It was the type of outing Miami Hurricanes fans were clamoring for. High-octane offense, stout defense and a complete game… minus a few special teams gaffes, of course.
In the end, a convincing 52-17 dismantling of Virginia – a team that blanked Miami 48-o in the Orange Bowl finale two Novembers ago. Revenge remains sweet.
The win propelled the Canes to 7-2 and No. 12 in the land; another huge step forward in a rebuilding year where Randy Shannon and staff remain ahead of schedule. That said, three dogfights remain and 7-2 could be as stellar as 10-2 or as disappointing as 7-5 depending on which Miami team shows up.
Shannon continues learning on the job, having no prior head coaching experience before 2007. After two disappointing Novembers in a row (a 2-6 record since taking over), the third year coach is favoring a more cerebral approach as opposed to a physical one.
With Miami’s sideline resembling a MASH unit, Shannon has opted to focus more on mental preparation and less combat in practice. One less early morning wake up call and more time in the film room is keeping the Canes healthy and the players definitely responded week one into the new regime.
Jacory Harris was a respectable 18-of-31 for 232 yards and two touchdowns against Virginia. J12 spread the ball around to a dozen different receivers, proving that the Canes have a slew of threats every time the ball is touched.
Graig Cooper had a career-high 152 yards and a score, while back ups Lee Chambers and Damien Berry combined for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Even with Javarris James sidelined, Miami’s depth at running back showed the talent is returning to Coral Gables. (More is on deck for 2010 with recent verbal commitments from the highly-touted Eduardo Clements and Storm Johnson).
On special teams, Thearon Collier brought the thunder with a “Hester-esque” 60-yard punt return for score, evoking memories of some old school-style Hurricane football. (Another ‘more on deck’ update; Carol City High’s Allen Hurns committed to Miami this week and spent his offseason training with former Cane great Santana Moss.)
On the defensive side of the ball, the Canes held the Cavs to a paltry 149 yards – a welcome site after letting both Clemson and Wake Forest rack up some serious yards and points.
The only rough spot for Miami, allowing two punts to be blocked. Shannon and staff claim the issues have been addressed and fixed, which is a must heading into North Carolina weekend as Butch Davis knows something about specials teams. Safe to say, the Canes haven’t been the same in that phase of the game since Davis left town after the 2000 season.
Hard as it may be to believe, Miami is winless (0-3) in Chapel Hill and the Canes have lost two straight to the Heels. If there’s ever been time to reverse the curse, it’s now. UNC was picked above UM in the Coastal Division this preseason and both teams are jockeying for position with bowl season around the corner.
Georgia Tech looks like the Coastal lock, but for 12th-ranked Miami, a BCS berth could still be in the cards depending on how the next three weeks play out. Meanwhile, Carolina is simply playing for bowl eligibility, needing to win one of its three remaining games.
Davis and staff will bring their standard top-notch defensive unit to the table Saturday afternoon. Shannon calls this the best defense that Miami has seen since Oklahoma, if not better. It’ll be no small feat for the Canes to move the ball and find the end zone.
Good news for the Canes in the fact that Heels running back Shaun Draughn is done for the year. That said, Ryan Houston is a capable back. No Miami fan should take much solace in the fact a starting UNC back is out. Look no further than 2004 for proof.
On that fateful October night, back up back Chad Scott torched No. 3 Miami for 175 yards and two touchdowns in a gut-wrenching 31-28 upset.
Thankfully, this is a different Miami team; one on the climb instead of on the decline. Safe to say 2004 was the year the Canes started backsliding under Larry Coker, while Shannon has this program on the mend and is one step closer to being “back”.
I’ll save my prediction for Friday at allCanesBlog.com, but this should be the year Miami finally comes through on the road against North Carolina. Davis has the edge as the teacher to Shannon’s pupil, but in ‘09 Shannon finally has the more complete team. Especially at quarterback.
The Heels’ offense should be a bit one-dimensional with question marks at running back. That said, the Canes have been known to make an average quarterback like T.J. Yates look all-world. Check out the tape from last year’s collapse in Miami, where the Canes blew a 24-14 fourth quarter lead and made back up Cameron Sexton look like John Elway in a 28-24 come from behind win.
If the Canes can run the ball and protect Harris, Miami should have enough in the tank to pull out a close one on the road. That said, it depends which team shows up. Tune in Saturday at 3:30pm ET to find out.
Canes suck! Jacory Harris is over rated! All his so called come backs he owes it to the great core of receivers that the canes have, not to his weak arm. He has not shown accuracy nor strenght in his throws, he continues to throw ballon passes which Cane receiver continuosly fight for n gra ‘em bailing harris out. Coaches let him dig the Canes into this big holes and it finally caught up with him, showing his poor decision making and his poor accuracy.
Maybe next year Harris will catch up with the heart n the Cane pride receivers, running backs and the rest of the team have shown and that harris is definetely lacking.