Part 10 of the 12 part 2014 Miami Hurricane Opponent Video Series - FSU 11/15

2014 Florida State Football Preview

In Part 10 of the 2014 12 part opponent video series, I’m going to talk a little about the defending National Champion Florida State Seminoles, our opponent on Nov 15^th at Sun Life Stadium   

Lets first look at their Talent:

Where do you begin? I’ll make no bones about it. The Seminoles are very good. They are reloading again. The talent is there to win it again. The only thing that they have to guard against is being satisified and complacent. They lost a lot to graduation/early entry into the NFL Draft. They could lose guys like Lamarcus Joyner, Devonta Freeman, Timmy Jernigan and Kelvin Benjamin and still reload with top level talent. This is Jameis Winston’s team and they’ll be dangerous again.

Next, I want to talk about the Coaching:

You know that Jimbo Fisher will make sure the Noles realize that they are now the hunted, and they will get their opponents best effort (See Auburn in the BCS title game). The guy is one hellva a recruiter and another top class this year proved that.

Now, to their 2014 Schedule:

These guys won it all last year, and let me predict their schedule for 2014:

In their opener, 8/30 vs. Oklahoma State (neutral – Jerry’s House in Arlington, TX): W 34-10

It’ll be a game for about a half, but in the 2^nd half, look for FSU to show why many people have them winning it all again. The D makes big plays, the O will make big plays in this one. Noles win going away here.

In Week 2, 9/6 vs. The Citadel: 77-0

No contest. You can name the score on this one. They’ll be looking ahead to the big one with Clemson by halftime. Jameis plays just a half in this one and the 2^nd and 3^rd units will play the rest of this one.

In week 3 they have a BYE
 
In week 4, 9/20 vs. Clemson: 30-17

Off the BYE week, Clemson comes to Tallahassee, and while Clemson will be out to avenge the beatdown last year in their own house, look for Jameis and Co., to get it going and neutralize Beasley and the rest of the Clemson D come midway through the 3^rd, and the Noles win going away, the Tigers will score late to make it more respectable, but the Noles will have this one in hand.

In week 5, 9/27 at North Carolina State: 59-10

Uh oh, Mr Brissett, you only get to fact an old rival. You can bet Jimbo will remind his team about the last visit to Raleigh, which ended in an upset loss. That will not happen here. Another big game from Winston and Co here. FSU wins easily here.  

In Week 6 , 10/4 vs. Wake Forest: 70-3

Guess what Wake Forest, you get to be the sacrificial lamb for the FSU machine. Look for the starters to be out by halftime and the 2^nd and 3^rd units playing the 2^nd half.

In Week 7, 10/11 at Syracuse: 42-17

It’ll be a fight here, for maybe a 1 ½ quarters, but by halftime, this one will be well in hand, and the Noles will be looking to the showdown with the Irish.

In Week 8, 10/18 vs. Notre Dame: 48-14

On paper, this is a marquee matchup. However, given the troubles in South Bend, and the game being in Tallahassee, the Noles will have their way with the Irish here.

In Week 9, they have a BYE

In Week 10, 10/30 at Louisville: 41-21

The Cardinals will be jacked up to play this one on a Thursday Night at home. This will be close for a half, but in the 2^nd half, look for a Noles to start getting it together and pull away from Louisville and win comfortably. 

In Week 11, 11/8 vs. Virginia: 45-3

My god, if it hasn’t gotten any worse for the Cavs, they get to face the monster that is FSU. Mike London’s seat is blistering at this point, and it only gets hotter after this one. Noles BIG in this one.

In Week 12, 11/15 at Miami (FL): 38-28

The CANES gave FSU a game last year for a half, in the end, just too much talent and depth for UM to overcome.  This rivalry is getting close to what it used to be, however Miami still has a little ways to go, but not too much though. Jameis makes enough plays for the Noles to escape Miami Gardens with the victory.

