Saturday, November 30, 2013

Report Card and Game Balls @Pittsburgh

Here's my report card and Game Balls to give out for yesterday's regular season finale win @Pittsburgh

Special Teams wise, we force a turnover on the opening kickoff, when Patty forces a fumble and we score 3 plays later. Of our 4 penalties yesterday, just one on this unit, (the block in the back on Walter in the 1st quarter on a Kick Return by Jamal). Matty had a solid game yesterday with 2 FGs (one from 29 in the 1st, and the other from 39 in the 4th). Another solid return game with 92 yards of total return, like last game, all on KR's. What a game from Patty overall. it was rock solid with 3 of his 4 punts being inside the 20 and zero touch-backs. On Kickoffs, he was good there. The Kick Return Defense in my opinion, regressed yesterday, allowing 176 yards of returns (all on KR's). Garrett Kidd had a very good game, recovering a fumble and making a tackle. We started drives on Average from our own 30 and Pitt started drives from their own 25, which is still ok, but we could still do better pushing the average back a little more.   Grade: B

Offensively, we were outstanding. we had 476 yards of total offense. 296 yards passing 180 yards rushing. The big games here on the ground came from Stacy and Gus the Bus with 73 and 64 yards respectively. We had contributions from Dallas and Eduardo. We had a big and historic game out of Hurns here having 173 yards on 9 catches and finished the regular season with 1,183 yards, the first since Andre Johnson in 2002 to go over the 1,000 yard mark for receiving in a season. Stacy had a big game as well with 73 yards receiving on 3 catches, and 2 TDs. Very solid game from Stephen here going 17-28 296 yards, 3 TD, but the big numbers are 0 INT and wasn't sacked at all. However, that said, we still need to be better and clean up those silly mistakes. Of the 4 penalties yesterday, 3 were on the offense (Two false starts (one on Ereck, and the other on Stacy), and the holding call on Danny). What a job by the OL, not allowing a sack in this game and giving Morris time in the pocket to throw and opening holes in the running game. Bottom line, ok, but this type of performance won't cut it in a bowl game vs a very good opponent, and especially not going 4-11 (36%) on 3rd Down conversions. Need to do a better job on 3rd down conversions. Grade: B+

Defensively, we forced a turnover (Pick). The pick was by Artie. However, we did allow 501 yards of total offense to a so-so Pitt team, and we allowed another 100 yard rushing game from an individual standpoint (Bennett with 141 yards on 21 carries and 1 TD). In the 1st half, we allowed 104 yards rushing, and 109 passing. At times we made Tom Savage look like a Heisman candidate. In the 2nd half, we allowed 116 yards rushing, and 174 yards passing (147 yards alone in the 4th Quarter). It did step up and make the plays that had to be made. I seem like a broken record here, but again, lack of a pass rush reared its ugly head as we only had 1 sack, their receivers had nice games as a team (Boyd had 98 yards on 9 receptions, and a TD). Pitt on 3rd downs were 6-14 (43%). We did better on 3rd down Defense, but we can do better there. However, we forced Pitt into 3 three and outs. The good part here was that of the 4 penalties we had in this game, none were on the D. We still allowed a little too many X-Plays yesterday (namely the 45 yarder by Bennett on Pitt's first TD). Again, against a good team that we'll face in a bowl game (likely either Louisville in Orlando, or an SEC team in Atlanta [Texas A & M or LSU], those types of errors come back to bite you. Still a work in progress here. Grade: C-

Now, to Game Balls. This week, I'm going to give out four game balls. 
  1. Garrett Kidd - 2 tackles, 1 fumble recovery
  2. Pat O'Donnell - 4 punts, 3 inside the 20, no touchbacks. 1 FF.  
  3. Allen Hurns - 9 receptions, 173 yards (1,000 yard season, just the 4th in CANES history to do that)
  4. Stacy Coley - 171 all-purpose yards, 3 TDs (73 rushing, 73 receiving, 25 KR yards).
  5. Stephen Morris - 17-28 296 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, sacked 0 times. 
Overall, we got the big lead, but we again got sloppy. In the end, we again kept grinding and got it done. That being said, again there were still some ME's (Mental Errors), that still need to be fixed, namely the penalties, which are still issues that have to be fixed. We don't know when our next game is. That will depend on what happens today (Saturday 11/30) in both Chapel Hill and Charlottesville. Regardless, it'll be nice to have the 15 extra practices this year and not have our season end too soon. We'll see what happens and GO CANES!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

My take on Beckham's new stadium in Miami and what it means for UM

The following is per the Herald on the new MLS Stadium in Miami and my take on it

The following is from Alyce Robertson, chief executive of Miami’s Downtown Development Authority, who said and I quote in reference to a stadium at the Port of Miami:

“If we think in a traditional manner, then there’s going to be some challenges on the transportation,” This was in reference to the cars that people are used to taking in for games. Robertson added that you can walk and take the Metromover to Heat games. 

