Statement: Made.

The Miami Hurricanes went to on the road and soundly defeated the Louisville Cardinals 47-34, and it was actually worse than that, but a late TD made the score kinda respectable.

I have to work early tomorrow so I’m not linking the other pieces — Game Recap and 3 Stars — like I usually do. They’ll be up on the site soon and you should read them because they’re good. Trust me on that.

In any event, we’re jumping into The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, starting now.

The Good

• Winning. Winning is the reason we play the games. And winning is good. And winning a spotlight game on National Television is good.And winning on the road against a team like Louisville, who runs their DAMN MOUTHS ALL THE TIME, is even better.
• Nearly hanging a 50 burger on the Cards for a 2nd consecutive year. 52 last November. 47 tonight. That’s damn good.
• The passing game. After only 144 yards, of which nearly half went to non-WR players, last week vs UAB, Miami hit some shots and came alive through the air. 325 yards and 3 TDs through the air. That’ll get the job done!
• Miami got down 3-0 after Louisville’s opening drive, but responded with a quick 7 play, 75 yard TD drive, capped by a TD from D’Eriq King to Will Mallory. Beautiful throw. Perfect touch.

• TE Brevin Jordan was integrated into the offense early as well. And, he flashed the talent and athleticism that we’ve become well known for. How’d he do it? Like this:

• D’Eriq King doing D’Eriq King things. And look at Harley on the catch. 2 feet down. That’s a catch on Sundays.

• Jose Borregales, who Manny Diaz said “has changed this team”, hit a 57 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) yard Field Goal WITH ROOM TO SPARE!!!!!!!! WE HAVE A KICKER!!!!!!!!

• After an Al Blades Jr. interception, Miami was finally able to unveil the Turnover Chain 4.0. And it’s FANTASTIC.

• Cam’Ron Harris continuing to show why he’s the starting RB. A 75 yard TD run after Louisville had cut the lead to 7. And my goodness can we talk about the play design by Lashlee and calling it at the PERFECT time.

• On THE VERY NEXT OFFENSIVE SNAP, following another Louisville TD to cut the lead to 7, Miami OC Rhett Lashlee dialed up a PERFECT play call, and the Canes hit a wheel route to freshman RB Jaylan Knighton, who couldn’t have been more open if he was alone in the Parthenon.

• OC Rhett Lashlee. We wanted a dangerous spread offense that could run it and throw it and put crooked numbers up on the board. And we got that. And some of the play designs he unveiled tonight were just incredible.
• QB D’Eriq King. 18/30 passing for 325 yards and 3 TDs. His main job was distributing the ball today, and he did it flawlessly. Bravo.
• RB Cam’Ron Harris. 9 carries for 134 and that long TD. He’s really playing well right now and I look for that to continue.
• TE Brevin Jordan. The best TE in America had 7 catches for 120 yards and the game-clinching final TD. Strong performance from him.
• S Bubba Bolden. 11 tackles, a TFL, and a forced fumble. He was everywhere, literally making tackles on opposite sidelines on consecutive plays.
• DT Nesta Silvera. While he only had 4 tackles on the night, his play on the interior of Miami’s DL was a strong point, and freed others to make plays on several occasions.
• DEs. All of them. Jaelan Phillips, Quincy Roche, Cameron Williams, and Jahfari Harvey were all over the place tonight. In a good way.
• K Jose Borregales. 4-4 on FGs, including the 57 yard BOMB you already saw up above. What a weapon, and what an UPGRADE to this unit.
• 485 yards of offense. 325 passing, 160 rushing.
• 47 points. That’s a LOT, and the most we’ve scored since we hung 52 on Louisville last November.
• 19 first downs
• 3-3 red zone scoring
• 6-13 on 3rd down
• 10 chunk plays — 7 passes (15+), 3 runs (10+)
• 5.3 yards per rush. Down from the 6.5 last week, but still very solid
• 10 TFLs
• 3 sacks
• Held Louisville to 4-14 on 3rd down
• Held Louisville to 4.3 yards per rush
• 3 turnovers created — 1 interception and 2 fumbles
• No turnovers given
• Held Louisville to 6 first half points

The Bad

• D’Eriq King’s NCAA-record streak of consecutive games with both a passing and rushing TD ends at 16. There was a chance in close a couple times to call something for him, but when we did, Louisville was ready.
• 15 chunk plays allowed— 8 passes (15+), 7 runs (10+)
• Al Blades Jr. dropped what would have been a highlight-reel interception. But IDC. I want that ball.
• The Offensive Line. Call this a neutral posting, cuz they weren’t as bad as last week, but there’s still room for improvement.
• Bubba Bolden covering Tutu Atwell one on one. That’s a mismatch in their favor, and they exploited that matchup en route to a touchdown, scored by Atwell.

The Ugly

• All the penalties. My God. 11 for 89 yards. Inexcusable.
• This includes many pre-snap penalties, which are the worst.
• All the points. I know Louisville has athletes, but they got a couple garbage time scores to make the game look closer than it really was.
• We’re back to where the opposing team never, ever holds Miami’s defense. Despite the hand placement. Despite the jersey tugging. Which Louisville did ALL NIGHT LONG and it was never called.
• Allowing 6-6 red zone scores for Louisville.
• Allowing 516 yards of total offense (which isn’t the only metric to go by, but WHEW that’s a lot of yards)
• Allowing 3-4 on 4th down
• Allowing 29 first downs
• Allowing 38:01 time of possession for Louisville to our 21:59. Now, some of that is the fact that Miami had consecutive 1 play, 75 yard TD drives, but come on. That’s too much.
• All the drops. King completed 60% of his passes, and that’s INCLUDING no less than 6 drops by his receivers tonight. One of which was a sure touchdown. Can’t have that. Catch the ball.
• Louisville diving at knees. They were called for one chop block, but there were other plays, like when the TE dove at Jaelan Phillips’ knee, causing him to miss a play. Dirty.
• Louisville’s attitude. They were chirping on the field at our guys all game long. And some of their fans and bloggers were talking all KINDS of shit, but think themselves justified. It sickened me and I’m glad we blew those bums out, and am only angry that we didn’t score MORE and not concede those garbage time scores.

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Team Grades

Offense: A-

Even with the drops. Even with settling for 4 FGs. This was what we wanted Miami’s offense to look like, and it did the job to a premium level of performance. Playmakers making plays and just dominating the game. Clean up the details and this is an A or A+.

Defense: C+

Miami was GREAT on defense at times. Miami was also lost and scrambling a bunch, too. On the field for 38 minutes. Allowed all those yards. Couldn’t consistently combat Louisville’s outside zone run game. But got 3 turnovers. And forced 4 punts. And held Louisville to 4-14 on 3rd down. Mixed bag. That’s the definition of a C+ for me.

Special Teams: B

4-4 FGs including a program-record tying 57 yarder. 3 punts for a 43 yard average. The only thing that could have made this better would have been a return TD.

And wait, I had this as an A+ but the late-game onsides kick stuff made me drop this a full letter grade.

Coaching: A-

Offense was on point and SUPREMELY prepared from a tactical standpoint. Several TDs came on perfect play calls with incredible designs. The defense fought hard, bent but didn’t break, and helped build that lead into the half. The team was prepared for the moment and performed like it. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a damn sight better than we’ve seen in the recent past. I really like what I saw from the team tonight overall, and that has to come from the direction of the coaches. Bravo.

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That’s it for this edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Give your thoughts and keep the conversation going in the comments section below.

On to Florida State we go!

Go Canes