The Good, The Bad, and The Brutal: Bowl Edition

Duke Johnson (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Written By: Nathan Skinner
                  Canes Rising Contributor

Disappointing(adj)--failing to fulfill someone's hopes or expectations. 

It's the one word that sums up the 2014 season, and it's a word that shouldn't ever be associated with Hurricane football.  Miami isn't  a 6-7 football team talent wise, there's no way around it. South Carolina isn't a defensive juggernaut, they are the worst defensive team Miami has faced all season. Offensive Coordinator James Coley should be ashamed of his gameplan, for it wasn't a plan for success, only certain failure.  

The Good

 Duke Johnson--It's been a pleasure watching DJ run for the 'Canes, and once again he delivered an entertaining performance.  Duke was heavily featured, and despite running into 8-9 man fronts, he was effective.  Johnson averaged over five yards per carry, finishing the day with 132 yards. He was responsible for a couple of turnovers, but that can be partially attributed to a gameplan that put him into some awful situations.  Whether fans want to admit it or not, Duke has been an outstanding player, and he's going to be a major contributor at the next level. 

Player Effort--Following disappointing losses, it was noted that the 'Canes were flat, and disinterested.  That wasn't the case Saturday, as the 'Canes stuck with it even with the game turning in the second quarter.  That said, these players can't overcome a staff that doesn't believe in them, or give them a chance to win. Fans saw the underclassmen take control of the team which led to a change in how the team behaved when faced with adversity.  They didn't quit, and that bodes well for the future. 

The Bad

Tracy Howard--Once upon a time, Tracy was looked upon as a potential star.  He's now a player who is stealing a scholarship, and shouldn't be allowed on the field.  There's a reason why Corn Elder and Artie Burns have passed Howard on the depth chart, and that reason is effort.  Elder and Burns are fighters, and while that may lead to some bad plays and penalties on occasion, it's obvious to anyone watching that those two players want to play, they believe in the system. Tracy thinks he knows better than secondary coach Paul Williams, and he doesn't. 

Mark D'Onofrio--While this game didn't turn due to the defense, D'Onofrio deserves some criticism.  Miami has two potential stars in the secondary but still continues to play a passive zone.  South Carolina exploited that with Pharoh Cooper having 170 yards in receptions.The sky is the limit for this unit, if D'Onofrio caters to their strengths. Playing a passive zone, against a player like Pharoh Cooper isn't playing to those strengths.

The Brutal

James Coley--James is the highest paid assistant in program history.  He should be writing a refund check after his awful performance against South Carolina.  The Gamecocks dared Miami to pass and Coley chose to run a variety of low percentage plays instead.  Brad Kaaya is a talented young quarterback who has shown the ability to make good decisions, there's no excuse why he should be coddled at this point. Consistently running Duke Johnson into the teeth of an overloaded defense is not only pointless, it's dangerous.  It's obvious that Coley isn't a viable playcaller and Al Golden has to demote Coley before Brad Kaaya's development is stunted further. 

 Al Golden--It's time to admit the obvious: this team underachieved.  This Miami team is significantly better than the 2013 version, and that team won 9 games.  Miami should have matched if not exceeded that  total. Golden has to realize that this staff isn't good enough, and that changes must be made. If he's unwilling to make those changes, then it is time to dismiss the head man.  Al has done a lot for the University, his foresight and fundraising acumen are well documented, but the on field product is disappointing to say the least.  This team should be better than 6-7, and if Golden wants to regain the trust of the fanbase, he has to be willing to make significant changes.  

Miami Controls its own ACC Destiny

Yes, you read that correctly. The perfectly mediocre Canes (on a good day) now have an opportunity to make the ACC Title game if they win out, or if they lose just once (to either NC State or Boston College) while Florida State beats Virginia Tech who would have already beaten Georgia Tech and then the Hokies turn around and beat Virginia. Realistically, Miami needs to win two games to finish with a .500 ACC record and seven regular season wins which would be an improvement over last season. The truth is that Miami having lost to a terrible North Carolina team (a club I would venture to say has a real opportunity to break Duke's three year long league losing streak) and a poor Georgia Tech team in consecutive weeks has no business thinking about or talking Conference title.

