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Miami Hurricanes Football: 5 Observations Following Loss to Cincinnati

By Juan Toribio

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We all know by now that the Miami Hurricanes lost to the Cincinnati Bearcats last night, and they looked quite awful doing it. Miami has had problems way before this game, but this game just laid them all out there — this time for good.

Al Golden’s seat was hot before this game, and it must feel like it came straight from hell after last night’s performance.

I cooled down a little bit from last night’s disaster, and re-watched the game (I’m a masochist, clearly) in order to give 5 observations that not only say “Fire Al Golden”, although that would probably sum things up quite nicely.

Joseph Yearby continues to impress: Let’s actually start off with something positive before we get to the ugly things. Miami did A LOT of things bad last night, but none of them involved Yearby. The sophomore running back continues to emerge as a star for the Hurricanes and a guy that needs to be involved most of the game. He ran hard, he ran with purpose and he actually made plays when the team needed him. Running behind a shotty offensive line isn’t easy, but Yearby is making it look that way. If there is one player that deserves credit last night, it’s definitely number 2.

James Coley is the worst coordinator on the team: Some of you might disagree with this and that’s okay, but to me, James Coley is the worst coordinator on this team. Mark D’Onofrio actually had a good game plan coming into the second half. The defense held a really, really good Cincinnati to just 7 points and they came late in the fourth quarter. The offense, on the other hand, looked like my 8-year old nephew playing Madden. Brad Kaaya didn’t look great, the offensive line didn’t look great and the play-calling last night was absolutely atrocious. Just last week Cincinnati made Memphis look like the Green Bay Packers. Coley has so many offensive weapons to his disposal and he continues to struggled at calling the plays. He always starts the game off strong, and comes out of the half with good designs, but he’s unable to adjust on the fly. Coley is one of my favorite guys around the Miami building, but his time as an offensive coordinator need to come to an end.

What the hell was Al Golden thinking in the fourth quarter?: As I watched the game, I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The Miami offense is finally driving down 27-20 and the Canes opted to kick a field goal because Golden said he was confident in his defense getting a stop. Okay, that sounds fine. Take the points then get a stop. But then, the defense doesn’t get a stop and Miami is inside the 10 and take a timeout, facing a 3rd-and-5. You would assume that they’re going to take a shot in the end zone, right? Wrong. Kaaya audibles into a inside run that gets absolutely stuffed by the Cincinnati defense. Now Miami faces a 4th-and-5 and you have to take the points in that situation, right? Now in the Al Golden school of football you don’t. Golden JUST kicked a field goal because he trusted his defense, but now he doesn’t want to cut it to 8 and force Cincinnati to make plays to win the game? It just doesn’t make any sense. Nothing that happened in that two-drive span makes sense to me. Absolutely nothing.

Dallas Crawford should not be playing safety: I could’ve written this week’s ago, but last night was an absolute disaster for Crawford. I want to feel bad for him because he’s such a good dude, but he’s such a bad safety.

What in the world are you doing here, Dallas? The play is literally right behind you. Crawford needs to be on special teams coverage because he’s really good at that. But him playing over Deon Bush, Jamal Carter, Rayshawn Jenkins and Jaquan Johnson? That’s just inexcusable, and that’s a staff problem.

This was not a trap game, Miami got outplayed and outcoached: I see some people on Twitter that called this a trap game, but they’re wrong, this wasn’t a trap game. Yes, Florida State week is next, but the Hurricanes had 11 days to prepare for this Cincinnati team. The North Carolina game a few years ago? THAT was a trap game. The Hurricanes got beaten last night, plain and simple. Now the Hurricanes have to focus on a really tough October or they might not be bowl eligible this season.

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