Miami Hurricanes Football: Report Card vs Arkansas State

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Heading into last Saturday’s game versus Arkansas State many Hurricane fans including myself felt a bit uneasy. The uneasy feeling wasn’t because our talent didn’t match up but rather because I thought we may look past a team that had won or shared the Sun Belt conference title the past 3 seasons. Thankfully, the Miami Hurricanes put together their most complete game to date with a 41-20 victory, and it wasn’t as close as the score suggested. However, with the predominantly complete performance there is still one area of major concern.

My grades for the game versus Arkansas State are:

Quarterback

Wow! What a game from Brad Kaaya! Kaaya finished 16-24 for 342 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 late game interception. He set the University of Miami true freshman passing yards record with his performance. Kaaya showed off his arm strength along with beautiful touch on his deep throws. It’s also becoming very evident that he is building quite the relationship with senior wide receiver Phillip Dorsett. While the big numbers came against a team from the Sun Belt, it should create optimism among the fans because Kaaya has shown improvement in every game so far this season.

Grade: A

Running Back

We had another solid outing from the running backs. Duke Johnson ran the ball 14 times for 90 yards with a touchdown. Gus Edwards had 2 carries for 38 yards and a touchdown. Joe Yearby also had his share of playing time and finished with 32 yards on 10 carries. Trayone Gray had 2 touches for 9 yards as well. The 33 yard touchdown run by Duke looked like the Duke of old and electrified the crowd. However, the 27 yard touchdown run by Gus ‘The Bus’ Edwards was something special. The heart and determination from Edwards on that run was eye-opening and it’s something I’d like to see much more of in the future.

Grade: B

Wide Receiver/Tight End

With all due respect to the other receivers, last Saturday afternoon was the Phillip Dorsett show. Dorsett had a ridiculous 4 catches for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns (that’s 50.25 yards per catch!!!). This was only the 4th 200-yard receiving game in Canes history and Dorsett earned CFPA National Wide Receiver of the Week Honors for his performance. With that said, the play of Clive Walford and Braxton Berrios shouldn’t be ignored. Walford had 3 catches for 57 yards and a touchdown, while Berrios had 3 catches for 44 yards and a score. Malcolm Lewis also had 3 catches for 11 yards. As time goes on, Clive Walford is starting to show more consistency. This is huge as the tight end position can add ammo to an already dangerous offense (when it’s functioning properly). Braxton Berrios can easily create space between him and the defender and is quickly becoming one of Kaaya’s most reliable targets.

Grade: A+

Offensive Line

The offensive line is still a work in progress, however, they have been playing well enough to win ball games. The run blocking still isn’t where it needs to be and is still a concern in my opinion. They are opening holes, just not as frequent as I’d like to see, especially against weaker competition. The pass blocking was decent, Kaaya had a good amount of time to throw most of the game but was sacked 3 times. The right side of the line is improving but again I have to be cautious because of the competition. It is still wait-and-see with this unit and they better be prepared as they will face a big test this week versus Nebraska.

Grade: C+

Defensive Line

Great showing from the Defensive Line once again. Anthony Chickillo led the way with 7 tackles, 1 pass breakup and 1 quarterback hurry. Courtel Jenkins had 4 tackles, continuing his impressive freshman campaign. Tyriq McCord wrecked havoc as usual and had 4 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 forced fumble and 1 pass breakup. Ufomba Kamalu had 3 tackles, 2 sacks and showed some old-school Canes swagger by body slamming the Arkansas State quarterback (a little late) that unfortunately ended in a penalty but was loved by teammates and the crowd. Trent Harris, Olsen Pierre, and Calvin Heurtelou combined for 6 tackles while Pierre also had a fumble recovery and a quarterback hurry. I really can’t say enough positive things about this defensive line and how much of a pleasant surprise they have been. I am just hoping they can continue to play the way they have been throughout the rest of the season.

Grade: B+

Linebacker

The linebackers had an all around strong showing. The way Thurston Armbrister has been playing is nothing short of exceptional, as he tallied 9 tackles and a sack. To the surprise of nobody, Denzel Perryman played lights out once again and finished the game with 7 tackles. Jermaine Grace had another solid outing and ended up with 4 tackles, while freshman Darrion Owens 3 tackles and a pass breakup. Raphael Kirby had 2 tackles and the games’ lone interception. Just like the defensive line, I can’t say enough positive things about the linebacking core.

Grade: A

Defensive Backs

I have to admit, the secondary has been a disappointment for me so far this season. However, I am not giving up on them. In the beginning of the game I saw a lot of missed tackles and overpursuing by safeties Deon Bush and Jamal Carter. As the game went on, both Bush and Carter settled down and had a sound game. Bush finished with 6 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble, while Carter had 6 tackles and a pass breakup. The other safety Dallas Crawford ended the game with 5 tackles. Tracy Howard had another sub par game but I have a good deal of faith in him that he will bounce back at some point this season. He had 3 tackles and a pass breakup. Corn Elder had a nice game and tallied 3 tackles, a tackle for a loss and had a pass breakup. The rest of the secondary (Artie Burns, Antonio Crawford, Ladarius Gunter) combined for 5 tackles and 2 pass breakups. I feel like a broken record but there were no interceptions from the secondary yet again. The positive: no passing touchdowns allowed (not counting the trick play).

Grade: C+

Special Teams

Yes, this would be my area of concern. Lets see, we had a missed extra point, a kickoff out-of-bounds, and the kick coverage was poor. Coach Golden needs to place great emphasis on special teams in practice, otherwise, we will lose a game strictly because of poor special teams play. Once again, the lone positive is punter Justin Vogel (although he had the kickoff out-of-bounds). He had 4 punts for 180 yards (45 yard avg), with a long of 54 yards and pinned one punt inside the 20 yard line. Unfortunately, there was nothing special on kickoff or punt returns. Thankfully, no field goals were attempted. Coach Golden did state a couple of days ago that there would be changes in personnel on special teams so we will have to see if there is improvement in the future (sure hope so!).

Grade: D-

Coaching

Overall, I was pretty pleased with the coaching/playcalling for this game. Coach Coley called a quality game and took advantage of any and every weakness he saw in Arkansas State’s defense. I loved the way Coley used Clive Walford in this game and that he trusted Kaaya and let him sling the ball all around the field. The play action was called at the right times and was effective most of the game. My only complaint was that the trick plays were fun but I felt he went a bit overboard with them.

Coach D’Onofrio’s defense played another quality game and was able to contain dual-threat quarterback Fredi Knighten. They played aggressive (yes I said it) especially in the 3rd quarter where Arkansas State had to punt 3 out of 4 possessions and fumbled on the other possession. The only negative on defense was that they had trouble adjusting to the hurry up offense on the first few possessions but quickly adjusted and it was never effective against us the rest of the game.

The special teams needs coaching, lots of coaching. That is on Coach Golden as he is the special teams coach.

Grade: B+

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