2013 Miami Hurricanes 12 part Opponent series - Part 1 (FAU - Aug 30th)

Aug 30^th – FAU

Well I’m back for another season of Miami Hurricanes Football and once again I’m going to do the 12 part series on our opponents. The first in the 2013 series is on the Florida Atlantic Owls, our opponent on August 30^th (a Friday Night at home at Sun Life Stadium). Gametime is 8 p.m. on ESPNU.

Here’s what you need to know about FAU:  Last season, this was a Jekyll and Hyde team. Early in the year, they went 1-5, then finished 2-4. Now you would think not too many changes, right? Looks can be deceiving. They did play hard in the 2^nd half of the season, beating Troy and Western Kentucky, (the latter going to the Little Caesars Bowl before losing to Central Michigan in that game), and losing at South Alabama (which won just 2 games last year, finishing 2-11 and 1-7 in the Sun Belt) in overtime and losing another pair by 10 points or less (@Navy 24-17 and vs FIU 34-24), You can see the progression of that team under Carl Pelini, who’s entering Year 2 in Boca Raton.

Its not easy filling the shoes of a legend like Howard and Pelini is going to have to really lean on the experience he obtained under three pretty good coaches in Bill Snyder, Frank Solich and, of course, his brother, Bo. Some more background on Carl Pelini: In 1989, he was a graduate assistant and a restricted-earnings assistant under Snyder at Kansas State, and was part of a rebuilding project that has turned out to be very very successful in the Little Apple. His next stop was on the high school level in both Kansas and Ohio where was for a decade, spending the last three years at the latter. His first real look at the big time came in 2003, when Frank Solich hired his brother Bo to be Nebraska's defensive coordinator; and Bo, brought him in as a graduate assistant.

However, it would not be until 2005, where Carl Pelini would become a full-time college assistant jfor the first time. That would be at Ohio in 2005, when Solich hired him to coach the D-Line. It would not be long before Carl would really be in the big time as an assistant. You see, in 2008, his brother, Bo became the Head Coach of the Huskers, and naturally, he hired his brother, Carl to be the DC, where he the Pelini were pretty successful. It didn’t take too long for some up and coming program to notice that Carl had HC potential. Before the start of last season, Pelini was down to Boca Raton to be the new HC of FAU. Having your brother be the HC at a BCS school like Nebraska and being successful with the Defense there, gave him this shot and now he’s trying to make his own name and make that FAU program very successful, as they go into their 1^st season in Conference USA while, at the same time, he oversees the program's continued growth in one of the most talent-rich states in the country, which happens to be Florida and specifically South Florida.

Enough about the coach, lets get to the players on the field that we’ll need to watch.

Offensively: The O-Line is the big question mark here. They only have two starters back from 2012. The leader of that line, is DeAndre Williams, who easily is the most battle-tested lineman on their roster. After Williams, they do have another upperclassman in Senior, Mustafa Johnson, who’s going to play Center on the O-Line. After that, its take your pick. They need Johnathon Ragoo and Stern Vile to step up this season and be the beasts on that line. (Ragoo is an option on the blind side, but that he has yet to do anything of consequence makes putting him at left tackle a somewhat questionable move.) The FAU coaching staff is pretty high on Sophomore Mike Marsaille, who they think could be a very good player for them and could end up as a starter as the season goes on. The O-Line is one of their weak links and that’s not good, especially with them now in C-USA..

The running game, turned out to be a dud last season. That, you can attribute to switching over to OC Brian Wright's spread system. You can also attribute the lack of a running game to the fact that the O-Line was basically ineffective and out of position a lot. These group of backs are now seniors, and they all return in 2013:

·         Jonathan Wallace (648 yards) is the leader

·         Damian Fortner (313 yards)

·          Martese Jackson (224 yards) and Travis Jones right there in the mix.  

Wallace separated himself a bit late in the season, to have them get away from the by-committee approach. That said, if Jackson, stays healthy and doesn’t suffer from fumblitis, he’s the kind of back that can break a game wide open with his speed and explosiveness

Their go-to guy in 2012 was Junior WR William Dukes, (who had 63 receptions for 979 yards), despite the lack of offense. He was their main guy and he does it very well too. That’s a very underrated and one to watch this year to see if can get to the next level.

