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The Miami Hurricanes beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 33-30 on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium. The ‘Canes are now on a three game winning streak to move to 5-4 on the season. The Yellow Jackets slip to 3-6 in 2021.
The Canyonero keys to victory were:
1- Cut the penalties: Miami had three penalties for 35 yards versus Tech’s eight for 77 yards. Miami: The New Class is making mistakes, but not the same old mistakes game after game.
2- Stop the run: Miami gave up two explosive runs, one to Jordan Mason for 71 and another to Jahmyr Gibbs for 29. The two rushing TD’s Tech scored were on the same play. But for the most part, GT’s run game was shut down on a drive-to-drive basis. It wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t bad, either.
3- Special teams: Patke’s group allowed a big kick return, and missed a field goal; but they did get close to a blocked punt and forced a missed field goal for GT. I have a feeling he’s the next piece that goes from Manny Diaz’s staff in the off-season.
The Doppler
I covered much of the key data above in the Canyonero conversation. Penalties, explosive plays, and missed field goals were the keys to the game. Third downs were much improved for the Miami offense with the ‘Canes finishing 6-of-13, but 0-for-2 on 4th downs. Both 4ths were short yardage runs that GT completely blew up. The Miami defense held Tech to 8-of-20 on 3rd downs and 1-of-2 on 4th downs of their own.
Miami lost the turnover battle but won the war. The ‘Cane fumbled three times while the Jackets threw an interception to Avantae Williams. Williams went up for the ball with the authority Miami hasn’t seen in a long time.
Miami offense
No context CFB pic.twitter.com/yMsU9o36K9
— Dan Siegel (ACC Content) (@ACContent__) November 6, 2021
A data point that’s really proving to make sense in this era of college football is how many different receivers go over double-digit yards per catch in a game. Miami had seven pass catchers with 10 or more yards per catch on Saturday. Georgia Tech had one. Had Miami done a better job of holding onto the football this is a three TD victory.
Miami QB Tyler Van Dyke threw a few dangerous passes into double coverage that were misplayed or dropped by Tech defenders. However, he still averaged 11.4 yards per pass attempt and threw three TD’s with no interceptions.
Jaylan Knighton ran for 162 yards on 32 carries and a score for Miami. Cody Brown continues to look like a poor option to give Knighton a break at running back and Thad Franklin needs more burn in order to see what he really has.
Charleston Rambo will be off to the NFL in 2022, but for now, he’s hauling in 30+ yards per catch against an ACC opponent and a TD. Rambo, Knighton and Elijah Arroyo all fumbled after big plays for The U.
Above- Van Dyke drops another dime on a Smash concept. I like that Lashlee is using the zig-out by the #1 receiver to make the cornerback commit more than a hitch or now would.
Above- When you give a QB protection, he can make things happen. GT’s pass rush doesn’t get there and Van Dyke has time. He throws another beauty here where only his receiver can get it. The Tech DB’s are bad, but Van Dyke makes them look even worse.
Would love for the WR to get his chest and eyes back to the ball, over the shoulder makes for a harder catch.
Above- GT said their point of emphasis was to strip the football and it showed. They stripped out three fumbles that made the game much closer than it should’ve been. Van Dyke hits Arroyo on the play-action slide route and it’s a first down until he fumbles.
Above- For all of Knighton’s sizzle, sometimes he forgets about the steak. Knighton has had fumble issues since his freshman season in ‘20. If I know that as a DC, I’m going to tell my players to swipe at the football.
Above- When you know you’re playing a weak pass defense with a weak pass rush, go for the trick plays. Miami has plenty of time here on the flea flicker and Lashlee dials up more SMU gimmicks for a huge play. The GT defenders are smoked here.
Above- Van Dyke has really excelled with the slant RPO. When the overhang LB freezes it’s an easy slant. Smith then fights for the TD.
Miami defense
The Miami defense held Jeff Sims, who was about as off as a QB can be, to 5.1 yards per pass attempt. Sims threw one TD and one interception. As previously stated, Mason and Gibbs both struggled outside of a couple of explosive plays. Gibbs was GT’s only receiver to break the double-digit yards per catch mark.
The ‘Canes defense logged three sacks, eight TFL’s and two hurries while breaking up three passes. Freshman five-star defensive tackle Leonard Taylor has 2.5 TFL’s and 1⁄2 a sack. That’s what five-star blue chip players are supposed to do- come in and contribute as freshmen.
Above- I really expected to see some ridiculous over rotation from the DB’s and linebackers but it wasn’t really there. James Williams rolls down but that’s not a surprise. Three defenders are at the 2nd level in the box and two run into blockers and one runs away from the football. The lack of vision from the Miami defenders is something else.
Above- An identical look to the TD above this one; Gibbs cuts back against the safety blitz and rotation. The DE up top was frozen by Sims ability to run and Gibbs shot out of there like a cannon. The safety blitz eliminated the alley player so once the LB over rotated against motion and over-pursued it was an easy TD.
Above- The ‘Canes tackling and work in open space took a dip back on Saturday. What was improved play against Pitt and NCSU seemed to back slide vs. GT. I would’ve tried to run a few of these, too. Get Gibbs in space and make Miami tackle.
The wrap
The Hurricanes did just enough against a bad opponent in Georgia Tech. Going up 14-0 and then falling behind only to win the game by a three point margin. But, the ‘Canes won. Miami is on a three game winning streak and all against conference opponents.
Miami will head up north to Tallahassee to face the struggling Florida State Seminoles. Miami’s next three games come against weak opponents in FSU, Virginia Tech and Duke. The latter two teams could have a new head coach in ‘22. This is Manny Diaz’s time to finish out on a winning streak and keep his job in Coral Gables for another season.