Carson Beck and the Miami Hurricanes scored seven touchdowns in a route of the 18th ranked USF Bulls on Saturday evening. Miami came away with a 49-12 victory over the Bulls after being Alex Golseh and USF 50-15 a year ago.
The Canyonero Keys to Victory theme was that bully ball should work just fine. The three keys were:
1- Be ready for anything. I didn’t see anything special in the way of trick plays from USF. They came out to try and square off with Miami and it backfired. They got squashed like
an Ultimate Warrior TV match in 1989.
2- Limit Byrum Brown in the running game. Miami absolutely limited QB Byrum Brown in the running game. Brown rushed 13 times for two yards on only two sacks. That’s 0.2 yards per rush.
3- Win the kicking game. The kicking game was a push which is a win in the end for a Mario Cristobal coached team that seems to ignore the kicking game at times over the past 3+ seasons.
The Doppler
The Doppler contains the key stats that I think determine wins and losses in close games. This wasn’t a close game, but Miami pushed two categories (kicking and turnovers), lost one category (penalty yards) and won another (money downs).
Both USF and Miami turned the ball over twice. Carson Beck threw two interceptions, one that was tipped by Malachi Toney and another that was just a bad throw. Brown turned the ball over twice for USF, one interception and one fumble.
Both kickers made their kicks so that piece of The Doppler is a push. Miami lost the penalty yards battle having been flagged for 69 yards in penalties compared to USF’s 15 yards. This has to be cleaned up for the upcoming matchups against Florida and Florida State.
Miami won the money down battle over USF by finishing 8-of-12 on 3rd and 4th downs. The Bulls on the other hand were 7-of-21.
Miami Offense
Beck finished the game with CFB ‘26 like numbers from yours truly. 23-of-28 passing for 12.1 yards per attempt, three TD’s and… TWO PICKS. Again, no one could expect Toney to jump “50 inches” as Beck said and tip that pass.
Beck flashed with his legs on a boot out and a couple of read option plays- I was shocked. He averaged 4.7 yards per carry with a score. Mark Fletcher Jr. dominated the day with 7.5 yards per carry on two TD’s. As you can see above he could not be brought down by one Bull, they needed vice tackles and even then he seemed to power through.
Seven of eight Miami skills that caught a pass went for double-digit yards per catch. The lone pass catcher who didn’t was CharMar Brown who caught a 1-yard TD pass. Tony Johnson hauled in a 51-yard catch for the lead on the night.
The Miami OL allowed one sack and two TFL’s over the entire game. Much of that pass protection credit can be given to the RB Brown (above) who was a key player in pass pro on deep shots. You can see in the show where Markel Bell is beaten and lunging at his man, while Francis Mauigoa turns out too soon on this play. Miami suffers a lot of ‘hip turning’ in pass pro but between Brown picking up blitzes and Beck firing the ball out quickly their butts get saved.
Above– Again some serious hip turn from the OT. If the RB’s block misses, and Beck does get creamed here, there’s no one to help outside on that LB. The LG was already whooped on this and Beck fires it out just in time.
Above– While being hit Beck throws this ball to where only his guy can play it right between the high-low. He does throw some risky balls but he trusts his arm and WR’s and so far he’s guessing right.
Above– Mesh is a staple of the Air Raid that OC Shannon Dawson grew up in as a coach. Inside the +10 yard line it’s so damn hard to defend because teams are in man on defense. It’s a man beater with a clear natural pick happening at the ‘mesh.’
Above- Elija Lofton is in at TE and he turns to get square on this split zone block to secure the DE. Shoulder blocking has been an issue for Lofton this season. He caught zero balls with zero carries vs USF.
Above– Fletcher is really learning the art of ‘one cut and go’ and how to slow-to/fast-thru the holes in a zone scheme. On a zone concept there’s no reason to rush- be patient and use vision.
Above– Beck looks like another no.11 in Miami lore here with this ball fake. The difference is Beck keeps it and runs the TD himself, and Kenny Dorsey would’ve needed someone to throw it to because he was only running to catch a bus while at The U. I had to watch it back three times because I just couldn’t find the ball until he was off running.
Above- CJ Daniels.
Above– Sometimes we trust our arm and luck a little too much. Beck throws into three defenders here and the short defender makes a CFB ‘26 INT. I guess I shouldn’t get too mad anymore when playing the game.
Miami Defense
The Miami defense bottled up Byrum Brown on the ground, and kept him in neutral through the air. Brown averaged 7.6 yards per pass attempt which isn’t good at the collegiate level. He threw one TD and one INT while also fumbling on a carry.
Miami held RB’s Alvon Isaac and Cartevious Norton to long runs of 7 and 9 yards. USF won’t beat Miami relying on ground and pound, that’s Miami’s game.
USF completed passes to eight skill guys and only three averaged double-digit yards per catch marks. Those three were Chas Nimrod (Mighty Ducks name of the week) who averaged 32ypc and Christian Neptune (CW name of the week) caught the lone TD pass.
Miami only got to Brown for two sacks but did log four TFL’s and seven PBU’s on the day. An all around stifling performance from Corey Hetherman’s defense.
Above– Another scramble drill, another forgotten WR. Miami has to work on scramble drills before facing DJ Lagway and Thomas Castellanos in consecutive games (not weeks).
Above– The point of press man is to jam the WR inside to your safety help, not release him outside where it’s him vs. you in a foot race. OJ Frederique jams him outside and then loses the foot race.
Above– Miami is a team that should have 2-3 more sacks and TFL’s per game but can’t finish in the backfield. Brown some how escapes this place and while he’s still brought down it’s not for as massive of a loss or something like a strip sack that comes with a vice tackle.
Above– One thing I like about Toney and Bryce Fitzgerald is their Football IQ as freshmen. Fitzgerald, in pass coverage, sees things other freshmen just don’t see. Here he sniffs out the middle screen and comes away with a pick. We’ll get to his run game issues later.
Above– I can’t blame an OC for wanting to cut Rueben Bain Jr. on a swing pass. But the reason I always hated cut blocks as an OC (loved them as a player) is that if the OL misses his chance of being any help goes to zero.
Above– Bain recovers from the cut attempt so quickly he nearly over-runs the RB on the swing pass. He finishes the play 1-on-1 out in space and is truly working his way into being a 1st or 2nd round NFL Draft pick in ‘26.
Above– Jakobe Thomas forces the fumble which is great but damn brother I don’t like seeing your head across and in the chest of an offensive player Brown’s size with your neck turned like that. One knee to the earhole and it can mean a broken neck or concussion. Keep your head out of the play.
Above– Fitzgerald gets put in a 2-way-go situation. While his pass coverage IQ is high, his tracking and pursuit IQ is low. If 12 is inside you have to be the over the top guy here. He freezes…
Above– …to pick him up with the block and it leads to an easy score for USF. He’s just ineffective here when asked to track and finish as a tackler vs. a centerfielder.
The Wrap
Miami dominated this game from the jump and something I like about Beck that I didn’t like about Cam Ward a year ago is that Beck is all business. He’s not trying to get some hand wiggle over, or make it about him. Beck is here to win ball games as a teammate, not the star.
Miami has come out of the gates hot and while they went in reverse against Notre Dame in Week One they kept their foot on the gas and blew past USF by Week Three. Next Saturday, College GameDay and the Florida Gators are coming to town- continue to take care of business.