The bottom line is he needs help, because teams are going to double and triple him because the opposing DC’s know there’s no second or third option in the passing game. One player that has to step up and be that 2^nd option is senior TE Nexon Dorvilus, who in 2012, was their team's third-leading receiver and its top target in the red zone. Outside of Dukes, they have Seniors Daniel McKinney (48-492 in 2012) and DeAndre Richardson, who led their team in catches back in 2011, but was out all last year with an injury. If Richardson stays healthy, he could that 2^nd threat to make opposing DCs have to respect Richardson and not focus so much on Dukes. They would really like to see Junior Marcus Cunningham, step up and produce this year. They also have former Indiana transfer Jay McCants in the core that gives them another tall, lanky option to work with Dukes in the vertical game. When you look at their receiving core, its big, but except for Dukes, there’s not much there to look at that makes you go wow.

Defensively: This is Carl Pelini's baby right here. You’re going to see a team that, given a few years in his system, this is going to be a defense to reckoned with. Right now, this is a work in progress.

With them moving into C-USA, the one area that will be tested right away is the Run Defense. In the Sun Belt, it’s more of a spread league, with finesse valued over size and brute strength. However, in  Conference USA, while it’s not the SEC, they’re going to find out that in that league, they’re going to see team that like to run the ball a lot. To that regard, guys like D-Linemen like 225-pound sophomore Trevon Coley (39 tackles) and senior Brandin Bryant (31 tackles, 4.5 for loss) are going to be really tested, especially on the interior. When you add sophomore Derek Butcher and senior Kayvon Sherill to the rotation, it could be another long season in Boca Raton, if they can’t stop the run. At DE, Seniors Martin Wright (28 tackles, 4.0 for loss), Cory Henry (24 tackles) and Andrew Stryffeler, have to step up and produce and show leadership to the DL. Wright is the leader up front on the line. While you have Henry, who switched to DE from LB, who can give this pass rush a much needed boost. While they have trouble rushing the QB, the key for this D is stopping the run consistently as it’s the #1 issue coming into this year.

The LB core lost a big piece due to David Hinds graduation, however, experience wise, they have enough back to still do some damage. They also bring back an experienced secondary, so their  back seven is good. At LB, they return some quality starters here in Andrae Kirk (70 tackles), Randell Johnson (21 tackles) and Adarius Glanton (75 tackles, 5.5 for loss). Their best LB here is Kirk, not to mention the fact that he has the most talent of the bunch here, however, keep an eye out for Johnson, who because of an injury, missed most of 2012. In 2011, he was their second-leading tackler with 92 tackles, 14.5 of those for loss. The top reserve, sophomore Freedom Whitfield, who had 12 tackles last year, will see extensive time in certain packages.

Their secondary brings a lot of experience back, sans one major contributor, which would be at SS, where the competition is wide open.  A strong candidate to win that job is Senior Winfred Strickland (24 tackles). He would be a good replacement for Brent Harstad (Graduation). They also return  senior Keith Reaser (45 tackles) and junior D'Joun Smith at the CB spot. When you look at Reaser, he’s an all-Conference USA contender. When you add Senior Jeremy McKnight at the FS spot, as well as promising sophomore Cre'von LeBlanc (42 tackles) at the nickel, and you have a group – that’s intact and in 2012, they played well from a statistical standpoint. However, you have to factor in that their opponents were able to run the ball effectively and not have to throw as much, considering how terrible FAU’s DL was. Forcing turnovers in 2012 wasn’t a strong suit for them, and that must improve in 2013, especially now going into C-USA.

Special teams: Let’s put it this way, they were just awful. This will be something Carl Pelini focuses on more in 2013 in every aspect. They have RS Senior Travis Jones back to return Kicks/Punts. They also return Mitch Anderson at kicker and Sophomore Sean Kelly back at punter. However, this is a major work in progress here.

At the QB position, there’s really a two-person battle going for the starting job between JUCO Melvin German and Quez Johnson. This is a battle that will go maybe up to just before gametime vs Miami.

In closing, moving into a new league will present some problems, but also an opportunity to see where they are at and how far they need to come in the future. My prediction for FAU in 2013: 4-8

In Part 2 of the series, I’ll talk about the Florida Gators. 