In Week 13, 11/22 vs. Boston College: 49-7
 
BC gave the Noles all it could handle up in Chestnut Hill last year. This year, this game being in Tallahassee, you can be sure, Jimbo will not allow a repeat of what BC did to that Defense last year. Noles BIG in this one.

In the season finale, 11/29 vs. Florida: 34-21

This is a rivalry game, so you never know. You can be sure of this, Florida will come ready to play this one, especially A) after the stinker of a season they had last year, and B) they’ll be healthy, much more so than last year. Jameis had better be ready to take on a very aggressive UF defense. This game will be close for 3 quarters, but come the 4^th quarter, Jameis and Co will make the plays needed to be made to win this one. What I do know is that the Gators better throw out every offensive play they had in 2013, because it was god awful. But you can expect the Florida defense to show up for this one. Winston struggled a bit last year in this matchup, he’ll be better prepared during his second go around.

My prediction on the Game vs. CANES:
We gave them a game for a half, and we had the ball to start the 3^rd quarter. In the end, FSU had too much depth and firepower for us to overcome in that one up there. We’ll be ready to play this game, and we’ll be close for a while, but in the 4^th quarter, as painful as it is for me to say, I think Jameis will make plays for them and they’ll leave our place with a victory. I think we’ll give them the toughest game they play all year.

In Part 11 of the 2014 series, I will talk about the Virginia Cavaliers, our opponent on November 22^nd at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, VA in the regular season road finale.

2013 National Signing Day

Yesterday, we did get a good, but not great class. The reason I don't call it a great class is because of the miss at DT, which is a need position, and we screwed up at Booker T. Washington High School last week with the stunt our staff pulled with pulling Kirk's 'ship at the championship parade. If you heard Ice Harris the next day, he tells you from the inside how this all went down and he tells you this was our staff's screw up. Harris said that we had some silents that we had or so we thought. One of those was Terrell Brooks, the JUCO DT out of TX, but Tuesday Night, he chose to go to Baylor. You could tell that the BTW fiasco, was going to be ugly and yesterday, that turned out to be the case.

Let me say that I'm a big fan of Al and what's he done so far. However, when you saw him on ESPNU yesterday, he looked like a beaten man. He knows that we screwed up at BTW and had better get this fixed very quickly with not only Ice, but the rest of the coaches in Miami-Dade, or next year, could be a replay of yesterday, only worse. When 6 announced yesterday, he told our staff basically FU, when he committed to FSU and Kirk 5 minutes later goes to Arkansas. Two major studs from a pipeline inner-city school lost because of the staff's stupidity. 

Next year, we're talking about not only BTW, but MNW (whom we did well with), and Central and I hope this staff learns from its screw-up at BTW last week. 

Now, to Keith Bryant. If you read Matt Porter's article in the Palm Beach Post yesterday after Bryant signed, the comments his brother made were pretty damning. Keith Bryant decided a month ago where he was going and when Jimbo Fisher made that visit to Bryant's home, that sealed our fate. You have to counter with Golden in that situation, not send assistants to his home. Another reason we  cooled on him after he de-committed from us was the fact that we were going after the JUCO DTs (Lavon Hooks and Toby Johnson). Lavon Hooks ultimately chose Ole Miss and Toby Johnson will decided on February 19th where he will go to College. The damage had been done, Bryant it turned out was out of reach a month ago. 

As for Jaynard Bostwick. This was a big loss early in the day yesterday, when he went to Florida. This is one we'd been after for a while now. In the end, Mom won out over Dad. It hurts more because we have his cousin, Armbrister on the team. Tough to take especially when you consider its a bitter rival like Florida that stole him away from us. 

Simply put, you can't have two stud DTs in your own backyard get away to bitter rivals like Florida and Florida State and that hurts that we don't have either Bryant or Bostwick today as CANES. 

Overall, we signed a good class. We signed 16 players, which to be fair to Golden, was the number he talked about in his final presser of the season. Some said, myself included, we would get 20, but 16, considering what we did, wasn't too bad. The down side was just 4 from South Florida (2 from Miami-Dade and 2 from Broward). The eye opener is that we signed 3 from NJ (Olsen, Knighton, Muhammad) and a 4th from NYC (Staten Island Tottenville Gus Edwards). Golden made it clear in his first presser back in 2010, we were going to be very active in the Northeast and yesterday proved that point. 

