Report Card for game vs Notre Dame (Chicago)

Well, last night's game, on the first possession, we had two golden opportunities to really set the tone in this game, but didn't take advantage at that point and you could tell from there that the air just went out of us from that point on. Another chance we had late in the half to cut the ND lead to 7 was missed when Jake missed a FG that didn't have a chance from the start. In the 2nd half, when we needed a stop on the 1st possession by ND, it didn't happen, they scored and from that point, they dominated in the 2nd half and we had no answer for them at all. Tip your cap to the Irish, they just kicked our butts in the 2nd half.

Here's the ugly report card for last night's game

Offense: D- : Only 285 yards of total offense and of that, just 84 yards rushing. (Duke 22 yards on 8 carries, MJ 28 yards on 6 carries). The dropsie disease was very much in evidence last night, especially on the first possession, two drops by Phillip that would have been 6 for us. Yes, Morris was 18-35 for 201, but after he was harassed and hurried in this game, really from the 2nd quarter on. Morris was hurried 5 times last night and the O-Line did not adjust to that at all. The O-Line didn't allow a sack which was good, but the ND front 7 really took it to our O-Line in this game. Also, didn't help when Stephen's TD was called back by Jonny's holding penalty on the next possession after the two drops by Phillip on the first one. Jonny killed us with two penalties on that drive. Poor performance last night all around here. You will not win games against Top 10 opponents when you have just 84 yards rushing.

Defense: F : Here are the ugly numbers allowed. Total offense by ND: 587. Of that 587 yards allowed, 376 of those yards were on the ground. We allow two of their rushers to go over 115 yards rushing (Atkinson III 123 on 10 carries 1 TD, and Wood 118 on 18 carries 2 TDs). We even allowed McDaniel to score a late TD. We did try to blitz last night but to little or no avail. Just 1 QB Hurry all night (Bush). The penalties here were just as bad. The personal foul on EJ on the 1st drive kept a ND drive where they ultimately scored. Later, an offside penalty on Corey on ND's first drive of the 2nd half, kept a scoring drive for them alive and they ultimately got 7 there and for all intents, ball game over at 20-3. Complete disaster all around by the D. They allowed ND to get on all their possessions in the 2nd half 4 TDs. On ND's 2nd possession of the 2nd half, they went to the running game and we could not stop it at all and they knew it was coming. Their O-Line just dominated our front 7 last night. We allowed 34 first downs to ND last night. Completely inexcusable.

Special Teams: D- : Gabriel's BS roughing the kicker call on 1st punt by ND, kept their drive alive and they ultimately got 7 from it. Later at 13-3 ND, Tyrone gets called for an illegal block in the back that pushes us back from a field position standpoint. ND started their drives from an average of their own 18 while we started our drives from an average of our own 28. Usually when you win the field position battle, you usually get the win. Last night was certainly not the case at all. Jake misses a key FG that would have cut the ND lead at Half to 7. Botts did have a TB in this game, but three of his punts were inside the 20. Overall, very poor performance by the Special Teams.

In closing, we have to bounce back from this and forget this game. This game is over and the next focus needs to be on Carolina, which had an impressive win over VT yesterday. We're home for the next three games, and it'll be good to get back to Sun Life and hopefully back on the winning track.

Notre Dame Preview

After 22 years, the Miami Hurricanes will be playing Notre Dame in the regular season tonight at Soldier Field in Chicago. Gametime is 7:30 on NBC.

Notre Dame's Defense is very good. They are 3rd in the country in Scoring Defense, 9th in Pass Efficiency Defense, 15th in Total Defense, 19th vs the Pass, and 29th vs the Run. There are few matchups to watch in this game tonight.

Duke and Mike James vs the Notre Dame front 7, especially LB Manti Te'o. I'm going to look for at least 4-5 yards on 1st downs. Their Defense in those situations is 20th in the country, allowing 16.75 per game. ND's 3rd Down Defense is horrible. They are 72nd in the country in that department, allowing opponents to convert almost 40% of the time (39.66% to be exact), compared to ours, which is 94th with opponents converting almost 45% of the time (44.93% to be exact).

