Miami Hurricanes Football: What We Learned About the ‘Canes Following N.C. State Win

Sept 29, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Phillip Dorsett (4) runs away from North Carolina State Wolfpack safety Brandan Bishop (30) during the second half at Sun Life Stadium. Miami won 44-37. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

A win is a win is a win, right?  It doesn’t matter how the win occurs, or how pretty it is.

That about sums up Miami’s win against North Carolina State at Sun Life Stadium on Saturday.

Let’s have a look at some of the things we learned about the ‘Canes following their third consecutive win of the season.

- Sophomore WR Phillip Dorsett is something special.  After watching the last two games it is clear that Dorsett is rapidly becoming Miami’s number one receiver.  In the ‘Canes overtime win against Georgia Tech, Dorsett piled 184 yards on 9 receptions and scored one touchdown.  Against N.C. State the speedster hauled in 191 reception yards on just 7 receptions and had two touchdowns.  More importantly, Dorsett caught a 62-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds of Miami’s win against N.C. State.  When head coach Al Golden was asked about Dorsett’s catch, he simply replied, “Holy S%*t!”  Gotta love it.

- QB Stephen Morris is the real deal.  Or maybe the ‘Canes receivers are just that good, but up to this point, Morris is in another echelon.  The junior quarterback tossed 566 yards and five touchdowns against the Wolfpack.  This is the second consecutive game that Morris has thrown for over 400 yards.  On the day, he completed 24 of 42 passes and one interception.  Morris has appeared poised and confident but he still needs to work on his ball placement.  From what I saw, Morris seems to play better when Miami runs a fast-paced offense – perhaps Jedd Fisch should keep that in mind.

- Offensive Coordinator Jedd Fisch’s play-calling is still a bit questionable.  As of late, Fisch has been pretty pass-happy – which is okay with a quarterback like Morris, but why is Miami, a pro-style offense, running the ball from a shotgun formation?  Is it me or does it seem like Miami is trying to incorporate the spread-offense just a bit?  In any event, Miami’s offense is explosive, but it is slowly becoming predictable.  Luckily, the ‘Canes have excellent athletes to remedy the offensive calls.

- Man, K Jake Wieclaw needs to work on his field goals.  Miami fans aren’t used to seeing Wieclaw shank too many balls as of late.  Against the Wolfpack, Wieclaw missed a total of three field goals including a 19-yard chipper that doinked off of the upright.

- The Miami defense still needs some work.  Although the ‘Canes managed to force six turnovers, they still gave up 664 yards of total offense against N.C. State.  The ‘Canes did manage to sack Wolfpack QB Sean Glennon a couple of times, but a stellar defense would take some of the pressure off of Miami’s thriving offense.  It was nice to see CB Thomas Finnie get an interception and CB Brandon McGee’s strip, but consistency is certainly lacking on the defensive side of the ball.  Notre Dame is going to be a big task for the ‘Canes young defense.

- What’s the deal with Miami’s tight ends?  They missed a few crucial opportunities to put points on the board.  I was extremely high on TE Asante Cleveland coming into this year, as well as Clive Walford, but there is still work to be done yet.  Walford looked like he lathered his hands in cement pre-game and Cleveland was unable to get open.  I can’t come down too hard on them though, after all, the Miami tight ends are good in terms of blocking.