SEC Propoganda Upset by FSU Win

The propaganda machine sponsored by CBS and certain elements at ESPN took a hit Saturday as Florida State stuck it to Alabama in the first River City Shootout. While for some in the media it must have come as a shock that an ACC school, especially FSU who has been much ridiculed by the national media could humble a SEC school with a great coach like Nick Saban, here at Canes Rising we know that the myth of SEC infalibility has been built up through a clever propaganda machine which has sold a totally unsuspecting national media on a set of facts which just don't add up.

Here are some facts: (Taken from Vinnie Cane's post on Canes Sport after the FSU "upset" of Alabama.)

• Over the past seven years the SEC is 41-42 in OOC play versus BCS opponents. Those numbers are deceiving. If you take out BCS bottom dwellers Rutgers, Temple, Duke, Wake Forest, and Indiana the mighty SEC is 29-42 in OOC play versus the big boys.

• The SEC has also managed to drop 24 games versus non-BCS D-1 teams. Damn, that's not very good. They also managed to drop two contests to 1-AA competition. It's bad enough they are scheduling these teams but do they have to lose to them?

• Florida has not played an OOC game outside of the state of Florida since 1991......so perhaps Florida State and Miami have already racked more OOC miles this year than UF has since 1992!

While the ACC has suffered a dip the past few years, the reality is that the league continues to have much success against the SEC. While last year was a problem for the ACC, the truth is Clemson and Florida State until recently have virtually dominated their in-state SEC rivals. Congratulations to Florida State for an important victory not only for Bobby Bowden and his program but for the entire ACC.

Let me also add that it was the success of Miami and Florida State as programs that created this SEC propaganda machine. With two independent upstarts in the state of Florida showing up SEC competition, the elites that run the league were determined to run down those two schools and essentially sell an inferior product to the public. This involved clearly packaging a product as a one of a kind experience both on gameday and during the week and running down the lack of tradition of Florida State and Miami. The SEC lords succeeded in hoodwinking the public and media on this and furthermore then started raiding the Miami and Florida State coaching staffs and stealing the concepts of winning football FSU and Miami employed to try and prove their superiority.


Other ACC notes:

• Al Groh's UVA team is looking stronger every week. Don't be shocked to see the Cavs in Jacksonville for the title game.
• Maryland also had a nice win for the ACC with the 34-24 upset of Rutgers on the road.
  
• NC State continues to struggle in Tom O'Brien's first year. Scoring only 10 points against a horrible Louisville defense is unacceptable.
  
• Georgia Tech's win against Clemson keeps the Jackets alive in the race for an ACC title game birth. A third league loss this early would have been devastating.
  

I'll have more on the Canes game later today.

ACC Thoughts and Notes

• Jim Grobe's Wake Forest team showed the fighting spirit of 06' for the first time in 2007 with an epic comeback to drop Maryland in overtime at Groves Stadium. Wake has to be considered more than a one year wonder partly because Grobe had the Deacons on the cusp for many years and also because of the discipline instilled in his players.
  
• Virginia is 3-0 in the ACC under Al Groh for the second time in four seasons. Three years ago UVA collapsed losing to Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech. I believe however this year UVA has to be considered as good a bet as anyone to win the ACC Coastal division.
  
• Boston College looked sluggish early against Army but stepped up big late to pad the scoreline.
• Duke's offense exploded against Navy but the Defense couldn't stop the Midshipmen rushing attack and the Blue Devils quest for a winning streak ended in a 46-43 last second loss. It is worth noting that even though Duke has only won once in the past three seasons they have lost five games in the dying seconds including last season's games with Miami and eventual ACC Champion Wake Forest.
• I don't want to make this blog a political discussion forum, but I for one am disgusted by the tassering of FSU's Geno Hayes by the Tallahassee police. I cannot think of anything Hayes could have done short of trying to kill someone in what was essentially a bar brawl to have deserved being tassered. The arrest report which I have read describes Hayes as "non-violently resisting arrest." If it was really non violent, why did the Police resort to virtual violence themselves? Accordingly I think the media needs to shift the focus from Hayes and Surratt to the conduct of the officers involved.
  