Now, there are going to have to be some fences mended at BTW and Golden has to nip this problem in the bud very quickly and with Mario and OC Coley aboard, come 2014, when the NCAA cuffs come off, we're going to come out like gangbusters and clean up South Florida. 

Recruiting for week of 1/21/13

This weekend, we had a few visitors come in for Official Visits. Most of them loved their time here, and hopefully it'll pan out come National Signing Day on February 6th. 

We did get a huge pickup this weekend with the signing of Ufomba Kamalu from Butler CC in Kansas. He's a big boy at 6'5" 280 and the staff expects him to be on the D-Line and move over to DT. Now, what does this mean from a standpoint of Keith Bryant and Jaynard Bostwick? Probably not much at all. We need more depth on the D-Line, especially on the interior, and I think this is the immediate impact player we've been looking for on the JUCO level for months now, since we lost out on Lavon Hooks and Toby Johnson. 

This was the weekend where we're going to start to get an idea oif who's coming and who's not. Next weekend, we have two players coming in, but from the DC area: LB Yannick Ngakoue from Washington DC Friendship Academy and DT Donta Wilkins from Dumfries (VA) Potomac. With Ngakoue, this is his last OV he's taking. I would suspect though that this is a target Florida State is after hard, and more so if they don't get Matthew Thomas from Miami (Booker T. Washington). Keep this in mind, his teammate from last year is Eddie Goldman, who went to FSU last year. Maryland is in the mix too, and they're going to do everything they can to keep him home, especially with the move to the Big 10 in 2014. 

As for Wilkins, this is a kid that is committed to Virginia. However, with the visit here, I would suspect its a free trip for him, but this is a sleeper to watch, especially if we don't end up getting either Bryant or Bostwick. He's 6'2" 305 and a run stuffer and a pass rusher, which we need and like Ngakoue, this is his last OV in the process. 

If Grace goes to Louisville on Thursday, then look for this staff to focus hard on Ngakoue as that 2nd LB with Thomas. This coming weekend is going to be important here. 

My take on the NOA

I read the CBS Sports.com report and here's my take on it. 

From a football perspective, I don't think you're going to see anymore post-season bans imposed on the Football end. However, you will see Scholarships reduced over the next 2-3 years. However, from the Basketball end, it might a totally different story. I think there's a chance you might see a post-season ban and limits on visits and contact with recruits. 

With that being said, if you figure the NOA is officially released next week, you then have the 90 day window to address the allegations in the NOA in writing, which would put it at April 15-16th, two days after the Spring Game at Sun Life Stadium. Then, as the source in the CBS Sports story mentioned, you're looking at Mid-June for the CANES brass to appear before the COI (Committee on Infractions). 4-6 months after that, a final ruling. which would be at the earliest October 15th, but no later than near the end of this year (December 15th). That would be right in the middle of recruiting for the '14 class. 

The way I think this plays out. I don't think we're going to use the full 90 days, these in both the Hecht Center and in the Ashe Building, really want to get this done, right away and put this behind us ASAP. The new NCAA penalties take effect on August 1st, and there's a possibility that we might get hit with the new tougher sanctions here. Though, I don't expect that to be the case when its all over. 

Expectation for the 2009 Fall Camp

Yesterday, fall camp opened. There are some good things to expect this year. We need certain players to step up and fulfill that potential when they came out of H.S.

One of those players is DVD (DeMarcus Van Dyke). The young man has all the potential to be a great player here, but so far, the promise has been unfulfilled.

Randy Phillips is another that hasn't shown the potential when we came out of Belle Glade. Yes he's been moved around, played out of position in his career here. Hopefully, now that he's back at his natural position of Safety, he can bring leadership to a unit that was pitiful last year.

