Monday Musings: Playing big boy football

Ittttttttttttt’ssssssssssssss Monday! And the first Monday after a Miami Hurricanes football game since the one after Thanksgiving weekend.

So without further adon’t, let’s see what’s shaking among my orange-and-green-hued thoughts...

1) Ok, so THAT’S how you play big boy football. Miami leaned on its offensive line and ran the ball 36 times to 25 pass attempts. And boy, did it work. 270 yards on those 36 carries for a 6.9 average. Sure, it was Miami (OH), but the physicality was clear. That’s what I hoped to see. It’ll take another level to run the ball successfully against teams like Clemson and FSU (and heck, maybe even UNC), but that was as good of a start as you could hope for against an FBS team.

2) Colbie Young showed out. Man, I did not expect to see him run away from defenders, but when he took that tunnel screen and cut through defenders and up the sideline for 44 yards, I couldn’t help but marvel at his speed. Looks like he’d slimmed up some. The speed would seem to say that’s the case. If he’s added a speed element to his size and catching ability, Miami could a special talent on its hands this fall.

3) Mark Fletcher, Jr. is just exciting. Get the kid some more touches. Man, he’s fleet afoot. He a 26-yard touchdown in the second half and finished with 76 yards on 9 carries. A nice start for a promising talent.

4) That said, Henry Parrish Jr. is still the top back on this team right now. 9 carries, 90 yards with a touchdown. Long run of 37. Just doing lead back stuff, but now behind an offensive line that’s not going to see him run into contact after just one yard.

5) The defense was just dominant. 6 tackles for loss while allowing just 51 yards on 25 rushes. 215 total yards allowed with 58 of those coming on the game’s final drive with Miami’s backups in the game. Pretty much as good of a defensive performance as fans could have dreamed of.

6) Freshman punter Dylan Joyce had a two kicks for a 41.5-yard average. A good first game for the Australian looking to fill the shoes of his fellow countryman.

7) The Miami-A&M line dropping. What was once at A&M by 7.5 points is now down to 4.5, per DraftKings Sportsbook. That’s a very large line, so it seems like a lot of people liked what they saw from the Canes and have fired accordingly.

8) Prediction: Miami 27, Texas A&M 24

Miami will find a little bit more difficulty on the ground this week against Texas A&M’s talented defensive front. However, it will still pop some big runs and have enough success to keep the defense honest, with Tyler Van Dyke and Young connecting for over 100 receiving yards. The defense will bend in the second half after a great first half, but a late stop will seal a potentially program-altering win for the Canes.