Here at State of the U, we offer tons of preview commentary and analysis. But, we don’t circle back on that and see how closely our pre-game thoughts mirror what happened on game day.

Until now.

Thanks to my buddy APDirtybird for suggesting this new (and I hope, good) Sunday content where we look back on the game that was, and our lead up commentary.

Here we go:

Matchup of the Week

In his weekly installment of Matchup of the Week, Matt Washington gave several things to look at. Here’s what he said, and how it went.

1v1 matchup of the week: Cody Thompson vs Dee Delaney

Commentary: “In Toledo’s first three games, he’s surpassed the 100-yards receiving mark. Thompson currently is tied for sixth in the country in receptions over 10 yards.”

“Dee Delaney’s first game as a Hurricane can be best described as a rollercoaster. Bethune-Cookman picked on him until he finally understood what BCU was attacking him with and used that information to improve as the game progressed. Delaney finished the opening game with seven tackles. Shadowing Thompson is a massive step up in competition, and this upcoming game should give coaches and fans an idea of whether Delaney is up for the regular challenge of FBS opponents or is in over his head.”

The Day After: Yeah, uh........this one didn’t go well for Miami. And, it wasn’t exclusively Thompson vs Delaney. It was “any receiver lined up across from Delaney” who did numbers.

Not only did Thompson have 5 catches for 114 yards, most of those coming with Delaney assigned coverage, fellow Toledo WR Diontae Johnson had 8 catches for 66 yards and 2 TDs.....also largely against Delaney.

So, Matt was spot-on with this being the thing to watch. And, well, it seems that Delaney is in way, WAY over his head.

Positional Matchup: Miami’s Linebackers vs Toledo’s Running Backs/run game

Commentary: “It’s been a long layoff for the Hurricanes, so there is bound to be some rust. But if LBs Shaq Quarterman, Michael Pinckney, and Zach McCloud have their way, that won’t be the case. The linebackers have the opportunity to set the tone by stuffing the Rockets’ run game. While the Rockets like to get big plays in the air, they keep a balanced attack by running the ball more than airing it out (134 rushing attempts versus 94 pass attempts) to date. Miami’s ability to counter, limiting the Rockets run game, reducing Toledo’s play selection to increase Miami’s chances of victory against the Rockets.

Each of Toledo’s three running backs—Art Thompkins, Shakif Seymour, and Terry Swanson—have rushed for 100 yards to start the season. Swanson has received the majority of carries, yet the other two runners have a better yards-per-carry average of 6 or more yards than Swanson’s 4.84.

To make the job more manageable for the ’Canes, Miami’s front seven must shut down the run and force Woodside and the Rockets into making obvious passing downs Woodside and the Rockets offense into obvious passing downs makes for a great day for the defense as a whole.”

The Day After: Miami locked down Toledo’s run game. The Rockets had 35 carries for 124 yards, a 2.4 yards per carry average. That’s a third or half the ypc average of the Toledo running backs coming into the game.

For Miami’s side of things, both Quarterman and Pinckney had 4 tackles in the game, while McCloud had 2. Obviously, Toledo threw the ball more than they ran it, and that’s largely because of the strong play by Miami’s front 7 — linebackers included — to stifle the Rockets’ run game before it got started.

Mission: Accomplished

Caneseye Player to Watch: TE Christopher Herndon IV and QB Malik Rosier

Commentary: “Ironman Football wrote an outstanding piece on Miami needing to lean on TE Christopher Herndon IV more than they have to start the season. The uptick in production should begin this week.

An honorable mention goes to QB Malik Rosier. Toledo gave up 130 rushing yards and two touchdowns to Golden Hurricane QB Chad President. With Miami’s desire to get the quarterback more involved in the run game, we could see Rosier run for daylight this Saturday afternoon.”

The Day After: Rosier threw for 27/36 for 333 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, and added 4 carries for 25 yards and a TD rushing.

For his part, Herndon IV led Miami in catches and finished with 8 catches for 65 yards and 1 TD.

Yeah, I’d say that Rosier and Herndon IV were worth watching.

3 for 3 by Matt on this one.

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Game Preview

Commentary: From this week’s game preview, Silas Tsang wrote the following:

“The pervading opinion among Miami Hurricane fans might be that a game against Toledo is a walk in the park. But these are extraordinary circumstances. Miami will have gone 21 days since their last game. In contrast, Toledo is a hot team with years of experience upsetting power 5 teams. Not trying to imply Miami loses to Toledo, but the Canes need to show up big this Saturday.”

The Day After: Yeah, that seems to have been spot-on, as well. Miami sprinted to a 10-0 lead, then gave up a 16-0 2nd quarter to trail at the half.

The Canes woke up and got things rolling on both sides of the ball in route to a 42-14 2nd half, and a 52-30 final score line.

Bravo, Silas

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So that’s our first installment of The Day After.

Love it? Hate it? Have a thought to make this piece better? Hop in the comments and let me know.

Go Canes