Another is Sam Shields, who moves to the secondary this year. He's always been in Randy's dog house. But last year on Special Teams he was pretty good. I want to see him do well this year (his Senior season) and salvage a career here that's been very disappointing.

Next is Colin McCarthy. When healthy, he's one of the better LBs in the country. However, injuries have made his career a disappointment. Hopefully, he can have a healthy Senior season and bring leadership to that LB core.

Eric Moncur, you can say the same about him just as I would McCarthy, on the D-Line. When healthy, he's unstoppable. I need to see a healthy Moncur for a full season and be a leader on a young, hungry D-Line.

On the Offense, JJ (Javaris James) had all the hype that his cousin Edgerrin had when he came here, but has been a major disappointment. He hasn't been healthy, and his production has shown that. With younger backs (Mike James, Miller, Chambers) nipping at his heels, he needs to step up and be injury-free and salvage a career here that's been a BUST.

At the TE spot, Richard Gordon has been a Huge BUST here. What can you say about that. I really hope I'm proven wrong and he has a productive Senior season.

At the WR spot, its time for Leonard Hankerson to step it up. He's a JR this year and we need him to step up and show leadership for the Receiving core.

These are the players we need to really step up this year and show some leadership off the field and produce on the field.

Tevin Drake from Brooksville Nature Coast

This is the latest info that I got today from a source very close to the Drake family and Drake himself. If it were up to him, he would have committed to us already. However, his parents don't want him to come here. They want him to stay very close to home and go to USF.

This is going to be a battle between us and USF for Drake. I will update this as warranted.

South Florida recruiting since 2005 among BCS conference schools in Florida

For years, we have been the big dogs in recruiting in South Florida. Since 2005, when Urban Meyer became the HC in Gainesville and USF joined the Big East, here's a breakdown of the commits from South Florida (Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach)

CANES
2005 Miami-Dade - 5 Broward - 1 Palm Beach - 2
2006 (Coker's last class as HC) Miami-Dade - 3 Broward - 0 Palm Beach - 1
2007 (Randy's first class as HC) Miami-Dade - 4 Broward - 1 Palm Beach - 1
2008 Miami-Dade - 13 Broward - 3 Palm Beach - 3
2009 Miami-Dade - 2 Broward - 3 Palm Beach - 0

Florida
2005 Miami-Dade - 2 Broward - 1 Palm Beach - 0
2006 Miami-Dade - 0 Broward - 1 Palm Beach - 0
2007 Miami-Dade - 0 Broward - 3 Palm Beach - 1
2008 Miami-Dade - 0 Broward - 1 Palm Beach - 1
2009 Miami-Dade - 0 Broward - 0 Palm Beach - 1

FSU
2005 Miami-Dade - 0 Broward - 1 Palm Beach - 1
2006 Miami-Dade - 4 Broward - 0 Palm Beach - 1
2007 Miami-Dade - 1 Broward - 0 Palm Beach - 2
2008 Miami-Dade - 0 Broward - 2 Palm Beach - 0
2009 Miami-Dade - 2 Broward - 0 Palm Beach - 1

USF
2005 Miami-Dade - 2 Broward - 0 Palm Beach - 2
2006 Miami-Dade - 3 Broward - 0 Palm Beach - 1
2007 Miami-Dade - 0 Broward - 0 Palm Beach - 2
2008 Miami-Dade - 2 Broward - 1 Palm Beach - 4
2009 Miami-Dade - 3 Broward - 3 Palm Beach - 0

Totals since 2005
CANES Miami-Dade - 27 Broward - 8 Palm Beach - 7
Florida Miami-Dade - 2 Broward - 6 Palm Beach - 3
FSU Miami-Dade - 7 Broward - 3 Palm Beach - 5
USF Miami-Dade - 10 Broward - 1 Palm Beach - 9

Since 2005, Total recruiting numbers in South Florida
CANES - 42 Florida - 11 FSU - 15 USF - 20

Looking at these numbers, it shows that our biggest recruiting rival now, isn't FSU anymore. Its now USF and they've done most of their recruiting in South Florida up in Palm Beach, and in Miami-Dade, as we found out last year, we're not as invincible as we thought. They took a recruit we wanted away from us (Webster). This is why on November 28th up here in Tampa, we need to send a message to USF that we are the big dogs in recruiting South Florida athletes. We're going to be playing the Bulls for the next five seasons and we need to send a statement. Also, in Broward, Florida is our biggest rival in recruiting over there. Maybe Goodman was right when he said that the wall has eroded in Broward (UF) and Palm Beach (USF, FSU). We still run the show in Miami-Dade. That's the safest of the three counties.

