It ended closer than it should have been after the dominance we saw tonight, but your Miami Hurricanes came out and defeated the rival Florida State Seminoles 28-22 on Saturday night.
Craig T. Smith has your game recap:
Mike Schiffman is back with the 3 stars of the game:
Let’s get into this edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly:
The Good
- A win! Winning isn’t easy, so I’m always going to start with this. Deal with it.
- Beating the Seminoles! SUCK IT!!!!
- STATE CHAMPIONS!!!! Miami went 4-0 vs in-state teams this year for the 2nd consecutive year.
- QB Carson Beck. After arguably the worst game of his career against Florida, Miami’s signal-caller was DEALING tonight. 20/27 for 241 yards, with 4 TDs and 0 INTs.
- To this point of the season, Beck’s stat line continues to be stellar. 102/139 passing (73.4% completions), for 1,2 03 yards, 11 TDs, 3 INTs. And 26 yards and a TD rushing. And, most importantly, 5 wins out of 5 games.
- WR Malachi Toney. 7 catches for 102 yards and 2 TDs. And another long TD negated by penalty. This kid is the truth!
- I don’t usually post things from parents, but Malachi Toney’s mom had the perfect tweet.
- WR CJ Daniels. 5 catches for 78 yards and 2 TDs. He continues to look like an NFL player.
- Nickel Keionte Scott. The co-MVP on defense today. 11 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 1 hurry, 1 PBU, 1 fumble recovered. He was everywhere tonight. And the place where he wasn’t were occupied by…
- S Jakobe Thomas. 5 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 2 PBU, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, and many more pressures. He and Scott were lockdown and helped Miami build their 28-3 lead.
- S Zechariah Poyser had 8 tackles
- LB Wesley Bissainthe had 8 tackles and recovered 2 onside kicks, including the final one which sealed the win for Miami.
- DE Akheem Mesidor. 6 tackles, 2 TFLs, and a sack.
- DE Rueben Bain Jr. only had 4 tackles and 2 hurries, but he was integral in Miami’s run defense shutting down FSU, and was held countless times by the Noles’ OL, but the refs didn’t call it.
- Miami FINALLY hit an explosive offensive play. Beck to Daniels for 47 yards
- Then that same combination of Beck to Daniels capped off the drive for a TD. Look at the route. Daniels has Wilson in hell right now.
- Daniels’ eye black memorialized Kyren Lacey, his former teammate from LSU who tragically took his own life recently.
- FSU QB Thomas Castellanos threw an arm punt on 4th down, which was intercepted and returned 43 yards by true freshman S Bryce Fitzgerald. And then….
- Miami OC Shannon Dawson dialed up a flea flicker and it was GORGEOUS!!! Beck to Toney up top for 44 yards. BLRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
- S Zechariah Poyser forced a fumble by FSU RB Ousmane Kromah, and it was recovered by Keionte Scott!!!!!
- Miami opened the 2nd half with another touchdown pass to Malachi Toney!!!! THAT BOY GOOD!!!!!
- On the next possession, Rueben Bain Jr. provided the pressure to force a late and high throw, which S Jakobe Thomas gladly intercepted to end FSU’s drive.
- And what happened on the ensuing possession? Another touchdown pass from Carson Beck to CJ Daniels, that’s what! With an extra side of trolling, thanks!
- I called Dylan Day out for not being up to his usual standard on special teams vs Florida. So, I’m giving the praise as loud as the previous critique because this hit on punt coverage was INCREDIBLE. WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Day was ejected for targeting on this play, called by the replay booth during a TV timeout. I STRONGLY disagree.
- Held Florida State to 4.9 yards per play.
- Held Florida State to 3.5 yards per rush. This is nearly HALF what they averaged in their first 4 games (6.7ypc)
- 30:26 time of possession.
- 338 yards of offense — 241 passing, 97 rushing.
- 7 chunk plays — 5 passes (15+ yards), 2 runs (10+ yards).
- Another week of solid tackling. Actually, very good tackling from the defense, even with Castellanos’ scrambles.
- 1/1 redzone scoring, with 1 TD
- Crazy, but Miami’s other 3 touchdowns were all explosive/nuclear plays. I know. I know. It’s crazy to me, too!
