Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, man, it’s nice to soak in the good vibes after beating a team like Notre Dame, isn’t it? Happy freaking Monday to everyone out there.
Oh, and who called “Miami 27, Notre Dame 24” in last week’s article? I am giving away the lotto numbers for a small fee (just kidding, you all probably saw my other picks from last week). Hey, a broken clock is right twice a day.
With that ramble being done, let’s get to the game.
1) I still cannot believe the pooh-poohing of Carson Beck that happened
over the offseason. I mean, he was 24-3 as a starter at Georgia, had terrible WR play last year, and people wanted to throw him out with the trash. Ha. Ha. Ha.
Beck was decisive, made good reads, and had nice zip on his passes. The 28-yard strike to Malachi Toney was an absolute rope. I have no idea how he got that ball away to CJ Daniels either because he was being hit, but he got it off and put in a spot where Daniels could make the highlight play of the year so far.
And you could tell just how much it meant to him during the postgame interview. Chills. Pure emotion. You can tell he appreciates his situation in Miami, and it looks like he’s got the ability in spades to make Miami fans appreciate what they have in him: a stud. Well done, CB.
2) Speaking of Toney, man, what a coming out party for the true freshman.
He was shifty. He was slippery. He was in the right spots. He was the key part of the passing attack, pulling down 6 catches for 82 yards and a touchdown.
I tell you what, he’ll make you look foolish if you run man against Miami on third down, as he did twice against Notre Dame with those whip routes that moved the chains. Whoooo buddy. That was slick indeed. He’s going to be a matchup problem in the slot for opposing defenses.
I cannot wait to see what he blossoms into.
3) Mario Cristobal has built this team from closest to the ball out, and that’s on both sides of the ball. And man, did Miami look like the better team on both sides of the line of scrimmage on Sunday.
Notre Dame came in with the hype as far as being the more physical team, but Miami put the screws to them for the majority of the contest. The Hurricanes totaled 127 rushing yards on 37 carries, but it was in key moments where Miami’s offensive line just drove back the Irish when they absolutely needed to. Marty Brown’s 5-yard touchdown was a mass of humanity slowly evolving over the goal line. The case was the same on Miami’s final drive when they needed to convert a third-and-2 to get into field goal range. Have to love that, as Notre Dame’s defensive front is likely as good as any that Miami will face this season.
On the other side, man, that defensive front that Cristobal and his staff have built is the real deal, man. They made life hell for a very good Irish offensive line. Notre Dame’s rushing attack, save QB draws/designed QB runs by CJ Carr and a 30-yard run by Jadarian Price, was in hell thanks to Miami’s front. Jeremiyah Love had just 33 rushing yards on 10 carries and was a non-factor in the game. Impressive.
4) And in that vein, Rueben Bain, Jr. and Akheem Mesidor have the potential to be the best edge rushing duo in the country. Yes, that good.
Bain was a monster and was relentlessly getting pressure throughout the contest. And Cristobal was right – Mesidor looked fast, didn’t he? Great burst. They met at the QB on the game’s final two plays to avoid the chance of the Irish getting into field goal range. Talk about a pair of closers. Exciting to see what they can do this year.
5) The pass defense was noticeably better than the blubbering mess that it was last year.
Xavier Lucas and OJ Frederique drew the start at corner, and they did fine, but Miami’s overall unit did well, I thought. Damari Brown had the big play with the pass breakup that was ultimately intercepted by Bain. He had a 90.0 coverage grade and 87.6 defensive mark in 25 snaps from Pro Football Focus. A nice game in a limited role for him. Zechariah Poyser had 3 missed tackles credited to him per PFF, so gotta clean that up, but mostly a fine job for the game from this group.
6) And what I loved the most and take away the most is what Bissainthe said after the game, and I credit that for the better pass defense. Specifically, Bissainthe said that the communication under Corey Hetherman compared to last year is “night and day”. That’s hard to argue with when guys are in the right spots, when opposing players aren’t running Scott free right through the middle of the defense. And except for one bust on Notre Dame’s last scoring drive that left a wide open Irish defender gain 65 yards, everyone appeared to be on the same page, and that’s enormous progress.
But Miami started off 2024 with a nice defensive effort and fell apart as other team started to figure them out, so they’ll have to sustain that level of communication and composure throughout the season.
7) The ONLY thing I really didn’t like is that it felt like Miami as a collective bunch took their foot off the gas up 21-7. That can’t happen.
Great teams are going to put on more steam and snuff their opponent out quickly and decisively. The execution wasn’t as confident for the last quarter and a half, and the play calling, particularly on the offensive side, got too conservative.
Have to figure out how to do better, or a game like that could be a loss down the road.
Go Canes!