Did Gore commit to us or not?

I'm reading a report in the Herald that Jakari Gore from Columbus committed to us tonight after our staff said no a few days ago. Not sure what the deal is here, but here's the blurb from the Herald today:

Columbus High senior-to-be running back Jakhari Gore (Frank Gore's cousin) said he orally accepted UM's scholarship offer and denied a report it was pulled. Recruiting coordinator ``Clint Hurtt said they would make room for me.'' UM also got oral commitments from Belle Glade tight end Clive Walford and defensive backs Raheam Buxton (Pahokee) and Kacy Rodgers (from Texas and the son of the Dolphins defensive line coach), giving UM 14 oral commitments for the 2010 class.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1151624.html

Stay tuned on this one, its going to get real interesting in the coming months here.

New Commitments for the Football team

We got two more commitments today in Kacy Rodgers from TX and late this afternoon, Clive Wolford, TE from Belle Glade Glades Central.

With those two commitments on-board, and if you believe Clint Hurtt's numbers of 23 scholarships, there are roughly 10-12 slots still open, but going real fast here.

As of 7/20/09, with Kacy Rodgers and Clive Wolford committing today, this is just a hunch here on who I think we'll get in come signing day:

Offense
QB (1 open)
Steve Morris - Pace

RB (2, 1 commit, 1 open)
D. Hall - Naples Lely
G. Bernard - STA

FB (1)
Maurice Hagens - Tampa Bay Tech

WR (3, is the likely the number we'll take here)
Ivan McCartney - Miramar
Lee Harris - MNW
Chris Dunkley - Royal Palm Beach

TE (2, 1 commit, 1 open)
C. Wolford - Belle Glade Glades Central
C. Fashaw - MNW

OL (5, 3 commits, 2 open)
S. McDermott - C Palm Beach Central
J. Feliciano - OT Davie Western
T. Glenn - OT Jacksonville Parker
T. Wilson - OG/OT Miami Northwestern
B. Linder - C/OG/OT St. Thomas Aquinas

K (0, maybe 1)
J. Haig - Delray Beach American Hertiage

Defense

DE (1) C. Lemonier - Hialeah - The easiest choice here

DT (2)
L. Nix - Jacksonville Raines
T. Chandler - MNW

LB (4, 2 commits, 2 open, maybe 3, but doubt it)
J. Johnson - Washington (DC) Dunbar OLB
K. Nelson - Gainesville MLB
J. Luc - Port St. Lucie Treasure Coast MLB
T. Williams - Norfolk (VA) Lake Taylor OLB
M. Taylor - Atlanta (GA) Westlake MLB - (Only if we don't get Luc)

S (2)
Brian Robinson - STA
Greg Dent - Belle Glade Glades Central

CB (4, 3 commits, 1 open)
J. Davis - Cape Coral
R. Buxton - Pahokee
K. Rodgers - Southlake (TX) Carroll
K. Payne - STA

ATH (2)
W. Wright - WR/S Miami Springs
Tyrone Cornelius - S/LB Stone Mountain (GA) Stevenson

The commit numbers are now as of today (7/20): 6 Offense, 7 Defense. There are 10-12 slots still open as of today.

Welcome to Miami Hurricanes athletics

This is where I will blog about the Miami Hurricanes and thoughts about Hurricanes athletics and recruiting. I will talk about a lot of things here. Want to have a great time here, but please be respectful. Any rude or inappropriate comments will NOT be approved. Enjoy and GO CANES!!!