- Won the turnover battle 3-0 (2 interceptions, fumble recovery)
- 2/3 on 4th down
- 5 TFLs
- 2 sacks (Mesidor, Thomas)
- Only allowed 5 TFLs
- Only allowed 1 sack
- Another advanced stats snapshot that tells the story of a Miami win — that should have been worse than it was. I mean LOOK AT ALL THE DEEP PURPLE (very, very bad) ON THE FLORIDA SIDE!!!!
The Bad
- Miami trailed for the first time this season after FSU scored with a field goal on their opening possession.
- Only 14 1st downs
- 5/14 on 3rd downs. WELL under Miami’s previous average of 50%.
- Allowed FSU 7/16 on 3rd down.
- Allowed FSU 3/4 on 4th down.
- The running game in general. I know Florida has a solid defense, but the Miami run game looked inept and was dominated by the opponent. 97 yards on 32 carries. And 22 of those came on 1 end-around by Keelan Marion.
The Ugly
- I have to start with the ABOMINATION that was the 4th quarter. After going up 28-3, Miami allowed FSU to score 19 unanswered points, and had a 188-17 yardage deficit in the 4th quarter ALONE. Absolute fuckery. Incredible bullshit. What should have been a mid-40s to 10-ish blowout — which would have been indicative of the asskicking we delivered to FSU — was instead a game that came down to Miami recovering a 3rd onside kick. I know we won, but I’m LIVID.
- Letting this game look more competitive than it was. Up 28-3, Miami should have boatraced FSU by a big, BIG number. This score makes the game look more competitive than it was. And it came down to an onside kick recovery? Bullshit.
- I’m staying on this point. Nearly snatching defeat from the hands of victory. I have NO IDEA wtf happened between the 3rd and 4th quarter, but this game shouldn’t have been close. The inability to put teams away when we have them on the ropes is a glaring issue that needs to be addressed immediately if not sooner.
- After going down 3-0, Miami went 6 plays for 5 total yards and a punt. Sure, the lack of yards was affected by a bullshit intentional grounding call on a 3rd down incompletion, but still. Not great.
- Allowed FSU to go 4-7 on 3rd down through the early part of the 2nd quarter, including conversions on 3rd and 11, and 3rd and 10 (which turned into 3rd and 5 because of a Bain offsides penalty). Can’t have that. Gotta get off the field.
- P Dylan Joyce with a badly shanked punt to give FSU the ball at the 50.
- WR Keelan Marion with an illegal motion penalty to negate a highlight-reel Malachi Toney touchdown that would have made it 21-3. You absolutely CANNOT have penalties like this one.
- Here’s the scoring play that wasn’t. Malachi Toney is SPECIAL
- S Dylan Day ejected for targeting on a big hit on punt return. Absolute horseshit call. The returner turtled into Day, and a perfect form tackle got called targeting. Such bullshit.
- FSU holding Miami’s DL all night long, but especially in the 4th quarter, and not a single one was called.
- I’m going to say it again: FSU clearly and obviously held Rueben Bain, Akheem Mesidor, and many others on the DL ALL NIGHT LONG and the refs didn’t call it.
- Miami, however, was called for multiple holding calls. CALL IT BOTH WAYS, REF!!!!!
- Clear and obvious intentional grounding on Castellanos, right in front of the ref late in 4Q. Not called. This is fucking bullshit. I hate the fact that they do this every week so I have to include a loud, critical part of this piece about the bullshit refereeing. I truly hate it. But I’m not going to let this shit go unsaid, so here I am, talking about the refs YET AGAIN because they tried to fuck Miami over. YET AGAIN.
- 13 penalties for 114 yards. The worst showing in this category in 2+ years. DESPITE the referees bullshit, this is wholly unacceptable.
Team Grades
Offense: 3 quarters: B+ / 4th quarter: F- x 17
Miami’s passing game came alive today. I’d been begging for more explosive or nuclear plays, and by golly, they found them! Malachi Toney and CJ Daniels were unreal, and FSU had no answer for them. I loved what I saw from the passing game through 3 quarters.
Conversely, the run game was non-existent. FSU sold out to stop the run, and Miami continually ran inside to the strength of FSU’s defensive alignment. Funny thing is when Miami went with outside run schemes, there was room. But the Canes continued to pound the ball inside and FSU was stout to stop them. Kudos to them, but bad for us.