The questions on whether UM should get in with Beckham on sharing a new stadium are these:
  1. Gameday Traffic - Now, picture Game Day vs FSU, and you have 45-50K fans for a Noon game. You have a potential for a nightmare as some on Twitter have mentioned already, especially the Saturday Morning cruise ship arrivals at the Port of Miami. If I'm Donna, one of the questions I'm asking myself: "Is it worth it? "
  2. Parking - According to the City officials, "limited parking" could be built underground, like the AAA. Another question, UM officials would have to ask here: How much more parking space would be available? How much parking would be set aside for Hurricane Club donors? Would tailgating be allowed at the lots? If you believe Deputy Mayor Chip Iglesias,  he says that "some fans could park in the same Biscayne Boulevard lots they use for Heat games and then walk over the bridge to the port." 
  3. Capacity - Now Iglesias thinks that 25 acres could be available, enough for a 25,000-seat stadium with expandable seating for various events. My thinking on the various events would be yes, that stadium could be expanded for UM football, if we join in with Beckham and his group. The question, I would be asking if I were Donna is how much expansion could work at the new stadium? I would believe 35K for UM football?, with expansion to 45-50K for big games like FSU. Also, he says that there would be a  mega-yacht marina and perhaps a waterfront promenade. Another question would have to be asked here too. How much boat parking would be available on gameday?
  4. Mass Transit - I'll go back to Alyce Robertson's quote and believe that for this to work, Tri-Rail needs to have more trains for Night games in the new stadium going back to Broward and Palm Beach. This has to be an effort with BCT and Palm Tran in order for this to happen. MDT can make this work without question. 

If I'm Donna, those are a few things I would be asking Beckham and his group if I'm going to have UM join in. 


Feel free to chime in on this. What are your thoughts? Should we (CANES), join Beckham in his new stadium? 

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Report Card and Game Balls vs UVa

Here's my report card and Game Balls to give out vs Virginia. 

We set the tone with the pick 6 by Tracy 6 seconds into the game. Virginia hung around because of two things:

  • They were 11-20 (55%) on 3rd downs
  • A balanced offense (243 rushing, 240 passing)

Offensively, we had 304 yards of total offense. 214 yards passing, but just 90 rushing. Dallas Crawford had a decent game with just 55 yards on 16 carries, but 2 big TDs. We had a big game out of Hurns here having 126 yards on 6 catches, with 1 TD. Stacy had a big game as well with 81 yards receiving on 5 catches, with a TD. Decent game from Stephen here going 13-26 214 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT. However, that said, we still need to be better and clean up those silly mistakes. Of the 7 penalties yesterday for 70 yards, 2 were on the offense (Both on Brandon, one for holding and the other was a false start). The OL did allow a sack in this game. Bottom line, ok, but this type of performance won't cut it in a bowl game vs a very good opponent, and especially not going 5-14 (36%) on 3rd Down conversions. This unit, especially Stephen, has to play better if we are to win. Grade: C

Defensively, we forced 4 turnovers (1 FF and 3 Picks). The FF was the TD by David. We allowed 483 yards of total offense to a very bad UVa team, and we allowed a 100 yard rushing game from an individual standpoint (Parks with 130 yards on 26 carries and 1 TD). In the 1st half, we allowed 208 yards rushing, but 32 passing and their QBs were gashing our defense. However, In the 2nd half, we allowed just 45 yards rushing, but 218 yards passing. It did step up and make the plays that had to be made. Something that's been disturbing all year, lack of a pass rush. We only had 1 sack, their receivers had nice games as a team. UVa on 3rd downs were 11-20 (55%). However, we forced UVa into 4 three and outs. Of the 7 penalties we had in this game, 3 were on the D (One on Rayshawn for the Targeting, PF on Luther, and a Roughing the Passer call on David). We did allowed a little too many X-Plays yesterday, and if it weren't for the fact that the Cavaliers committed 10 penalties yesterday and were -2 in TO Margin, they maybe win yesterday. Against a good team that we'll face in a bowl game, those types of errors come back to bite you. there were some ME's here as well that need to get fixed before the Pitt game on Friday in a short week. Grade: C

Special Teams wise, of our 7 penalties yesterday, just one on this unit, (the hold on Ronald Ragula in the 1st quarter on a return). Matty had a FG in the 3rd from 33. Another solid return game with 60 yards of total return, all on KR's. What a game from Patty overall. After the long return allowed, it was rock solid with 5 of his 7 punts being inside the 20 and zero touch-backs. On Kickoffs, he was rock solid with all 6 of the 8 KO's he had being Touchbacks. The Return Defense was a little off yesterday. UVa had just 80 yards of returns (41 on KR's, and 39 on PR's). We started drives on Average from our own 35 and UVa started drives from their own 26, which is ok, but we could do better pushing the average back a little more. We have one more game to get this improved. Overall, very good, but need to clean up the penalties here. Grade: B-

Now, to Game Balls. This week, I'm going to give out four game balls. 
  1. Pat O'Donnell - 7 punts, 5 inside the 20, no touchbacks. 8 kickoffs, 6 touchbacks.  
  2. Allen Hurns - 6 receptions, 126 yards, 1 TD.   
  3. Stacy Coley - 5 receptions, 81 yards, TD, 2 KRs, 50 yards. 131 all-purpose yards.  
  4. The 2013 Senior class - Thank you for staying around when the times were very bleak. You are the foundation for future classes to measure up against. 
Overall, I felt we were sloppy, however, we again kept grinding and got it done in the end. That being said, there were still some ME's (Mental Errors), that still need to be fixed, namely the penalties, which are still issues that have to be fixed. I'm glad we finally got the UVa monkey off our backs on Senior Day. The penalties are still a problem, and still a little bit too many of those for my liking. Nice to get back on the winning track here. Let's finish strong on a short week vs Pitt on Friday at 3:30 up at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh and will be seen on ABC. GO CANES and Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!