Ball protection is going to be vital in this ball game tonight because ND is 3rd in the country in turnover margin (2.25 per game or a +9). Under no circumstances can we turn the ball over because that's going to be asking for trouble. Also, protecting Stephen Morris is going to be critical because the ND Defense is 9th in the nation in Sacks averaging 3.5 per game. A matchup that I'm going to be watching in this game is LT Malcolm Bunche vs RDE of Notre Dame Stephon Tuitt. Tuitt is T-2nd in the nation in sacks per game with 1.5. Bunche needs to neutralize Tuitt and protect Morris' blind side. The matchup I want to also watch here is WR Rashawn Scott vs ND CB Bennett Jackson. I wouldn't be surprised if he's switches to go up against Dorsett. A matchup I like is Dorsett vs their other CB Russell who's very suspect. I think that's a matchup we can exploit all night.

The key to this game will be the Notre Dame Offense vs the CANE Defense. Can the CANE D step up and have a solid game for 4 quarters. We have to stop Riddick and Atkinson III. Also, another matchup to watch in this game tonight is the ND TE Eifert vs the CANE LBs (Corneilus/Paul, EJ, and Denzel). We have to not make Eifert a factor in this game because if he is, it's going to be a long night because that will open up the running game even more.

In the end, it'll be close, it'll come down to a couple of plays and who makes them.  I think in the end, we'll make just enough plays to win this game and leave Chi-town with a big time signature W on the road.

My prediction: CANES 31 Notre Dame 27

Report Card and Game Balls vs NC State

What can you say about yesterday? In the 1st quarter, we were clicking on all cylinders, however, late in the quarter, when we had a chance to put the Wolfpack away, we didn't do that, and for the rest of the game, we made more interesting than necessary. At the end of the day, though, we got the win, which is the most important. We're 4-1 (3-0 in the ACC), and getting ready for a trip to Chicago on Saturday Night vs Notre Dame on NBC. 

The Report Card for yesterday's game:

Offense: B-: The down side is that we only had 85 yards rushing yesterday on 32 carries as a team. Against a great team, numbers like that won't win many games. The up side, we had 651 yards of Total Offense (566 of those were in the air from Stephen Morris, who set a ACC record to boot in this game). Only one penalty on the O (False Start on Jeremy). We didn't finish drives strong in the middle of the game. We had 3 three and outs, and some 4 and outs. We did get the GW from Stephen on the 3rd and 11 play to Phillip. Need more consistency here and finish drives strong. We didn't take advantage of the short fields the D gave us, and to be a great team, we need to take advantage of those situations. 

Defense: C-: I liked the fact that we forced 6 turnovers (4 fumbles and 2 picks). What I didn't like was the fact that we allowed 664 yards of total offense (224 of those rushing, including 120 from Creecy alone on 19 carries). They need to stiffen up more in that area. I liked that we did sack Glennon twice, but didn't like the fact that we allowed him to go for 440 yards passing and 4 TDs. This area needs to get better and be consistent for 4 quarters. They did step up when it was needed though. 

Special Teams: C-: Three missed FGs by Jake, left 9 points on the field there, that could have cost us big time, against a great team, that'll come back to bite us. However, Dalton Botts had another solid game in the Punting area for us. Two huge punts inside the 5. They started their drives from an average of their own 20, while we started ours from an average of our own 32. On kickoffs, we were beginning drives from our own 25. The kicking game almost cost us a win yesterday. This area, especially with Jake, needs to shake this tough performance off because we're going to need him in big spots later in the year. 

