too many APATHETIC,UNDERACHIEVING COKER LEFTOVERS......TIME FOR MARVE AND OUR NWESTERN RECRUITS TO BRING BACK THE SWAGGER THAT COKER AND HIS GROUP DID THEIR BEST TO DESTROY.
How many games did Jimmy Johnson lose his first year here? I think it was five with a full supporting cast. Butch Davis had players when he first got here & he also used track & other scholies to offset the loss of scholies. What we witnessed with Butch was a green head coach.
This is RS first year with a green coaching staff. Let them get in some studs & then pick them apart. At some point you have to blame the players though. This team is so up & down it's sickening. Coker straight f%$ked this program! We were 7-6 last season & sent 3 players to the pro's in the first round. We are thin everywhere except O-line & RB. You can't take on a full season without having studs behind studs.
Be patient fellas!
Fighting Ibis, JJ took over the team in June or July when Schnelly bolted for the USFL whereas Shannon was in place BEFORE our bowl game last year. I seriously don't see any resemblance. Secondly, in 1984 we beat Auburn, Florida and Notre Dame all away from home and did lose 3 times at home to FSU, Maryland and BC, the last two games being legendary hard luck losses. We also lost a close game in Ann Arbor against Michigan that year.
Butch never stopped being a green head coach. If we could have combined the recruiting savvy and snake oil salesman quality of Butch with the game day prowess and nice guy image of Coker we wouldn't be in this position. Shannon's head coaching follies year one resemble Butch's throughout his UM career. I have gone on the record saying that if Butch had stayed, someone else wins the 2001 title, and plays for the title in 2002. (Why anyone believes that Butch would have been able get a win at Va Tech in the last game of the season in 2001 based on his track record is beyond me ) I stick with that sentiment. Some guys can be head coaches and some guys aren't and for Shannon the early signs aren't good.
Up to this point, Shannon has always been saying how the OB finale is no big deal to him. He doesnt care where they play and has feels no particular obligation to the stadium that helped make him a star here.
The players know what he said, and he was probably drilling them on that all week. Its probably the same rhetoric we'd been hearing about all year from him "Its just another game. You play like if we're playing anyone else. This night has no special meaning and no special value"... blah blah blah.
These players are tanking the rest of the season. Maybe RS is practicing them into the ground, maybe not. Didnt JJ practice his team into the ground during the week? But he was a tremendous motivator. RS so far as Ive been hearing and reading, is no kind of motivator whatsoever. He needs to learn how to speak to his team. When theyre down he needs to use any and all kinds of tactics to get them going...he doesnt seem to be doing that.
I wonder if he's a Coker part 2 in the fact that he feels he shouldnt have to motivate his players, that the players should find motivation themselves. Then again Coker seemed to do more in the way of in-game adjustments than Shannon. Perhpas that was the by-product of hiring seasoned offensive coaches instaed of a newbie like Pat Nix.
I traveled to the Orange Bowl last year when we played you guys. I loved the stadium.
The grass was so green, and the sun was shining on the Miami skyline out the open end. You guys whipped us that day but it was one of my best traveling experiences as a Tar Heel fan.
I don't understand the mentality down your way to tear down a gem like that to play in an NFL Stadium. The place the Dolphins play doesn't have the character, the ambiance the feel of the Orange Bowl.
As you have said South Floridians may view it as a dump as do the FSU fans who all seem to be elites themselves (I'm sure whatever fans Duke has would hate it also) but for most of us who have had the chance to visit and watch a game there it is as good as it gets. I've traveled to see the Heels play Texas, FSU, Wisconsin, Utah etc and I have found the Orange Bowl to be the shrine of all shrines I've been to.
Can you organize an effort to stop the city from knocking the place down on historical grounds?
they cannot tear the place down soon enough for me.
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