• Florida State's matchup with Alabama this week is a big game for all ACC teams and fans. A win by the Seminoles will restore some credibility for the league in the nation's eyes following Virginia Tech and Miami's road debacle's against top 5 teams. Miami's win over Texas A&M was a nice start for an ACC revival and here's hoping the Noles do their part next week.
• NC State and North Carolina both hired accomplished high profile coaches this past off season but both schools clearly have a huge talent gap right now with much of the league which it will take time to correct.
  
• Georgia Tech isn't very good this year and Chan Gailey's contract extension signed a year ago has to be questioned. If the Jackets lose to Georgia again this year, the school must consider Gailey's position considering he has not won the league, has not beaten Georgia and has landed the school on probation.
  
• Virginia Tech continues to underwhelm. For me this is not surprising as anytime the Hokies are touted as a power before the year they dissapoint and when they are not hyped, they tend to dominate.
  

Around the ACC

• Despite a poor opening game versus Wyoming, Al Groh's team is now 2-0 in the ACC. The Cavs hung on for a hard fought 22-20 victory at Chapel Hill yesterday. A great game for Cedric Peerman as he ran all over Carolina's defense.
  
• Florida State's offense continued its anemic form last night in Boulder, but the defense was in rare form to lead the Noles to a 16-6 win over Colorado. This is perhaps the best win for an ACC club thus far this year in non-league play and Drew Weatherford looked uncomfortable at times but did recall that in a pinch throwing a jump ball in Greg Carr's direction usually results in a big play.
  
• Duke snapped its 24 game losing streak with a 20-14 win over Northwestern in Evanston. Ted Roof's team have had many near misses during the last year and a half most notably a 14-13 last second loss last season to eventual league champion Wake Forest in Winston Salem.
• Virginia Tech won a big game against Ohio in Blacksburg 28-7. Leading 14-7 late in the game, Frank Beamer kept his faith with Tyrod Taylor who led two important scoring drives to secure a victory for the Hokies in an important bounce back game.
  
• Wake Forest still smarting from two close losses against Boston College and Nebraska seemed lethargic but good enough for the win against Army 21-10.
  
• Boston College crushed Georgia Tech in Atlanta 24-10. The Eagles are now 3-0 in the league and appear to be a genuine national championship contender if the polls were a little fairer.
  
• NC State won its first game of the year 38-17 over Wofford.
  
• Clemson beat Furman 38-10.
  
• Miami beat Florida International 23-9 despite an awful offense performance and the baffling decision by Randy Shannon to pull the redshirt off of two freshman in order for them to return kickoffs.
  

Around the ACC

• Al Groh is in serious trouble as Virginia Coach following a difficult loss to Wyoming.
• Another embarrassing loss for the conference was suffered at the hands of George O'Leary's Central Florida Knights. Tom O'Brien, one of the best coaches anywhere probably didn't realize the NC State team he inherited is this poor.
  
• The conference did have a notable non league win with Georgia Tech's convincing (and may I add satisfying for an Irish hater like me) victory in South Bend. Tashard Choice had a great day just plowing up the middle and between the tackles for Tech.
  
• Virginia Tech perhaps suffering from high expectations or all the emotion related to the mass killing in Blacksburg in April looked lethargic in a 17-7 win over East Carolina.
  
• Boston College's defense picked off three Riley Skinner passes in an impressive 38-28 win over Wake Forest. This puts Wake behind the eight ball in its quest to repeat as ACC Champions.
  
• Matt Ryan is the early front runner for ACC player of the year with the great effort versus Wake.
• Florida State vs Clemson Monday Night. What a great matchup to showcase how good this league really is in front of the nation.