Now to Game Balls. This week, I'm giving out 5 game balls:

1. Stephen Morris: 26-49, 566 yards (ACC record), 5 TDs, 1 INT. Simply phenomenal on that GW TD play. 
2. Phillip Dorsett: 7 receptions, 191 yards 2 TDs (including GW) 226 all-purpose yards.
3. Rashawn Scott: 6 receptions, 180 yards 2 TDs
4. Eddie Johnson: 7 tackles (1 TFL), 1 sack, 2 Forced Fumbles, 1 pass broken up
5. Dalton Botts: 2 big punts pinning NC State inside the 5, 0 TBs, 4 punts inside the 20

In closing, there were many mistakes made yesterday and points were left on the field. If we're going to take that next step, we have to take advantage of short fields we're given and we have to finish drives strong with TDs, not FGs. The question is which CANES team comes to Chicago on Saturday Night? The one that was dominant in the 1st quarter? or the one that was going through the motions for most of the game? If the latter shows up, it will be ugly in Chicago. If the former shows up, we win handily. 

NC State Preview

Its gameday at Sun Life Stadium as this afternoon, the CANES will take on the NC State Wolfpack at Noon. Both teams are 3-1, however, this will be the conference opener for NC State, while for the CANES, this will be their 3rd conference game of the season. 

Let's look at both teams by the numbers: 

(Note: National rankings in parenthesis)

Rushing vs Rush D
NC State 145.5 ypg (83rd) vs CANES 226 ypg allowed (109th)
CANES 159 ypg (T-67 {WVU} vs NC State 119 ypg allowed (35th)

Passing vs Pass D
NC State 245.5 ypg (53rd) vs CANES 226.25 ypg allowed (65th)
CANES 269 ypg (37th) vs NC State 206.75 ypg allowed (40th)

Total O vs Total D
NC State 391 ypg (76th) vs CANES 452.25 ypg allowed (98th)
CANES 428 ypg (50th) vs NC State 325.75 ypg allowed (30th)

Scoring O vs Scoring D

NC State 28.5 ppg (T-63rd {Michigan}) vs. CANES 32.5 ppg allowed (T-95th {FAU})
CANES 33.5 ppg (T-46th {L'Ville}) vs NC State 15.75 ppg allowed (27th)

TFLs allowed vs TFLs
NC State 7.75 TFLs allowed (T-111th {SC, UCLA}) vs CANES 6 TFLs pg (T-53rd {K-State, Duke, Minnesota, UCF, Wake})
CANES 4.5 TFLs allowed (T-31st {Minnesota, L'Ville}) vs NC State 8.5 TFLs pg (T-8th {UConn, BYU, LSU, Cincinnati})

Sacks Allowed vs Sacks 
NC State 3.5 spg allowed (T-113th {New Mexico State}) vs CANES 1.25 spg (T-94th {TN, UF, Miss. State, Wyoming, Miami (OH), Iowa})
CANES 1.5 spg allowed (T-42nd {UGa, Cuse, Cincinnati, Clemson, WMU, UVa, Akron, EMU, Fresno, Wyoming, Iowa}) vs NC State 2.75 spg (T-23rd {Bama, WKU, Fresno, Minnesota, Utah, Utah State, Toledo, WMU})

3rd Down O vs 3rd Down D
NC State 30-68 44.1% (47th) vs CANES 27-57 47.3% (105th)
CANES 31-61 50.8% (20th) vs NC State 13-51 25.5% (12th)

Turnover Margin
NC State +3
CANES -2

When you see the video of the TN game in the opener you can see that if we give Morris time to throw, he will torch that NC State secondary like TN did in Atlanta. We have faster and better receivers than TN does. You'll notice the pressure their defense puts on Glennon. One of the keys today will be to pressure Glennon and make him uncomfortable in the pocket. The D needs to build off the win @GT and continue to get better. 

Another key to this game will be to get Duke going and need another solid game out of Mike James. The receivers are the question, how much will they step up in the absence of Malcolm Lewis? We need to get the TEs going in this game today. 

I think in the end, this game will be close for a half, but in the 2nd half, I think the CANES will be too much and just too many weapons for NC State to overcome. 