Countdown to UF

Everyone in South Florida knows that this is the biggest game in the area since Florida State came to the Orange Bowl in 2000. I can tell you from first hand experience that it was one of the greatest games I've ever seen in person. The atmosphere going into that game was off the charts. Some will say the 1989 game vs Notre Dame was the gold standard in reference to big game atmosphere, but I would dare say the 2000 FSU game would be up there. There hasn't been a game this big in Miami since that time. Yes, you can put the 2002 Wide Left I game in there, and the 2003 UF game as well, both of which, I attended by the way and some others in recent years (2009 vs OU and 2011 vs Ohio State), but there's something about the Gator that get my blood boiling. 

• Their fanbase: I have never seen a bunch of arrogant pricks as that fanbase in Gainesville is. If you remember 2008 up there, we had them on the ropes for 3 quarters before some BS calls and questionable penalties that weren't called would ultimately do us in. Now, they will tell you that this is nothing more than a tuneup before SEC play. I would love nothing more than to knock them off and come 4 p.m. Saturday Afternoon, their fans will have a long drive up 75 back to Gainesville knowing they got their asses kicked. 
• Their Athletic department: They know that they want no part of us anymore after this game. We've heard their BS before about wanting a "National schedule", and the last time they played an OOC game outside of Florida was September 21, 1991 @Syracuse and they lost to the Orange 38-21. Outside of FSU, they play no one of note OOC and until they do that, they will be tainted as a team that played no one of note OOC outside of FSU. If you want us on the schedule every 2-3 years, I can live with that. 

Make no mistake, this is easily Al Golden's biggest game in his tenure to date. This is a watershed game for UM. This is a chance to announce to the nation that The U is BACK to stay as a National Power. Winning this game against that team from a conference that has won the last 7 BCS titles (Florida twice in a 3 year stretch), would be a statement win and a validation win for Golden that all that hard work, and the tireless recruiting in the face of the NCAA BS is finally paying off. 

This win would be the biggest FU to the NCAA big time. 

Previewing our first opponent on Friday (Pacific)

Here's some background on our first opponent on Friday in the 2nd round game of the NCAAs in Austin, TX, which is Pacific.

Bob Thomason is retiring after this season (his 25th in Stockton). He's the winningest coach in Big West conference history with 414 wins. He's been their conference coach of the year 5 different times, most recently in 2005-06. They are 5-1 on neutral courts this season. They're 22-12 overall (13-5 in their conference). 

They shoot 45% from the field, 38% from the land of 3. At the line, they shoot just 69%. They have a 3 guard set they use. In their conference title game win over Irvine, their bench outscored Irvine's bench 31-2. 

That being said, this is a team that we should beat down with our quickness and if Reggie ever needed a breakout game, this would be it, because they have no one to stop our size down low. This is a game where I suspect our bigs are going to have monster games. 

Expect us to move on to the 3rd round on Sunday vs either Illinois or Colorado. 

2013 ACC Champions

As you know by now, we won the 2013 ACC tournament as well as winning the regular season title. It was a hellva an accomplishment for this team with a very special group of players like Shane Larkin (who was named MVP of the tournament), Durand Scott, Julian Gamble, Trey McKinney-Jones, Kenny Kadji, Reggie Johnson, etc. What a ride they have given us this year. 

Hopefully now we can keep the momentum going in the NCAAs starting on Friday in Austin, TX vs. Pacific. 

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. 

No letdown for Hoops squad

after last night's 71-47 thrashing of the Noles in front of another sellout at the BankUnited Center. We had the edge on the boards 44-32 and 15-2 on 2nd chance points, meaning we dominated on the offensive glass, in fact, of the 44 rebounds we had, 12 of them were offensive. We held FSU to 31% from the field (16-52) and 18% from the land of 3 (3-17). 

If there's a concern I have, its from the charity stripe. We were just 64% from there (9-14). In close games, we need to be better from there. FSU did go to the line 17 times and made 12 of them (71%). Fast break points is something we're going to have to defend a little better against. We were outscored there 9-4 in that category. We need more production from the bench, FSU's bench outscored our bench 28-19.

It was an impressive win, but we need to be better in a few areas, because if we want to make a deep run in March, we have to improve a few areas. More production from the bench, and better transition defense are two key areas we need to shore up. Reggie was just 1-8 from the field in 22 minutes of action. 5 points, 6 boards, but also had 2 blocks. In March, that won't cut it, Reggie has to be a bigger force down low and we must get him the ball and ride him as much as we can. 

Overall, big win for us, we'll enjoy it a little bit today, but come Wednesday night, its back to business, this time on the road in Blacksburg, VA vs the Virginia Tech Hokies at 9 p.m. 

