Hey! Welcome back to news and notes! I know it’s been a minute, but I’ve returned for this series, just like the Mack Returned for Mark Morrison. And yes, you have to listen to the song now:

You’re welcome for starting your Monday off the best way it has in weeks.

Now that that’s done, let’s get to the Canes stuff, shall we?

Canes rediscover the offense, beat Pitt 51-28

After 4 tough losses, Miami got back into the win column with a 51-28 victory over Pitt on Saturday afternoon. This was a great performance (though still not perfect) and moves Miami into position to make a run at an 8-4 regular season, should the Canes win out.

I had your game recap.

I also introduced a new series: 3 stars from the Miami-Pitt game. We’ll bring that back every week from now on.

Justin Dottavio broke down some of the key changes on X’s and O’s that helped Miami blow Pittsburgh out.

Jerry Steinberg hopped in with some Sunday news, notes, and quotes. You’ll want to check that out.

Here are the highlights from the ACC Digital Network. These are fun again, you guys!

And a tweet for you about Brad Kaaya’s stellar performance:

Not bad, Brad. Not bad at all.

Up next: at Virginia (2-7, 1-4 ACC)

Another ACC Coastal game on deck against Bronco Mendenhall and his Virginia Cavaliers. The Canes are heavily favored in this game, and rightfully so. Miami has talent that Virginia can’t match, on offense or defense. And, if they play like last Saturday, the Canes should have no problem here. A tweet:

12.5 is a BIG LINE for this game. I know Miami should win, and win by a good amount, but opening line at nearly 2 TDs!?! That’s massive. A combination of “Miami has top end talent that UVa can’t match” and “UVa just simply isn’t very good”, I believe.

Either way, Miami needs to keep the solid play going and get a W over a 2 win team on Saturday.

Crootin’ moves being made

You know the motto:

ABC.

Always be crootin’.

Miami has definitely been following that in recent weeks. Highlighted by 5 official visits for the Pitt game — including 4-star WR Jeremiah Holloman — Miami has continued to move forward with the construction of the 2017 recruiting class.

Here’s a quick roundup of some of the recruiting movement recently:

3-star LB De’Andre Wilder (Carol City, FL) committed to Miami. He did so on Thursday night after his last HSFB game. Wilder turned 19 years and 9 months old on 11/4, thereby aging him out of HS eligibility. He will be an early enrollee, and figures to compete for playing time in 2017 as a freshman.

4-star WR Jeremiah Holloman had a strong visit last weekend. Some tweets to that effect:

Reading between the lines, things are trending up for Miami and Holloman. I put in a crystal ball prediction for Holloman to Miami on Saturday night, and Peter Ariz from CanesInSight.com predicted the same in a later piece.

Holloman won’t make a public announcement until the U.S. Army All-American game in January, but as of today, all signs, both overt and implied, point to Miami as the choice. Yes, that could change, but that’s my read on the situation — backed up by Ariz’s prediction — right now.

Miami finally offered St. Thomas Aquinas WR Mike Harley.

Like Trajan Bandy before him, Harley is a playmaker with less than optimum size (5’9” 160lbs) that fans have clamored to get an offer for quite a while now. Currently committed to West Virginia, Harley has elite speed and can score from anywhere on the field on any given play. He can be a threat in the passing game, return game, or even the run game on jet sweeps or end arounds.

West Virginia seems concerned about this offer, as RB coach and SoFLA recruiter JaJuan Seider took to Twitter within minutes of Harley’s offer to subtweet Miami.

WVU better be prepared to fight for Harley. This is a kid who is said to love Miami, has the Canes #2 already, and could be ripe for a flip. Miami will put that current commitment to the test, you can damn sure believe that.

Game on, Seider!

Quick Hitters

Time to close things out like a Mark Walton 55 yard touchdown run.

SBNation Analytics guru Bill Connelly’s new S&P+ ratings have the Canes 22nd. They rose slightly from 27th last week.

Matt Porter of the Palm Beach Post wrote about WR Ahmmon Richards’ emergence.

Porter also had his 5 takeaways from Miami’s win over Pitt.

Christy Cabrera-Chirinos of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel had her takeaways from Miami-Pitt.

Chirinos also had this ode to Ahmmon Richards.

Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel wrote this piece about the offensive scheme changes that led to Miami scoring 51 points on Saturday.

Susan Miller Degnan of the Miami Herald had this dispatch about the scoring outburst the Canes’ offense had vs Pitt.

Miller Degnan also had her look at Ahmmon Richards’ greatness. He’s kind of good, you guys.

That’s it for today guys. Man, Mondays feel so much better after a win!

Have a good one.

Go Canes