My prediction: CANES 35 NC State 17

Report Card and Game Balls @GT

Well, what can you say about the miracle in Atlanta yesterday? This team did not quit, though it could have after giving up 36 unanswered points after being up 19-0 after one quarter. This team kept battling back and found a way to win. I believe yesterday, we turned the corner and hopefully, we build off this win and move ahead to where we need to get to. 

With that said, on to the report card:

Offense - A-: We were 11-16 on 3rd Down conversions. We had 609 yards of total offense. The O-Line had a very solid game allowing 0 sacks and doing an excellent job opening up the running lanes and protecting Morris in the pocket. The running game with Duke and MJ were very solid. Solid game all around here. However, Stephen did throw a pick and we lost a fumble. 

Defense - B-: The good side is that they came up big when they had in the OT session stopping GT on the 4th and Goal play. However, there are a few concerns here. For one, we allowed 419 yards total offense (287 of those on the ground, and 248 of those from the 2nd quarter on). We did sack Tevin Washington once. GT was 6-13 on 3rd downs. We had 8 TFLs for 27 yards and broke up a pass. The downer here is that we didn't force a turnover and that needs to change going forward. There is some improvement that can be made here, but still a solid game when it needed to have it. 

Special Teams - B: No touchbacks on the Punts. No touchbacks on Kicks, and Jake kicked one out of bounds, giving GT good field position on the first drive of the 2nd half and they scored the TD on that. He was 2-3 on FGs as well. We had one inside the 20 and Dalton had a punt downed inside the 10. In a game where field position was critical, GT started their drives from an average of their own 34, while we started drives from an average of our own 25. Gotta be better in that area. We had 101 yards in kick returns yesterday and 18 on Punts, while we allowed 84 yards on Punt returns and 93 on Kick returns. The Special Teams defense needs to clamp down on that a little more. Overall, solid effort, with room for more improvement. 

Now its on to the Game Balls. This week, I'm giving six game balls out. 

1. Phillip Dorsett - 9 receptions, 184 yards 1 TD and 202 yards all-purpose. 
2. Stephen Morris - 31-52, 436 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT. 
3. Davon Johnson - 7 receptions, 107 yards. 
4. Dalton Botts - 2 punts, 1 inside the 20
5. The Entire Defense - Came up big when it had to in that OT session stopping Tech on 4th and Goal
6. Mike James - 15 carries, 89 yards, 3 TDs (including the GW in OT). 

Solid effort all-around yesterday, there are areas on the Defense where we could still get better at, but I think yesterday, we finally turned the corner and hopefully we build off this win and keep getting better as the season goes on. 

Georgia Tech Preview

This afternoon at 3 p.m., its the CANES vs the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium up in Atlanta. You can see the game on the Regional Sports Network (i.e. Sun Sports, FOX Sports South, etc). 

When we played GT last, it was last year at Sun Life Stadium, when GT was #23 in the country and we manhandled the Jackets 24-7 and held them to 134 yards rushing on the day. This year, GT looks pretty good. They manhandled a very good UVa team last week racking up 461 yards rushing and almost 600 yards in total offense (594 to be exact). Make no mistake, our D will have their work cut out for them today. However, I really feel this D is going to step up and make plays. Injury wise, Denzel Perryman, Curtis Porter, Raphael Kirby, and Andrew Swasey are out for the game today. Allen Hurns and Vaughn Telemaque will play today, and its a big boost to get them back healthy and on the field, especially the latter. We must get off the field on third downs and make GT have to convert in long yardage situations (i.e., 7 yards or more). We can't have GT be in short yardage situations on 3rd down. Johnson isn't afraid to take a shot on 4th down, so the D needs to be aware of that. GT doesn't throw the ball that often, but when they do, we have to be aware of that. However, their M.O. is the running game, and that MUST be the focus of the D, stay in their lanes, and finish tackles. Simply put Assignment Football. 