As for the rankings this week, I don't think we'll hit the Top 10 yet, I think we'll hover around say 12-15 when the rankings come out. 

My take on the Coley hire and recruiting effects

The James Coley hire today was HUGE in many respects. First, from a recruiting perspective. This hire for us and we take away FSU's biggest weapon in South Florida. This assures that we'll be locking down South Florida for next 5-10 years easily.

Second, he and his family live in the area and he went to Norland (in the shadow of Sun Life Stadium).  Third, he and Mario (Cristobal) are very close and you add Coley to the mix, and once the NCAA cuffs are off of Golden, we're going to be a major force nationally in recruiting as evidenced in this small class already. 

For the recruits still on the fence, I want to piggyback what Peter Ariz posted earlier this evening on this point and give my take on how each situation plays out. 

• Thomas: I had said for weeks even before the Coley hire that "6" was a lock to be here. After the Coley hire, I think we've clinched "6". Unless something really unforeseen happens, "6" will be a CANE on NSD. Peter said that Denzel Perryman was with him for a good part of last night's game at the BUC vs Duke and when you add to the fact that Barrow and Golden have been on him for a long time now, and also the addition of Coley as well as another piece of information Ariz received, I think its 99% he chooses us.
• Collins: The atmosphere at last night's game really give us a major boost with Collins above all else here. According to Ariz, he was with Duke for most of the night, and his mother, who really wants him to come here, was also at the game. Has you've all seen already, Collins stood and threw up the "U" as students chanted his name and he soaked it all in. He was seen on campus with his mother well after the game was over. Ariz thinks he would be very surprised to see him anywhere other than Miami. However, I would add some caution here. This weekend, he's supposed to take an OV to Arkansas, who has been pushing very very hard to get him there, specifically Bielema, who's been wanting him since he was at Wisconsin, before bolting Madison for Fayetteville. Florida was also in the mix too for a while, however, with the addition of Coley, and the NCAA issues, now more and more likely on the back burner, our staff can minimize those issues a lot now. I think Florida is fading here and our hand has been strengthened dramatically in the last 24-48 hours here.  
• Stacy Coley: Ariz in his update, spoke with his Head Coach, Former CANE RB Donnell Bennett, and he told him that he really loved the atmosphere at the game last night. For him, this was a rare appearance because it seems to me he's keeping the process very close to the vest. To see him there, is big from our standpoint. Here's where James Coley can pay big dividends here. He's going to be more hands-on here. While Lawrence Dawsey has been handling Coley's recruitment to FSU, ever since Eddie Gran bolted north for the Queen City, and they are close. You have to tip your hat to Carroll here in the short time he's been on Stacy. The thing in our favor here is  that Bennett wants him at UM and I agree with Ariz on this, it will the factor that puts us over the top here. I think its more and more likely Stacy Coley will be a CANE on NSD. 
• Bryant: Now, here's where Coley isn't a factor. Odell Haggins has been the one handling Bryant's recruitment for a couple years now for FSU. Ariz said that D had a visit with him today at his H.S. in Delray. In our favor is Golden, who, I think is the best closer in the country and with the disarray at FSU this off-season and the momentum building for us in the 24-48 hours, I put the chances of Bryant coming here at 75/25. 
• Grace: Yes, Charlie Strong is making a (pardon the pun), strong push to get him to go to Louisville, however, in the end, I'm with Ariz on this, I'd be stunned, if Grace isn't a CANE at 2 p.m. on NSD when he announces on ESPN. His teammates (Lewis and Howard) are on the roster and you can be sure, they're in his ear even now as we speak. 
• Edwards: A wild card that Ariz mentions here is Staten Island (NY) Tottenville RB Augustus "Gus" Edwards. He will visit here on 2/1 for his final OV. He's a Syracuse commit right now (committed on 7/10/12). He was looking at FSU before the big bombshell news that Coley was coming here. Coley was his recruiter in Tallahassee. This is one that needs to be watched closely here. I would disagree with Ariz here on the point that Edwards was going to come here. However, with the addition of Coley, I'm tending to go more and more with the possibility of Edwards and Collins coming here. If we were to add Edwards, in addition to the three recruits from NJ already, it would back up the statement Golden made in his very first news conference when he was introduced as the new CANES coach back in 2010, we will be very active in the Northeast and be a major presence up there. 

We'll see how things play out on NSD, but I think we're in very good shape here.