And that brings us to the 4th quarter. Absolutely abominable. The grade is F- x 17……..for the total yards of offense we had in that quarter while nearly giving the game away.
17 yards of offense. 0/4 on 3rd down…when a couple conversions would have put the game away and the score would have been more indicative of the game as a whole. 3 passing yards. Uno. Dos. Tres. 6 penalties for 6-64 yards (yes, most were on defense and we’ll get to that). And 0/1 on 4th down.
1.1 yards per play in the 4th quarter.
And, with all that, you let the bum ass Seminoles make the scoreboard look respectable. More than that, you let the game come down to recovering an onside kick with your outright futility.
This anemic/conservative offense when we’re up big needs to die a painful death. And had Miami lost this game — something that was ACTUALLY POSSIBLE despite our total dominance for 48 minutes, I’m sure it would have.
The grades are what I said they were. I will hear no counter argument on the topic.
Defense: A+ / 4th quarter: F- x 19
For 3 quarters, Miami’s defense had FSU in Supermax lockdown. FSU scored 3 points on their opening drive…..and then nothing else. There were TFLs. There were interceptions. There were fumbles (multiple, though Miami only recovered one). There was the ESV we’ve grown to know and love: Enthusiasm, Swarming to the ball, and VIOLENCE. Oh so much violence.
And then the 4th quarter came about. Now, this is mostly on the offense for doing fuck-all with the ball and leaving the defense to fend for themselves, but the standard is the standard, and I’m not budging on that. One multiple on the F- grade for every point FSU scored in the 4th quarter.
For the better part of 3 quarters, this is what the Miami defense is supposed to look like. That 4th quarter, where the whole team did….whatever it was that they did? No bueno. Do not like. Kill it with fire. Send it into a black hole. Do whatever you want, but GET RID OF IT YESTERDAY!!!!!
Special Teams: C+
Kickoffs were great, and there were so many of them! Punting actually not great with a shank, but the defense let that off the hook with a fumble recovery on the next play. KR non-existent because FSU booms touchbacks like we do. Punt return wasn’t much of anything, with multiple fair catches. Dylan Day had the play of the day on punt coverage, and was erroneously ejected for an incorrect targeting call. In all, it was a pedestrian day for special teams.
Coaching: Prep/1st 3 quarters: A / 4th quarter: Fireable
I was ready to extoll the glories of this staff, their growth and development, and so much more. Miami came out and was DOMINANT, opening up a 28-3 lead, throwing the ball all over the yard, converting enough opportunities to keep drives move, flying to the ball, tackling anything in sight, and getting a trio of FSU turnovers along the way. It was the stuff of dreams!!! And I was so happy to celebrate it.
And then the 4th quarter came around, and everybody acted like they lost their damn minds.
This game ended up reminiscent of another game I was talking about on social media this week: Miami’s 2015 “win” over Nebraska. In that game, Miami had a 33-10 lead in the 4th quarter — at home, mind you — and had to go to overtime to beat the Cornhuskers. That game was an exercise in futility, how not to win, how to snatch defeat from the hands of victory…..and this 4th quarter tonight was the exact same thing.
This was truly abominable. Miami should have won this game something in the neighborhood of 42-6/10 (depending if FSU got a late FG or TD). Maybe more. This was not close. And yet, the scoreboard shows a 1 possession win, and we were in a position where, had FSU recovered the final onside kick, Miami could have reasonably lost this game.
I don’t know what it is in Mario Cristobal or Shannon Dawson or the players or WHOEVER. But this penchant to have the worst performance possible in the moments when another score would kill the opponent dead needs to be addressed. NOW. Miami was able to get a win tonight, but this feels hollow. It feels bad, because we should have been laughing all the way to the bank, and instead, had to watch the offense flounder, the defense allow conversion after conversion — FSU had 4!!!!! 4th down conversions on their 19 play, 96 yard TD drive to make it 28-11 — and it sucked.
Yes. I’m being harsh. No, I don’t care. The standard is the standard. And just because you play to, and exceed the standard, for 3 quarters, does not mean that I will accept bullshit like I saw from this team and this staff in the 4th quarter. I will not do it. And you can be mad at me for it if you want. I stand on business. And I’m right.
That’s it for this installment of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
Hop in the comments and let me know your thoughts.