Offensively, we need a solid game out of Stephen Morris. He was 20-35 for 211 last week (1 TD, 1 INT). Also, big games are needed from Duke and Mike James, but also I need to see a solid game out of Eduardo Clements. Protecting Morris will be critical because of the fact that last week, GT had 2 sacks on UVa's QB (Rocco). In the receiving area, need the TEs to come up big today, and also, I need to see Thompkins and DJ (Davon Johnson) finally step up and produce in key situations. 

In the end, I think we'll stop the Triple Option, and I think we'll make enough key plays to win the ball game today. 

My prediction: CANES 27 GT 10

Report Card and Game Balls vs Bethune-Cookman

Thoughts on Yesterday's game. Offensively, big performance from Duke. We had 426 yards total offense. Nice performance from Morris going 20-35 211 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. However, of our 9 penalties, 4 of them on the Offense and all of them were false starts. Those are drive killing penalties you can't have. I didn't like the fact that the game was a little too close for comfort going into the 4th only up 24-10, but we got the job done and move on to 2-1 on the season.

Defensively, good performance from Tyriq McCord with 5 tackles (2 sacks, 2 TFLs). Shayon Green with 8 tackles and 1 broken up pass. However, we did allow 233 yards rushing (127 in the 2nd half, 106 in the 1st half), but compared to 255 yards rushing allowed last week vs K-State, its a slight improvement, but we can still do better. The down side is that Denzel was hurt, might not play in the next game @Georgia Tech. We did have 3 sacks in this ballgame and had a pick. Didn't like the fact we were EVEN on the turnover margin, against a good team, that's asking for trouble. We allowed 355 yards total offense, which was a little better, compared to almost 500 yards allowed vs K-State. However, there is still room for improvement here. 

Special Teams, Duke with the 95 yarder on the kickoff for the TD gave us a jolt confidence wise. Nice performance from Dalton Botts with 3 of his 4 punts inside the 20 and no touchbacks. Phillip had 4 PRs for 21 yards, helps with the Field position game. We started drives from an average of our own 41, while Bethune started their drives from an average of their own 20, which is very good special teams defense by us. 

Now to the Report Card:

Offense: A- Gotta cut the false starts out, but other than that, running game was much improved yesterday, and no three and outs, however, we do need to improve our 3rd down conversion rate, we were 4-11 in that regard, compared to 5-12 vs K-State, slight regression there. The passing game was much better here.

Defense: C  Now, I know its been much maligned, but they did come to play yesterday. compared to the almost 500 yards allowed vs K-State. Yes, we did allow 355 yards total offense, however, 233 yards were on the ground, and again, compared to the 288 yards rushing we allowed vs K-State, 233 allowed is a slight improvement, but there is much room to get better here and they will get better at stopping the run. The pass rush finally made an appearance yesterday, getting 3 sacks and a pick. I didn't like the fact that Bethune converted 7 out of 19 on 3rd downs, however, compared to the 8 of 11 K-State converted, its an improvement, but we can still be better in this area as well. 

Special Teams: A  Duke with the huge kick return for 6 gives us a big shot in the arm here. Pinning Bethune deep after Dalton's 3 of 4 punts inside the 20 was huge from a Field position standpoint. Malcolm Lewis had a 39 yard return on a kickoff. Dorsett had 21 yards on 4 PRs. Outstanding effort by the Special Teams unit yesterday. 

Game Balls: This week, I'm handing out four game balls. 

1. Duke Johnson: 14 carries, 94 yards, 2 TDs rushing. 3 receptions for 57 yards, and of course the 95 yard Kick return for a TD. 247 yards all-purpose yesterday. 
2. Stephen Morris: 20-35 211 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
3. Tyriq McCord: 5 tackles, 2 sacks 2 TFLs
4. Dalton Botts: 3 of 4 punts inside the 20, 0 touchbacks, 0 punt return yardage allowed

Yes, there is room for improvement and we'll need to get better stopping the run in the next game because the opponent is Georgia Tech on the road with the Triple Option. The key in the next game is assignment football.