Miami and LSU Predictions

[Xknight52]

Zack does that crow taste good? !40-3!.....SEC all the way...When will you learn Zo?!

[MikMo]

I said in an earlier post that that game vs. LSU doesn't bother me all that much when you look at the long run....since '83, Miami has 5 national championships and I think the SEC combined has 3.....'92 Alabama, '90 whatever Florida (96 maybe) and '98 Tennesee. Enough said.

[imported_mega]

damn guys, you cant compare the all time canes to just a few games.

Miami beat the SEC champs in 88 LSU in Baton Rouge 44-3.
They beat Bama in the sugar bowl for the national title in 89. Lost to bama in 92. They beat Tennessee at UT in 02 and lost in Miami in 03(coincidentally thats the year that the dreadful offense started, I give UT no credit for that game btw, Syracuse held miami to 17 the next week, Rutgers held them to like 21 or so the week after that lol) Miami beat excellent Arkansas teams back in the late 80's and early 90s, I think they were in the SWC then.....but you cant tell me Miami had soft defenses, Jerome Brown, Warren Sapp, Cortez Kennedy and Russell Maryland would disagree. We dont even have to talk about the dominance of Florida, they havent won against miami since 85, regardless of Grossman or Spurrier or Emmett Smith.

Just analyze the defense THIS YEAR(thats all that matters in this arguement), they generally play a cover 2 about 75% of the time. Naturally they are vulnerable to the run more than most teams, but there is a HUGE difference between this team and teams of the past. Orien Harris is not as good as any of the other great miami DTs over the last 20 years, Baraka Atkins is a DE playing DT(thats why hes leaving, he doesnt want to play out of position), and Romeo Davis is non existent at middle linebacker. The defense as a whole is not soft at all, Merriweather, Phillips, and Beason are all excellent in run support but when you are weak up the middle and small up the middle there are going to be some problems against a physical team. Then you throw in the SMALL little fact of a team that quit and its magnified.

Take a look a little deeper, who is the most physical team in college football history? Nebraska without a doubt. Miami has dominated them. In 01, nebraska was stuffed by Wilfork, Joseph, and Vilma. In 91, they were stuffed by Russell Maryland, Cortez Kennedy and Michael Barrow. In 88, they were stuffed by Bill Hawkins, Tiger Clark, and Danny Stubbs.

Miami will be fine(eventually)(as soon as Coker is relieved of his duties, you dont just have the same problems last for 3 years) but one thing they have never been is soft. Any cane fan that thinks there is a correlation between softness and playing against SEC teams is an idiot.

Look at the bama game in 92, that game had nothing to do with the defense. Bama's destruction of miamis offensive line was the only factor. They forced turnovers with pressure, it had nothing to do with Barrow, Armstead, and Smith being soft, hell they are still playing in the nfl 13 years later, its hard to be soft in the nfl for that long.

They werent soft when UT beat them in the OB. The defense was as dominant as it got. It would have been a shutout had Wilfork not grabbed CC's facemask or the same drive not have been giving a fresh set of downs by running into the punter. Vilma had something like 16 tackles that day, I think UT had 170 yards total offense, yet Miami was soft, I dont get the rationale of that. I can name maybe 5 games in 20 years where Miami has lost because of the defense. I would say 95% of the time, they lost because of horrible offense or turnovers by the offense not because of any kind of soft defense.

I said before I wasn't a Caines fan. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] But if they are hollerin' about ONE game there must be something behind it. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[imported_mega]

Its not one game spuds, they have been playing horrible for three years now, they have just had enough talent to outtalent most other teams. You just cant tell me that all 45 offensive players are bust, they simply are not developing talent. According to the articles this morning, the AD and Coker are meeting to discuss changes on the staff. I think youll see OC Werner fired and I can only hope and pray that they bring in someone from the outside as well as a new quarterback coach. One bad game isnt justifiable to fire a coach, but losing to clemson, north carolina, and georgia tech are almost embarrassing for a program like miami. They averaged 22 points a game this year if you throw out the duke and temple games. Throw in that they scored 10 against GT, 7 against FSU, and 3 against LSU and that just isnt cutting it. A complete change in offensive philosophy would do this team wonders.

Sadly enough, this team is a mirror image of tennessee right now, I can only hope that someone will be proactive and make the necessary changes so these guys can develop.

[Ironlung]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
Miami's records vs SEC opponents:
UT 1-2


[/ QUOTE ]

UT has at least two wins over UM. 85 Sugar Bowl and at the Orange Bowl a couple years ago.

[Ironlung]

Never mind Canes. I looked at that wrong. You were giving UT 2. Sorry.

[1inStripes]

mega, like I said previously, I believe the cane fan is referring to their offensive side being weak against physical defenses. I don't think that they are referring to the defensive side of the ball. They are normally always strong there. It is the offensive side that tends to lose their capabilities against teams with a more physical defense, versus a finesse defense.

[Biggin]

I see it this way-Miami is always strong on D, but is vunerable to strong D's, (the last few years).

The SEC usually has good offensive lines, and that can somewhat stablize Miami's upfield rush.

I still hold firm that the SEC is the premire conference in the nation.

[imported_mega]

I would agree with that, but I would also agree that their offense is just bad, it was bad in the last days of Erickson's stand too. Almost like watching a rerun. The weakness in miami's armour over the last 20 years has been the oline. Other than McKinnie, Gonzalez, Searcy, Romberg, Carey, and Winston they have produced virtually noone. Kehoe has always been praised but you can send me Glenn Mason to coach up a o-line anyday of the week. I dont think it has to do with SEC teams, it just happens to be that their o line is weak, keep in mind its the same o-line that gave up 9 sacks to FSU and 7 to Clemson this year. I think the VT game was an aboration, other than that game, they beat noone.