Immediate Grades on the Miami Hurricanes performance against Florida State Seminoles.
The Miami Hurricanes fall to the Florida State Seminoles 30-26 in a game that pretty sums up the season. The Canes came out blazing in the 1st half aggressively on offense totaling up to 320 yards in the 1st half, with Brad Kaaya throwing for 2 TDs to Phillip Dorsett and Clive Walford. The Canes defense forced three and outs against the Winston and the Noles. However, the Canes missed a PAT and a field goal that would prove to be devastating for the Canes in the 2nd half. Everyone knew that FSU is a resilient team and they proved that in the 2nd half against the Hurricanes. However, James Coley let up on the gas pedal and tried to run the clock, and the defense got passive in the 2nd half. The Canes seem to implode and couldn’t stop the surge of the FSU’s offense which led to Florida State’s victory.
Offensive Grades B
Coley had a great offensive game plan in the 1st half working the middle of the field with Clive Walford and Phillip Dorsett. Walford had a fumble in the 1st play from scrimmage for the Canes, but luckily the Canes defense helped get the ball back with a FSU three and out. The run game was there at times in the 1st half Duke Johnson did total up to 27 carries and 130 yards and TD. The Canes were able to put up 23 points in the 1st half, and even missed out on a TDs to Braxton Berrios and Phillip Dorsett who both dropped tough balls in the end zone.
The 2nd half was a completely different story; James Coley decided to run the ball for the most part of the 3rd quarter and quit attack the Noles Secondary. The Canes were only able to put up 3 points in 3rd and 4th Quarters. FSU made halftime adjustments, and the Canes could never authenticate a touchdown drive. All they needed was a touchdown. Standish Dobard’s fumble was very costly in the 2nd half, and of course Brad Kaaya’s last minute interception didn’t help things. Coley could have used Duke Johnson more in the second half; but Duke appeared to have cramps that kept him off the field. In the final minute of the game, James Coley called a questionable run play to Joe Yearby on 2nd down that resulted on 3rd and long with 51 seconds to go.
Execution and play calling was poor in the second half and contributed to a team loss.
The good news is that Canes will have All-American QB in a few years with Kaaya.
Defensive Grades B-
The Canes defense was playing similar to past three weeks with crowding the box with man coverage; this resulted in three and outs by the FSU in the offense. They were playing with alot of confidence, and swagger in the 1st half. The Canes were able to create two turnovers in the game, one in the 1st half and another in the 2nd half by Raphael Kirby. Deon Bush had a huge interception late in the 2nd Quarter that stopped the drive of the Noles, and gave Miami some hope for the second half.
In the second half, The Canes went a passive and Jameis Winston tore the zone coverage up. The Seminoles had a very lucky play in the goal line in the 3rd quarter when McCord tipped a pass from Winston but ricocheted to Karlos Williams for a score that put the Noles to 17 points. However, the Canes couldn’t make stops when they needed to. This is like making a A on exam in college, but you forget the written portion of the test and make a C. The Miami coaches knew FSU was resilient, so why did they let up on the gas pedal?
Special Teams C-
For the most part of this season, special teams, coached by Golden, has not been up to par. The blocked PAT in the 1st half proved to be costly for the Hurricanes in the second half; if they got that PAT, the Canes could have tried a field goal attempt late in the game. Michael Badgley also missed a field in the 1st half, and that left another 3 points on the field. However, Deon Bush’s forced fumble on the kickoff in the 1st half was massive in momentum and resulted in 3 points. However, FSU won the field position game in the second half and helped the Noles to Victory.