THE MIAMI HURRICANES BEAT THE FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES 24-20 AND IN DOING SO ENDED THE 7 GAME LOSING STREAK TO THOSE PUNKS FROM TALLAHASSEE. RECAP:

Let’s get into The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good

• MIAMI BEAT FLORIDA STATE!!! THAT IS AWESOME!!
• Malik Rosier’s 2nd half. After really, REALLY struggling in the first half (see “The Ugly”), Rosier rebounded to go 15/28 for 220 yards with 3 TDs and 1 INT. It wasn’t always pretty, but Rosier stepped up HUGE in the 2nd half, and the game-winning TD to Darrell Langham (no typo) was absolutely gorgeous. 2nd half Malik is really, really good.
• Braxton Berrios. The senior had 38 punt return yards, to go along with 8 catches for 90 yards and 2 TDs. Huge game by the senior to help lead Miami to the win.
• Mark Walton’s toughness. He wasn’t healthy, but Walton played his heart out for as long as he could.
• Jaquan Johnson. 12 tackles, a PBU (could have been a really big INT before an FSU TD), and just generally good play.
• Travis Homer’s pass protection. GREAT job in this area.
• Malik Rosier, Braxton Berrios, Christopher Herndon IV, Travis Homer, and Darrell Langham and the offensive line for the last drive. 75 yards, 1:18, game winning TD. THAT’LL WORK.
• 3rd down conversions. Miami went 7/17 vs FSU on 3rd down. That’s better than the Canes’ season average, and when you consider that FSU had allowed 12 3rd down conversions TOTAL heading into the game, 7/17 is pretty solid.
• 7 tackles for loss and 3 sacks in the first half. Canes ended with 9 TFLs and 4 sacks on the day.
• Holding FSU to 3 points in the first half
• Zach Feagles’ punting. Had a strong game, and pinned FSU deep a couple times. He definitely was the benefactor of a couple favorable bounces after medium punts. Feagles ended with 8 punts for 349 yards, a 43.6 yard average. Nicely done.
• Michael Jackson’s diving interception to get the turnover chain late and end an FSU drive late in the 2nd quarter
• Dee Delaney’s interception to give Miami the ball back 1 play after having tied the game at 3 early in the 3rd quarter

• A super Miami Bro enjoying the game (nice ink, too)

The Bad

• Run defense. FSU got loose for chunks runs way too often, including runs of 39 and 40, respectively, in the first half. FSU ran for 203 on the day, and freshman RB Cam Akers had 121 yards on 20 carries. That’s simply not good enough.
• Backing that up, Akers had 121 rushing and Jacques Patrick had 91 yards rushing. Again, not good enough.
• The run game. 29 carries for 83 yards. Yes, some of that is the fact that Mark Walton isn’t 100%, but that also means the OL was getting dominated (they were), and though Miami stuck with the run, there was little success to be had.
• Allowing FSU to hold the ball for 34:59 of game action. It’s a miracle that the defense didn’t get more worn down than they did. That is a major area of concern heading into next weekend’s ACC Coastal game against Georgia Tech.
• Penalties. 6 for 79 yards, but that doesn’t tell the story. Most were personal fouls. And, there was a TON of hidden yardage from positive plays that were lost due to penalties. Add in the fact that FSU got 1 first down on penalty, and were able to convert shorter 3rd downs following others, and that’s a problem you can’t have.
• SPEAKING OF PENALTIES, Miami defensive linemen were held with no call all game long. And, FSU DBs were allowed to play very physically with no call, either.
• The lack of killer instinct. Miami had several opportunities to put FSU away early, but weren’t able to do it. Yeah, we persevered and won, but it would be nice to make plays more consistently, and put teams away without the kind of drama that was seen in this game.

The Ugly

• Malik Rosier’s play for most of the game. He threw a CRITICAL interception after Miami got a turnover from FSU when the Canes were in position to, at the least, get 3 and take the lead.
• 57 yards of total offense in the first half
• shutout in the first half
• Malik Rosier’s first half. 4/16 for 34 yards. I mean, look at those numbers. 1st half Malik is bad and that is something that can’t continue.
• 2 blown coverages by Robert Knowles. After Sheldrick Redwine the game with an injury, Knowles was pushed into heavy snaps....and it wasn’t pretty. He blew coverages on both of FSU’s last 2 TDs, each time giving FSU the lead. If Redwine is out, and Knowles is the starting FS, this has to get fixed. Hell, it has to get fixed anyway.
• 406 yards of offense given up to a team with freshman QB and freshman RB. Not good enough.
• Chunk plays. FSU was able to hit Miami for plays of 10, 11, 12, 12, 13, 30, 34, 46 yards. AND THAT WAS JUST IN THE RUN GAME. FSU had another 8 chunk plays passing (for a total of 16), including both 4th quarter TDs. Gotta tighten up.

Team Grades

Offense: 1st half: F- / 2nd half: B+ / Final Grade: B

Miami’s offense was fucking atrocious in the first half. 57 yards on 30 plays for a 1.9 yards per play average. I don’t care how you slice it — the situation, the game, the opposing defense, the rest, whatever else you want to say — that’s among the worst performances I’ve ever seen. If I could give lower than an F- I would.

The second half, however, was much, much better. Miami was able to move the ball, Malik Rosier started hitting throws, and the Canes ended up with the win.

Defense: 1st half: A / 2nd half: C+ / Final Grade: B+

In stark contrast to the offense, Miami’s defense was great in the first half. FSU was held to 3 points (could have had much more) and 163 yards. A bunch of those yards came on a couple chunk plays, but Miami righted the ship and got things together.

The 2nd half was a bit more of a struggle, with FSU finding their footing in the 4th quarter to take the lead a couple times. Blown coverages and missed tackles are things that have to be fixed immediately. But, the effort was there, and players played hard. Gotta make plays when the opportunity presents itself (like with Jaquan Johnson’s should-have-been interception).

Special Teams: B

Good FG kicking. Mostly good punting (Feagles had one short punt but otherwise was great). KR was okay but Deejay Dallas’ return was called back for an illegal block. And Berrios had a great punt return to set up his first TD catch. Berrios also had a realy bad punt return, gaining negative yards and compounding that with a facemask (which was questionable at best). Call it a B.

Coaching: B-

Manny Diaz’s defense was strong early, started to break down a bit later, but did enough to stay in the game. Mark Richt’s offense was putrid for a half, but finally started playing in the 2nd half.

That’s it for The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Hop in the comments and share your thoughts.

MIAMI WON!!!! THE STREAK IS OVER!!! WOOOOOOO!!!!!

Go Canes